You Gotta Laugh – Orioles & Ravens Quotes
Nov 24, 2013; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith (82) runs onto the field prior to the game against the New York Jets at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
This is the third edition of a new feature here on The Baltimore Wire. We’ll pick out some of the best quotes from recent days and compile them in one place. The Orioles & Ravens will be the main focus, just as they are on the blog. But we will also pull in the Terps and other Maryland sports quotes and links to stories.
1. Curacao natives Jonathan Schoop and the Braves’ shortstop Andrelton Simmons …
These two players lived only a few miles apart on Curacao and were high school rivals, and though they talked before the game, when Schoop made it to second base he refused to get into a conversation. Buck Showalter noted this and said, “Jonathan’s trying to make the club. I’m watching and this guy is trying to engage him and get Jonathan to talk, and Jonathan won’t even acknowledge him. … I was watching. He was like, ‘I’m not messing around here at all.’”
Later Schoop said to Showalter about how close they lived to one another, “Buck, the island is only 100 miles long, if that. Everybody’s a neighbor.”
2. The North Carolina boy who cried when his favorite player Steve Smith was traded …
The video of this little boy’s meltdown went viral. Smith said upon finding out about this, “I gotta meet him and hook him up with some new Ravens gear” … which he did. An article about this little boy named Gavin can be found here.
3. Steve Smith is pulled over by the cops while talking on a live sports show …
While driving and doing a live interview on ESPN radio’s “The Dan Le Batard Show,” Steve Smith was pulled over by the police. He of course assumed he was getting a ticket for cell phone use (I don’t know what state he was in at the time.). After being gone a few minutes he returned to the call to say that he did not get busted at all. Trying to explain what happened, Smith said, “Nah, you know. Uh, hey, a brother driving a nice car … You know, sometimes they got to make sure it all matches up.”
4. In a David Lough interview with MASN’s Roch Kubatko …
The new Orioles outfielder is obviously liking his new team and said, “I led off, just trying to get on base, and look what happens when I get on base. I score runs. Look who’s hitting behind me. It’s an army behind me. It really is. It’s awesome.”
5. Smithsburg, Maryland / Smiths of the Ravens …
As I had written earlier in an article, the Ravens now have four “Smiths” on the team: Torrey Smith, Steve Smith, Daryl Smith, and Jimmy Smith. One other NFL team has three. But here is a quick little article about a real town named Smithsburg, MD. This is humorous for me since I live close to this place in Washington County. The article even quotes my friend the mayor – Mickey Myers.
6. The Carroll County Times had an interview with Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti …
Regarding his desire to retain and extend Torrey Smith who is in the last year of his rookie contract … “Nothing would make me happier.” He also said he ran into Smith’s agent Drew Rosenhaus who told the owner he would be getting together soon with Ozzie Newsome and Torrey. And when Bisciotti said, “We’ve got to get that done,” Rosenhaus said, “I’ll tell them you said that!”
7. Regarding what appears to be a good Orioles trade of Alex Gonzalez for Steve Lombardozzi …
Detroit baseball writers don’t seem to be overwhelmed with this deal. Our own network’s Tigers site said, “So that whole ‘we’re comfortable with our internal options at shortstop’ bit? Yeah, that was a complete lie, apparently.” And Ken Rosenthal initially tweeted, “Difficult to grasp Lombardozzi-for-A. Gonzalez for #Tigers unless DET getting another piece. Lombo solid UTL. AGon is 37, 65G last 2 years.”
8. Jeremy Zuttah – an addition to the Ravens’ offensive line – is not completely impressing everyone…
Though it is true that a NFL metrics analysis listed Gino Gradkowski as the worst center in the league, it had Zuttah as only #22. And so Mike Preston of the Sun wrote of this move, “Oh sure, Zuttah is better than Gino Gradkowski, who started at center last season for the Ravens. But if grades were given out, the Ravens went from a D with Gradkowski to C or C- with Zuttah.”
9. Not humorous, but included here as a great quote from Buck Showalter (talking about where Lough might hit in the order) …
“Sometimes, there’s not that big of a difference between a one- and nine-hole hitter in a good lineup. Both are very important.” Exactly… is a quote worth more than a Buck.