Baltimore Orioles: Thoughts From a Great Baseball Mind
By Nate Wardle
On Tuesday, I got the opportunity to attend a luncheon held by the York Revolution, an Independent League team in York, Pa. in which Tim Kurkjian was the guest speaker.
Kurkjian, of course, used to work for The Baltimore Sun and cover the Baltimore Orioles, before going to first Sports Illustrated and then ESPN.
Kurkjian spent several minutes of his remarks on comments relevant to the Orioles. He spoke of Brooks Robinson, who he called “one of the greatest players ever, and also one of the greatest men.” He said how cool it was to park in the Brooks Robinson parking lot, as Brooks is a part owner of the Revolution.
Kurkjian went from talking about Brooks to talking about Frank, and said that Brooks once told Kurkjian that when Frank Robinson joined the Orioles, the team learned how to win. Kurkjian commented that that taught you everything you needed to know about Frank Robinson.
Kurkjian also discussed pitching great Jim Palmer, who never left up a grand slam in his career. In fact, Palmer once told Kurkjian that he would walk guys on purpose with the bases loaded so he didn’t leave up a grand slam.
As for this year’s team, Kurkjian says they are certainly going to be competitive. He added that he doesn’t agree with some of the moves they made in the offseason, but adds that as long as they have one of the greatest minds in baseball history managing the team, in Buck Showalter, the Orioles will be fine.
He was later asked about instant replay during the Q&A session, and that brought him back to Buck. Buck argued to the replay committee, now what if I come out and argue that a ball didn’t clear the fence, but if I see on replay the guy who was on first didn’t touch second base, can I argue that too? The replay committee had no answer, they had never thought about it.
Kurkjian says that is the attention to detail that Buck brings to the Baltimore Orioles, which will make them competitive every time out.
Kurkjian wrapped up by talking about how the baseball season is a grind, and you have to love the game. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to get the grind started!