The Orioles finally did it. They finally got a walkoff win in the 2025 season. It’s one of those things that’s hard for me to believe, even though I know this team is bad and disappointing: Through their first 119 games, they did not walk anybody off. The Colorado Rockies have two walkoffs. The Chicago White Sox have three. These are terrible baseball teams. The Orioles, as much as they bum us out, are not on that level. In game 120, they finally got their walkoff. They are the last MLB team to do in 2025.
In true 2025 Orioles fashion, it was the kind of win where there was a real drag keeping you from feeling good about it in the moment. In the case of last night’s game, Yennier Cano blowing a 3-1 lead in the top of the ninth inning is what set up needing the walkoff in the bottom of the ninth to win it. Still, for the first time all year, saddled with that situation, the O’s offense came up big. The mega-slumping Dylan Carlson got a hit with two outs and then scored all the way from first as Jackson Holliday delivered what turned into a walkoff double. Check out Alex Church’s recap of the game for more of the lovely totals. Trevor Rogers was very good again.
For many households in Birdland, including mine, last night’s game comes after we received our notices about renewing Orioles season ticket plans for next season. My wife has had a 13-game plan for close t0 20 years and I’ve been part of that for most of our relationship. This is the level of plan that the Orioles are eliminating heading into the 2026 season, with the team executive put out to sell the changes offering disingenuous justifications about the necessity of doing it.
Not only is our plan being eliminated, but even if we were to choose to do what the Orioles would really like for us to do and renew at a new level of a 20-game plan, we will not be able to keep our same upper deck front row seats seats as we’ve had for the past several seasons. Indeed, the Orioles are going to charge us about the same amount of money per game to sit in worse seats than we’ve been enjoying. The overall expenditure, since it’s a much greater number of games, will be about 50% more.
Further, they’re going to make people like us park farther away. We have been able to purchase Lot B/C parking passes for each of our games. In 2026, 20-game plan holders have to go to either Lot D or F/G/H, a much more burdensome walk to and from the car. They’re probably going to charge us more money for that, too, although I haven’t actually looked at that yet.
There are perks on offer, so they say. One that they are crowing about is that people on 20-game plans will be able to have guaranteed access to giveaway items through a special members-only entrance on days of those games. There’s a crucial catch to this in the fine print, though, which is this: This guarantee only applies to games on your original plan. So if you want to change games to get a particular giveaway item because it’s not on your plan, you’re guaranteed jack squat. I take that back: You’re guaranteed to pay more money for switching games to the giveaway game, because that’s the Orioles method in recent years.
For those who don’t want to commit to 20 games, the team is offering a pathetic sop in the form of limited 10-game plans. I’m calling it a pathetic sop because I looked at what sections/rows the Orioles are making these plans available, and it’s an insult. Back rows of the upper deck sections down the baselines. That’s what you get. As far as I can tell, the 10-game plans will not come with any parking access, any discount off the face value of tickets for buying a plan, or any concession discount.
The 2025 Orioles have certainly not sparked the kind of joy to make me feel like I want to commit for 20 games next season. Nor has Mike Elias, with his behavior since the team started to emit a whiff of friskiness in June of 2022, done much to make me feel confident that if I commit blind to 2026, that he will do what needs to be done. Does he have the guts and the intellect to improve the existing, disappointing core of players while adding in impact talent from the outside, particularly on the pitching staff? I’m not so sure.
Maybe the players who we know will carry over to next year will be able to do some things over the season’s final 42 games to make us feel better about next year’s Orioles. Maybe they’ll be able to surprise the Seattle Mariners by doing some of that in today’s series finale. The O’s and Seattle close out the three-game set with a 1:05 scheduled start time. Logan Evans and Tomoyuki Sugano are the scheduled starting pitchers.
Orioles stuff you might have missed
Pitching prospect Michael Forret credits breakout to new pitch (The Baltimore Sun)
One of the good stories on the Orioles farm this year has been the development of Forret, the team’s 14th round pick two years ago. He’s just been promoted to Double-A, so hopefully he can keep going strong there the rest of the season.
Eflin talks about his upcoming surgery (School of Roch)
The surgery that Zach Eflin is getting next week comes with a 4-8 month recovery time, which is a pretty wide range to try to absorb and then project what he might end up doing on the free agent market. Eight months from now is the middle of next April, and if he needs a spring training-length ramp-up time after that, he won’t pitch until June. Eflin is staying positive about a “normal offseason” after 12 weeks.
Zach Eflin says he is considering returning to Orioles next season (The Baltimore Banner)
Based on precedent, it doesn’t much matter what the player wants because it only matters what Mike Elias wants, and so far, he has never wanted to re-sign one of his own guys.
Farm system midseason rankings (Baseball America)
Subscription required to view everything. BA’s ranking has the Orioles in 11th, after they were 17th in February. I think that feels about right. The system’s big weakness? Front-of-rotation pitching, especially at the high levels. We noticed.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Today in 2009, Felix Pie hit for the cycle as the Orioles beat the Angels, 16-6. Then-Angels manager Mike Scioscia was a jerk about Pie celebrating the triple, for which Scioscia deserves eternal mockery.
One Orioles legend was born on this day. The Earl of Baltimore, Earl Weaver, was born in 1930. If you haven’t read the recent biography of Weaver, The Last Manager by John W. Miller, you should really do so.
There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 1992 two-gamer Tommy Shields, 1993 outfielder Mark Leonard, and 1993 two-game pitcher Mike Cook. Today is Cook’s 62nd birthday, so an extra happy birthday to him.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you as well! Your birthday buddies for today include: O.K. corral figure Doc Holliday (1851), musician David Crosby (1941), actor/comedian Steve Martin (1945), basketball legend Magic Johnson (1959), actress Halle Berry (1966), and actress Mila Kunis (1983).
On this day in history…
In 1900, an Eight-Nation Alliance, of which the United States was part, occupied Beijing in China with the goal of ending the Boxer Rebellion.
In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, leading to the creation of the administration of the same name.
In 1969, British military forces were deployed into Northern Ireland in the aftermath of riots and sectarian violence over the previous days. This deployment, Operation Banner, lasted officially into 2007.
And that’s the way it is in Birdland on August 14. Have a safe Thursday. Go O’s!