Demolition Derby

I first read about the demolition Derby in Tom Wolfe’s “The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby”. The inventor realized tyhat fans responded to crashes so why not a race that was all crashes?

25 years ago yesterday. An obvious bad call.

25 Years Ago Today: 12-year-old Jeffrey Maier reaches over the wall and turns Derek Jeter's fly ball into a HR during Game 1 of the ALCS at Yankee Stadium! (October 9, 1996) #MLB #Yankees #Orioles #Postseason pic.twitter.com/DcPpdpO2h5
— Baseball by BSmile (@BSmile) October 9, 2021

25 years ago today, the 1996 #Yankees confirmed that it’s best to be both lucky and good.@thetrainingrim was there to see Jeter’s “Jeffrey Maier homer” and recalled his memories of the madness at Yankee Stadium: https://t.co/7zHNCTED9g
— Pinstripe Alley (@pinstripealley) October 9, 2021

The first Tommy John surgery was on September 25, 1974

Young people may not know that the surgery is named after major league pitcher Tommy John who had a fine career before and after the operation. I recommend the 30 for 30 short. John and Dr. Frank Jobe, who did the operation, really didn’t know what would happen when he pitched again.

On this day in 1974, in a revolutionary surgical operation, Dr. Frank Jobe repaired Tommy John's damaged UCL. The procedure, now known as Tommy John surgery, gave the southpaw, who was unlikely to ever be able to pitch again, an opportunity to post an additional 164 victories
— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) September 26, 2021

30 for 30 Shorts: Tommy and Frank

Happy 79th Birthday to Tommy John! After his revolutionary surgery in 1974 at age 31, Tommy won 164 more games, made three All-Star teams and was the NL Cy Young runner-up in '77. pic.twitter.com/znW0flHvsT
— 1974 Baseball Tweets (@1974Baseball) May 22, 2022

Tommy John Surgery list from @MLBPlayerAnalys

2x Tommy John club among active MLB pitchers that have made it back (via @MLBPlayerAnalys's TJ database):

Daniel Hudson
Cole Sulser
Nathan Eovaldi
Pete Fairbanks
Drew Rasmussen
Anderson Espinoza
Cole Ragans
Matt Bush
Jameson Taillon
Caleb Ferguson
Mike Clevinger
Kirby Yates https://t.co/p0CbTRIzyT
— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) August 23, 2022

Percentage of pitchers used in MLB who have had Tommy John surgery (excluding position players pitching), by season:

2016: 26.4% (190 different pitchers)
2017: 25.0% (183)
2018: 27.1% (202)
2019: 29.8% (230)
2020: 30.8% (220)
2021: 30.5% (260)
2022: 34.0% (274)
— Jon Roegele (@MLBPlayerAnalys) December 14, 2022

Percentage of MLB pitchers* who have had Tommy John surgery, by season:

2016: 27.4%
2017: 25.9%
2018: 28.5%
2019: 30.8%
2020: 32.0%
2021: 32.0%
2022: 34.4%
2023: 35.3%

* pitchers who pitched in MLB or spent entire season on MLB IL, not including position players pitching
— Jon Roegele (@MLBPlayerAnalys) October 16, 2023

Love this uni-stirrup-color combo! Tommy John @whitesox toiled on the South Side from 1965 to '71, going 82-80, with a 2.95 ERA (117 ERA+) and twice led the AL in shutouts. Is he a Hall of Famer? Won 288 in career, logged 4710.1 IP. His @sabr bio https://t.co/e3lmQrQGra pic.twitter.com/Y9U2zZEAH5
— SABR BioProject (@SABRbioproject) December 17, 2022

The bad news, Orioles fans: "sprains are tears" (@injuryexpert ©️). And reading an MRI can be far more art than science. To understand why a diagnosis can change after imaging, I went in an MRI tube and had the images evaluated last summer: https://t.co/RmXaROMcd6
— Travis Sawchik (@Travis_Sawchik) February 16, 2024

excellent article on MRIs and Tommy John operations

Tendon transfers had been used before, but they’d never been used in a baseball application. When Dr. Frank Jobe devised the procedure, he was up front with Tommy John about its chances of success.
“Probably one in 100.”
But, said Dr. Jobe, “if you don’t have the surgery, you’ll… pic.twitter.com/4cjvQ66QG3
— Jim Koenigsberger (@Jimfrombaseball) May 8, 2024

Blows my mind. pic.twitter.com/1GB2NxHPpY
— Baseball’s Greatest Moments (@BBGreatMoments) August 10, 2024

Great Washington Post story about baseball memories and Frank Howard

I’m sure lots of people remember the first game they went to. I certainly did.

I used to go to baseball autograph shows in the 1990s. Frank Howard was the nicest player I met. I got a photo signed for a buddy who had been a Senators fan. Howard’s inscription was so kind, you would think he was a friend.
— Harris Levy (@HarrisL585) August 21, 2021

The Orioles are historically bad

The 15 game losing streak has been tough to watch. They have tied or set all kinds of negative records along the way. They play the Braves now who have won 9 of 10.

The Orioles lost by 5 runs today, their 15th straight loss by multiple runs.

That is the longest streak in the Modern Era (since 1900). pic.twitter.com/u0pEUJ99YR
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 19, 2021

The 2021 Baltimore Orioles tonight joined the 1911 & 1935 Boston Braves as the only teams in the modern era with two 14+ losing streaks in the same season. Ryan Mountcastle and Cedric Mullins homered. It wasn’t enough. Shawn Armstrong closed it out.

FINAL: Rays, 8. Orioles, 4.
— Joe Trezza (@JoeTrezz) August 19, 2021

The Orioles have allowed 98 runs over their 10-game losing streak.

That's the most runs allowed by any team across a 10-game losing streak since the 1936 Athletics also allowed 98. pic.twitter.com/z1PE3iZfsV
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 14, 2021

Orioles suffer 15th straight loss, 7-2 to Rays, breaking tie for second-longest losing streak in franchise historyhttps://t.co/ZcBunXA6QM
— The Baltimore Sun (@baltimoresun) August 19, 2021

There was a gap between 1958 and 1987 in the list of longest Orioles losing streaks. They were good or great for most of that time.

For reference, the 1988 Orioles were outscored by “only” 85 runs during their season-opening 21-game losing streak. https://t.co/uOPgVfIbyB
— Nathan Ruiz (@NathanSRuiz) August 18, 2021

I saw Opening Day – they lost 12-0. That should have been a sign.

I told myself I wouldn’t do this but:

Over the past two months, Relish has twice as many wins at Camden Yards as the Orioles do.
— Nathan Ruiz (@NathanSRuiz) August 20, 2021

The Orioles have lost by 2+ runs in 16 straight games, the longest streak by any team since the 1876 Cincinnati Red Stockings (18).

That team went 9-56 in the first season of the National League and was disbanded 3 years later (the current Reds franchise joined in 1882).
— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) August 21, 2021

The Orioles have lost 16 consecutive games by multiple runs tying the 2nd-longest streak in MLB history.

The 1876 Cincinnati Red Stockings are the only team with a longer streak (18). pic.twitter.com/jlJ5x71TdS
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 21, 2021

Baseball Twitter accounts I follow

I live in Baltimore so some sites are about the Orioles. I will add to this list and try to sort it into categories

Retrosheet

@Retrosheet

Retrosheet.org has information on games going back to 1871. If you know when you saw a game, you can find the box score.

Would it dong?

@would_it_dong

In how many parks would that home run have been a home run?

Orioles Player Development

@OsPlayerDev

Official Twitter account for the Orioles minor league system. Prospect rankings are here.

Baseball Fight Club

@mlb_fights

Fights at games

MiLB-Transactions

@tombaseball29

Minor league and major league transactions

MLB Foreign Substance Checks

@StickyCheck

Checks of players by umpires

Nathan Ruiz

@NathanSRuiz

Baltimore Sun Orioles beat writer

Stats By STATS

@StatsBySTATS

Stats for baseball and other sports

EddieMurray33.com

@EddieMurray_33

Hall of Fame player has a Twitter account and web site. He’s my favorite Orioles player.

MLB Draft League

@mlbdraftleague

New baseball league sponsored by MLB

The 1971 Orioles: Daily Report

@1970Orioles

Now tweeting the 1971 season when the Orioles lost the World Series to the Pirates but had four pitchers who won 20 games

Minor League Promos

@MiLBPromos

promotions and giveaways in the minor leagues

Kevin Brown

@kevinnbrown

Orioles broadcaster

InsideAccess1057

@IA1057TheFan

Baltimore sports radio show

The Baseball Newsletter

@bbletter

Daily newsletter

Baseball History Nut

@nut_history

Old baseball photos

The Athletic Baltimore

@TheAthleticBAL

sports coverage

John Means

@JMeans25

Orioles best pitcher

Reading Fightin Phils

@ReadingFightins

Phillies AA team

Delmarva Shorebirds

@shorebirds

Orioles minor league team

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

@baseballhall

The Baseball HOF in Cooperstown

Mike Elias

@MElias

Orioles general manager

MASN

@masnsports

Orioles/Nationals TV network and a web site. Follow individual writers.

Anthony Santander

@roller_mvp

Orioles outfielder

Umpire Auditor

@UmpireAuditor

worst umpire calls

Grayson Rodriguez

@G_Rodriguez16

Top minor league Orioles pitching prospect

Baseball By The Book

@BaseballBookPod

podcast of interviews with authors of baseball books

Rich DubroffMLB

@RichDubroffMLB

covers the Orioles for Baltimorebasebll.com

Matt Kremnitzer

@mattkremnitzer

Orioles writer for Press Box Online

Cedric Mullins

@cedmull30

Orioles All-Star Outfielder

Gregg Olson

@GreggOlson30

Orioles closer in 1989/1990s

Baseball Prospectus

@baseballpro

Analysis

The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR)

@sabr

Baseball research

1960s Baseball

@Baseball1960s

Baseball history from the 1960s

O’s Stats & Facts

@BirdlandStats

Trivia and stats

Baltimore Negro Leagues

@BaltimoreEG

Elite Giant and Black Sox history

Jim Palmer

@Jim22Palmer

Hall of Fame Orioles pitcher

Ross Grimsley

@rgrimsley2

Orioles pitcher in the 1970s

Baseball Reference

@baseball_ref

Stats and history

Sporting News MLB

@sn_mlb

Baseball coverage

Eutaw Street Report

@EutawStReport

fan based Orioles site

MLB Communications

@MLB_PR

Major League Baseball Communications Department

The Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA)

@peloteros_MLB

The players association

Players who played in one major league game

Moonlight Graham from Field of Dreams was real.

Eddie Gaedel was a midget used as a stunt by Bill Veeck

From Moonlight Graham to Eddie Gaedel, check out @SABRbioproject to read stories on the "cup of coffee" players who appeared in just one @MLB game during their careers: https://t.co/9UUPEeXC0b #SABR #FieldOfDreamsGame pic.twitter.com/DPihJQQ5ut
— SABR (@sabr) August 12, 2021

Atheist night with the Mr. Paul Aints in 2015

I’m an atheist and think this was a great idea.

Why not Olympic poker?

It’s all about TV ratings. That’s why we have beach volleyball and skateboarding. When do we get Olympic monster trucks?

If Olympic TV ratings are low, they should consider making poker an Olympic event. It has as much connection to ancient Greece as beach volleyball and skateboarding do.
— Harris Levy (@HarrisL585) July 25, 2021

Steve Stone’s profile for the 1979 World Series

The News-American newspaper ran a special section when the Orioles appeared in the 1979 World Series. Steve Stone had some great notes in the profiles of the players.

As I recall….

One question was about their favorite magazine. Most players said something like Time and Playboy. Stone said Mother Jones.

Another question was about their favorite moment. Most said things like when they were married or their first major league appearance. Stone said it was his divorce.

Steve Stone, 1980 @Orioles pic.twitter.com/IEZglGHr7M
— Vintage Jerseys & Hats (@PolyesterUnis) December 31, 2021

Category: Sports