Who Are Those Guys?

After returning from Spring Training, it dawned upon me that I have not provided an assessment of the Orioles based upon my observations of the team.

I saw the Orioles play three games, in person, while I was in Florida and I have to admit that I was impressed with the team. They won all of the games and they displayed some real grit and played solid baseball. The hitting was impressive and the pitching was solid. 

Yes, I was impressed with Chris Davis--who has knocked in three homers, struck out only once, walked six times and is batting .556. Wow! But others on the team are equally as impressive at the plate. Ruiz (.611) and Santander (.412) are equally as impressive at the plate.

As a team, the Orioles are among the leaders in all of baseball at this juncture--I never saw this coming. Here are some of the team stats:

Batting Average - 2nd (.288)
Stolen Bases - 2nd (14)
Slugging - 3rd (.468)
Doubles - 2nd (26)
Homeruns - 6th (14)
Extra Base Hits - 1st (44)
Runs - 3rd (73)

There is some good hitting on display right now! It was fun to watch. 

From a pitching perspective, they are much more middle of the road--but still effective. They have given up a lot on tuns in two games, which have raised the Earned Run Average, but overall they are in the top half of the league and hear the top in most pitching statistics. 

Yes, it is only Spring Training, but I am excited about the upcoming season and I have tickets to Opening Day on March 26th when the Orioles will face the team from the North whose name shall remain unwritten!

Let's Go O's!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Baseball and Sun

New Atlanta Braves Stadium
Venice, Florida
February 27, 2020

And so it begins. The first day of the Spring Training trip was a success. Even the weather cleared to make the day spectacular. The morning clouds gave was to clear sunny skies. It was cool, but comfortable.

We visited the new Braves facility in Venice and saw a game between them and the Cardinals. You might think that that is not an Orioles game, and that is true, but two former Orioles played. Nick Markakis plays for the Braves and hit a double. Matt Wieters catches for the Cardinals and went hitless.

Today is a golf and baseball day. Golf tee time is 7:14.

Baseball is later in the day.

Day two is off and running.

— Bob Doan, writing from Sarasota, Florida

A Series for the Ages

This World Series is a one of a kind. The last time the home team did not win through six games was--never! This is the first time that it has happened like this in all of the World Series that have been played. Tonight is the concluding game seven with no wins thus far at home for either team.


An ESPN writer puts it this way: No team has won a World Series without winning a home game, but several teams have won Games 6 and 7 on the road: the 1926 Cardinals, 1934 Cardinals, 1952 Yankees, 1958 Yankees, 1968 Tigers, 1979 Pirates and 2016 Cubs. The Nationals will look to make a unique kind of history in Game 7, while the Astros will try to cement their legacy as an all-time great team. 

Matt Kelly at MLB.com wrote:

The Nationals’ season-saving 7-2 victory over the Astros in Game 6 on Tuesday night made road teams a perfect 6-0 in this year’s Fall Classic. It’s the first World Series in which the road team has won each of the first six games, and it’s also the first time in 1,420 best-of-seven postseason series across MLB, NBA and NHL in which the road team has won each of the first six contests.

And then of course, last night's game had the controversy with the runner being called out for interference running to First Base. There needs to be some drama in every World Series. 

Personal Trivia


One year ago today, I completed my 16th of 44 radiation treatments for prostate cancer. Wow! What a difference a year makes. I have had two follow-ups with the radiation oncologist since completing the treatments and everything seems great!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

The Tournament

The Team Between Games
Hummelstown, PA
October 26, 2019

The team played in its first tournament yesterday. I must confess, there is a special excitement about playing in a tournament and meeting other high caliber teams. Our team is making the jump from being a recreational league team to becoming a travel team. Every time we play, the boys get better and see what is expected of them as they play at a higher level.

Jax and Jack Chilling at the Hotel
Hummelstown, PA
October 26, 2019

While the outcomes of the games are still not what the team desires, there are more and more positives that we can focus upon coming out of every outing. Sadly, the Sunday game got canceled because they believed that they were going to win that game decisively based upon the strong performance in the second game yesterday. The boys are gelling as a team and it is truly sad that the season ends next week--with a doubleheader on Sunday. 

Singing Cars
Hershey's Chocolate World
Hershey, PA
October 26, 2019

It was fun to get out of town to a tournament and spend the weekend with the boys and their families in a hotel. I truly hope that we can play in more tournaments next year to get the boys ready for the weeklong Cooperstown Tournament that we will be playing during late-June 2020. 

Chris and I did get out with Ethan to Hershey's Chocolate World for some enjoyment yesterday morning before the first game. It was very different from the lat time I visited, which was during the 1960's. I must say--there was a lot of chocolate and the singing cows were just a bit over the top. It was a moo-ving performance.

A great weekend so far and since there is no game today, we will be heading home soon.

-- Bob Doan, writing from Hummelstown, PA

World Series Update

As the MLB season draws to a conclusion, I can state that it has been an exciting World Series, thus far. 

While I picked the Astros to win the series in six games, and they technically could still do that, it certainly does not look as if they brought their "A" game last night during their 12-3 loss. The Astros are now two games down in the best of seven series. 


Remember--it is Baseball! There are still five games possible and anything can happen!

Here are some World Series fun facts from CBS Sports. 


The Nationals have outscored the Astros 17-7.

Road teams who take a 2-0 series lead have won the Series 77 percent of the time.

The last 11 MLB teams to take a 2-0 lead have gone on to win the title, including the 2018 Red Sox.

A total of 17 runs from the Nats are the most by road team in the first two games of the World Series since the 1960 Yankees (20 runs vs. Pirates).

Just three of the previous 25 teams to lose the first two games at home under the current 2-3-2 format have come back to win the World Series. It hasn't been accomplished since the 1996 New York Yankees came back against the Atlanta Braves.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

And the Rains Arrived

The news reported that we have received more rain in the past week than we had received since the beginning of August. 

That was an astounding revelation. That is how dry that it has been. 

The Team After Practice
GORC Park
October 12, 2019

But, today is supposed to be a beautiful day. And it is working out well because we have baseball practice tonight. The team is preparing for a big tournament in Hershey this weekend. We are guaranteed three games and hopefully will play more. We have a double header on Saturday beginning at 12:30--hopefully the weather will be kind to us. Right now it looks like Saturday evening showers and Sunday rain--we might not get to play on Sunday. But, the weather can always change. 

Hopefully, it will. But, then, we need the rain. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Those Amazing Nats

Amazing! Incredible!

The Nationals fans are celebrating this morning because their team us the first to punch its ticket to the World Series 2019 where they will face either the Astros or the Yankees. 


A couple of weeks ago, the team played a single-game elimination Wild Card playoff looking forward to facing the Dodgers, the team with the second best record in all of baseball, if they were victorious. Few believed they would survive a series against the Dodgers--but anything can happen in a five game series and the Nats were victorious and now have swept the Cardinals to be the first team into the 2019 World Series. The Nationals also win their first NL Pennant!

In the other series, yesterday the Astros defeated the Yankees 4-1 to take a 2-1 lead in their series. This is a series that I expect will go to at least 6 games given the strength of the teams. That is definitely a problem for the Nationals--sitting around watching rather than playing baseball. 

And so there are three teams remaining. Soon there will be two. I still like the Astros to take it all, but would not be disappointed to have a World Series trophy come to D.C. 

I checked Stub Hub this morning, standing room only tickets to World Series Game 3, the first to be played in D.C. on Friday October 25th, are starting at $750. I would need to start a Fundme page to go to the game. I am not too concerned about going to the game, however, because I will be at a tournament in Hershey, PA, with my very own GORC 12U Wildcats that weekend!

I love Baseball!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

A Darkness Descends

Under the Lights
GORC Park
Odenton, MD
October 9, 2019

I noticed how quickly darkness is descending while at baseball practice Wednesday evening. It used to be that darkness arrived about 8 PM, but now it is dark by 6:30. 

Having practice under the lights is becoming the normal way now. We are getting used to it, but during the summer it definitely was not the normal for practice. 

The season is definitely winding down. The grass is brown the fields are worn and the lack of rain has turned them into dust bowls. I remember the spring when we had to play around standing water and mud pits--now it is dust which gets into everything. 

And as darkness descends and the game goes on, we are squeezing the last bit of summer out of October. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Bucket Battle

Bucket Battle
The Gauntlet is Thrown
Odenton, MD
October 9, 2019

There was a humorous moment after baseball practice last evening. 

Bucket Battle 2
The Crowd Gets Serious
Odenton, MD
October 9, 2019

The team uses painters buckets, the big, 5 gallon plastic ones, to hold the baseballs that are used during practice. It is really nice that there are a couple dozen practice balls, but keeping them from becoming a ground safety hazard can be difficult and we use the buckets to corral them. That makes the balls confined and accessible for drills and batting practice. 

It seems that during practice a couple of the buckets got in the way of a drill and some enterprising team member stacked them together to clear the mess. That seemed like a good idea at the time, but it resulted in a post-practice scene where grown adults and boys attempted to separate the buckets--with no success. 

Bucket Battle 3
The Buckets are Winning
Odenton, MD
October 9, 2019

Over a short time, more and more people because involved in the bucket battle as time wore on, but to no avail. The stubborn buckets would not be separated. 

The best minds, and brawn, at practice last evening could not separate the buckets. AND, it is important to note that there are holes in the bottom of the buckets to help prevent just the situation that occurred. The holes allow air into the buckets and prevent the creation of a vacuum. 

As I left practice, the buckets had claimed victory and were being shuttled to a garage where tools could be applied to the situation. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Second Season

It is playoff time! Yes, baseball continues. 

And there is a local team actually in the playoffs-- the Washington Nationals. They won their wild card game and last night played the Dodgers in game 1 of the NLDS. For those who wonder about the abbreviation that is National League Division Series. 

OK, the Nationals got blown out 6-0. But they just need to get their feet under themselves. It is a five game series--so they could turn it around. History says that they won't--the team has a miserable record and has lost every post-season series they have been in except the recent Wild Card game that they won. 

It is sad that the Orioles are not anywhere near the playoffs. I was fairly close in my preseason prediction that they would wind 57 games--they won 54. I was hoping for a better performance. 

Baseball is into its October run, however, and there are some great teams chasing to be World Series winners. 

It will be fun to watch.

My prediction? Astros vs Dodgers with the Astros winning the World Series in 6 games. You read it here first.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Unsatisfying Result

It was a doubleheader Saturday and the GORC Cooperstown 12U headed to La Plata to play the Senators. 

Lunch Between the Games
La Plata, MD
September 28, 2019

It was a long drive. But everyone arrived ready to play the games. The day started cool due to the heavy overcast, which was great--but, we began the first game in a drenching rainstorm, which while keeping the dust down on the field also seemed to quench the intensity of our bats. The games ended under a burning sun. We managed only three runs over the two games. The final results were losses: 14-1 and 14-2. The mercy rule kicked in for both games. 

We made some good plays in the field, but the Senators bats were very hot and they were able to find holes in our infield and outfield all day. 

It was a learning experience!

We will be better for it next time. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

October Baseball

Major league baseball teams dream of playing October games because that means they are in the playoffs with a chance to play and win the World Series. 

The Orioles will not be playing in October this year. They are 51-106 .325 with five games remaining. They have bested the record of the 2018 Orioles who only won 47 games--but to say that there is improvement is searching for positives among the thorns. Last night they lost a 15 inning game 11-10 by virtue of a walk-off homer to the Blue Jays. They have two more games in Toronto and then it is off to Boston for the final three games of the season.

Practice 
GORC  Cooperstown 2020 Wildcats 12U
September 23, 2019

As for meaningful October games. the GORC  Cooperstown 2020 Wildcats 12U team will be playing the entire month. Yes, it is Fall Ball and while the normal autumn sports are being played, there will still be baseball to fill the void left by the Orioles departure. 

The team has played two games already, both losses--but close losses: 5-2, 8-6. There is a doubleheader on Saturday in La Plata against the Southern Maryland Senators that promises to be interesting. The Senators are one of the best teams in the area and it should be a true test for the team. And the baseball season continues even as the Orioles lick their wounds and try to figure out how not to lose 100 games or more next season. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Baseball is Back!

GORC U12 Cooperstown Team
GORC Field 8
August 19, 2019

Despite the obvious fact that football season is upon us and that the Orioles have tanked after showing signs of life during 
July, baseball has returned!

Last evening was the first practice for the GORC 12U Cooperstown Wildcats! The coaching staff was there, most of the boys were ready to play and the 95 degree temperatures on the field reminded us that this is not Spring baseball--it is Fall Ball! The field was in great shape, especially considering the torrential downpour that happened on Sunday afternoon. It was good to be back out in the dust of the diamond!

The road ahead of the team is long--it does not end until July when the team heads off to the mecca of baseball, Cooperstown, NY,  to play a week long tournament. 

As they say, one practice or game at a time, but off we go.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD