More Deck Chair Stuff, Wake me when we get players

I saw that Bill. For everyone else, here is Roch's take.
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The new hires

Andy MacPhail is turning to the Orioles' family, and his own.

His hiring of John Shelby as first base coach should warm a few hearts, since Shelby is so closely associated with the 1983 World Series team. I'll remember T-Bone more for his throw to the plate that nailed a Milwaukee runner -- OK, so I don't remember which Brewer -- during that final weekend series in '82. Rick Dempsey applied the tag as Shelby watched from his stomach after his momentum from the throw sent him flying forward.

Shelby also will work with the outfielders, and he can assist in baserunning drills. And maybe flash that World Series ring to remind everyone why they're gathering each morning and being subjected to a litany of monotonous drills at Fort Lauderdale Stadium.

It's hard to believe that Shelby spent 14 seasons in the Dodgers' system.

MacPhail also hired his nephew, Lee IV, as a special assistant. We'll find out more about his duties later. But I bet they'll be special.

I'm most excited to have Brian Graham back in the system, this time as a special assignment coach for the minor leagues.

The poor guy never gets a normal title here. In 2000, he was "offensive and defensive coordinator coach." Maybe he should be calling plays for the Ravens instead of Brian Billick. His red-zone efficiency has to be better. And just wait until you see his blitz package.

The Orioles referred to Graham as an "eye in the sky" in 2000. Manager Mike Hargrove would have preferred "first base coach," Graham's title in Cleveland for two seasons, but that job already was taken. Graham lasted one year because he had no interest in watching the games from the press box in his street clothes. His talents were wasted.

Graham has a wonderful sense of humor. That's not essential to winning, but it's a nice quality. He's the kind of guy you want to hang out with after games and swap stories. His will always be more entertaining. And he always struck me as a keen judge of talent and a quality instructor. I'm not sure how you'd grade his work with the Pirates, who removed him as their director of player development after six seasons, but I think the Orioles are lucky to have him. Great hire.

I campaigned for his return in a recent blog entry. I'm not saying anyone was listening, but it's nice to be right once in a while.

Posted by Roch Kubatko on October 30, 2007 5:45 PM |
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Quote:

I'm not sure how you'd grade his work with the Pirates, who removed him as their director of player development after six seasons, but I think the Orioles are lucky to have him. Great hire.

Yes, great! The only team to have more consecutive losing seasons than the Orioles is Pittsburgh--and they fired him. But after a few beers he tells funny stories. Great hire!



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 >> Stay informed about: More Deck Chair Stuff, Wake me when we get players 

Well the beers drown out the memory of all those losing seasons!

The deck chairs continue to rearrange: Paul Bako has filed for free agency.
 >> Stay informed about: More Deck Chair Stuff, Wake me when we get players 

joepepsi wrote:

Well the beers drown out the memory of all those losing seasons!

To get an idea of what following a MLB team is supposed to be like, click here:

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/



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Wow Great photo! Must have been millions at the parade! That's better than our Maple Leaf parade for Oktoberfest.
 >> Stay informed about: More Deck Chair Stuff, Wake me when we get players 

That's good stuff, Boog. A Skywriter! Man, it's been years since I have seen one of those messages in the sky. I remember as a kid, I thought that was the most incredible thing I had ever seen. To this day I can't figure out how they do that!
 >> Stay informed about: More Deck Chair Stuff, Wake me when we get players 

Bench coach hired. $20 to the one of youse that could pick him out of a police lineup, although I think Boog could.

Quote:

Trembley makes room on bench Source: Manager set to hire Jauss as bench coach, completing staff overhaul By Jeff Zrebiec http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-sp.meetings06nov06,0,3902573.story November 6, 2007 LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. Click here to find out more! The first day of baseball's general managers meetings came and went quietly, though the Orioles managed to get one thing accomplished. A team source said manager Dave Trembley is set to hire Dave Jauss as bench coach, which would complete an aggressive overhaul of the Orioles' coaching staff. Jauss spent the past two seasons as the Los Angeles Dodgers' bench coach under manager Grady Little, who resigned last week and was replaced by former New York Yankees manager Joe Torre. Trembley was unavailable to comment yesterday, but a source said the Orioles might announce the hiring as early as today. Jauss, 50, is the fourth addition to Trembley's coaching staff since August, joining pitching coach Rick Kranitz, first base coach John Shelby and bullpen coach Alan Dunn. Hitting coach Terry Crowley and third base coach Juan Samuel are the only coaches from last season's Opening Day staff that will return in the same capacity under Trembley, who started last season as the team's bullpen coach and was promoted to manager when Sam Perlozzo was fired. Before spending the past two seasons next to Little on the Dodgers' bench, Jauss performed a variety of duties for the Boston Red Sox. He was their first base coach from 1997 to 1999, their minor league field coordinator in 2000, their bench coach in 2001, their director of player development in 2002 and an advance scout from 2003 to 2005. He also managed three seasons in the Montreal Expos' system and was the Eastern League Manager of the Year with the Harrisburg Senators in 1994. Trembley still is looking to add coaches to serve as bullpen catchers and throw batting practice after Sammy Snider, Rudy Arias and Orlando Gomez were not asked back to the major league staff for next season. Gomez most likely will stay in the organization and work with one of the Orioles' Single-A affiliates. Trembley viewed finalizing the major league staff, an arduous task with the Orioles manager getting more than 100 calls from interested coaching candidates, as an important first accomplishment of the offseason. The next step will be trying to improve the Orioles' roster, a process that could start this week at the GM meetings. Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail and executive vice president Mike Flanagan arrived at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress resort at 4:30 p.m. They exchanged pleasantries with New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman, who also was checking in, and retreated to their rooms. MacPhail said he would touch base with several GMs last night at a cocktail hour and then formulate a schedule for the rest of the meetings, which end Thursday morning. The Orioles' executives will spend most of the week talking to other clubs and gauging interest in their players. Though MacPhail didn't rule it out, the Orioles don't figure to be very active in the free-agent market, but there also are plenty of agents attending the meetings. "I'm looking forward to it," MacPhail said of talks with other clubs. "It will be an opportunity to watch my friends try to pick my pocket. It should be exciting."

 >> Stay informed about: More Deck Chair Stuff, Wake me when we get players 

Guys just wondering if this place is so quiet cause the season's over now?

This Oriole forum is the only one with activity for about a week...
 >> Stay informed about: More Deck Chair Stuff, Wake me when we get players 

Mr. Monster, you have stumbled upon a group of guys that know the O's inside and out. We've done all the talking that we can about this organization as it's the same story year after year. After a while, we don't even have to post, I already know today what Boog will post and mojo, joesodie, bill etc. You see we've been doing this for years going from board to board....as one board ceases to exist we move along.......but again, that's the only change in our lives the board location as the O's keep doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result....insane isn't it?

So yes, it's slow because the season is over, it's slow as we await the next rebuilding phase or shall I say the actual first one?, it's slow because I already know joepep will soon read my post and say...."What Lester said and Mike Lamb for the hall of fame!"..........it's like that with familys.
 >> Stay informed about: More Deck Chair Stuff, Wake me when we get players 

What Lester said and Mike Lamb for the hall of fame!

He greg! I've started a new board.
 >> Stay informed about: More Deck Chair Stuff, Wake me when we get players 

What Lester said. Our little group has hung together for many years.

Often, talking about the O's can actually be more interesting in the offseason--when one can speculate about what they might do, what they should do, what they will do, and what they have done. There's a lot of room there for analysis and discussion. During the regular season it's not overly exciting to talk about another long year of losing baseball, and games that have become virtually meaningless by late June. Kind of gets old.


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What I meant to say was:

The Oriole forum is the ONLY one with ANY activity for about a week now.

You guys are the only ones here....


joepep: what is the address for your board?
 >> Stay informed about: More Deck Chair Stuff, Wake me when we get players 

Here it is greg: http://unawarehouse.freebb.com/viewforum.php?f=3

I just started it yesterday and got it working this morning. Please register and start a topic.

I'll paste an article for a topic to get the ball rolling too.
 >> Stay informed about: More Deck Chair Stuff, Wake me when we get players