About Andrew Stetka

Andrew is a Bel Air, MD native who moved to Arizona in February 2011 and brought his passion for Baltimore sports to the desert. He previously worked at 105.7 The Fan in Baltimore as a producer and weekend host and is now a writer and editor for a national newswire that services thousands of radio stations across the country. Andrew grew up attending Orioles and Ravens games throughout his childhood and also went to many sporting events at Towson University and the University of Maryland including Football, Basketball and Lacrosse. He not only brings a great view from afar at the local Baltimore sports scene, but also has a unique national view on Charm City. You can follow Andrew on Twitter: @AStetka

Baltimore Won’t Get the All-Star Game: Here’s Why

Posted on April 8, 2021 by Andrew Stetka

sun setting on brick building and camden yards

When Major League Baseball announced last week it was moving July’s All-Star Game out of Atlanta (more accurately Cobb County, Georgia), I could hear the sound of Orioles fans everywhere licking their lips in anticipation. It was kind of gross. Folks were excited about the prospect of the Midsummer Classic making its long-awaited return to Oriole Park at Camden Yards for the first time since 1993. I just kind of shrugged, because I knew it wasn’t going to happen. I was a bright-eyed four-year-old kid that hot summer night in […]

Nick Markakis’ Simple Legacy with the O’s

Posted on March 14, 2021 by Andrew Stetka

baseball player running after hitting ball

The news that Nick Markakis is retiring from baseball was about as understated and nonchalant as his remarkable career. The 37-year-old announced he’d be calling it quits after 15 seasons in the big leagues, finishing with a .288/.357/.423 line, with 2,388 base hits. It was always a long shot, but last season’s pandemic-shortened season probably tanked his effort at the elusive 3,000-hit mark. Markakis spent his first nine seasons in Baltimore, playing for the team that drafted him seventh overall in 2003. He left after the memorable 2014 campaign in […]

Awaiting Beards & Bellies

Posted on February 15, 2021 by Andrew Stetka

**Taps mic** Is this thing on? Can you hear me? Okay, good. Let’s try this. It’s been a while. In looking back at the archives of my musings on this website, I realized I hadn’t written anything since July of last year. That’s right before the abbreviated 60-game season began right in the midst of a pandemic that is still raging throughout the world. And now here we are again, with baseball, like the seasons, coming back into our lives. My absence in writing since then can only be chalked […]

Thursday Thoughts: Here We Go…I Guess?

Posted on July 23, 2020 by Andrew Stetka

sunset view of oriole park at camden yards

1. With the Orioles set to embark on what is sure to be the weirdest of their 65+ seasons in Baltimore, things are still extremely weird and uncomfortable in the world around them. It’s not even really a world around them, it’s the world they’re directly living in. It’s the same one we’re all living in, and it hasn’t seemed to get much better since mid-March, when sports as a whole were put on hold. But now baseball’s back, for better or potentially worse. I’m still not convinced it’s the […]

Baseball’s Back…But At What Cost?

Posted on June 24, 2020 by Andrew Stetka

game at camden yards with no one in stands

It’s been a hell of a few months for all of us, not just as Orioles fans or even as baseball fans, but as humanity. The world has been turned upside down by a global pandemic, and the baseball world is no exception to that. You’ll quickly notice that there is more to all of this than meets the eye. It’s not about the game or the Orioles. It’s not about their rebuild, their draft, or their draft position next year. Baseball just went through something horrific. It was a […]

(Belated) Thursday Thoughts: O’s Shake Up the Booth

Posted on March 4, 2020 by Andrew Stetka

Chris Davis in Grapefruit League action.

(Ed note: Andrew submitted this last week as part of his regular Thursday Thoughts series. Due to some technical issues, we weren’t able to post it until today.) 1. The Orioles made a number of changes to freshen up their broadcasting team recently, as games got started down in Sarasota. We’ve heard from a number of the voices that will be on the call through both television broadcasts on MASN and on the Orioles Radio Network, but there are also some new ones to add to the mix. It includes […]

Thursday Thoughts: Who the Heck Are These Guys?

Posted on February 13, 2020 by Andrew Stetka

1. Spring training is here and for the Orioles, it’s really a game of “who is he?” that will be played for the next six weeks. We always knew this would be the case, but it has never been more evident than through watching the team’s social media and realizing that the pitchers and catchers reporting this week really are a bunch of nobodies. Even players like All-Star John Means and top draft pick Adley Rutschman are included in that category. Means might have made the roster for last season’s […]

Thursday Thoughts: Showalter Shunned in Houston

Posted on January 30, 2020 by Andrew Stetka

It’s still cold and the Super Bowl has yet to be played, but Spring Training is right around the corner. Now I’m peeking out from around a different corner to see if this thing still works the way it used to. It’s been a while since I’ve written in this space. It’s probably been even longer since you’ve read any of it. Toward the end of last baseball season, interest in the Orioles seemed to dwindle. Losing 108 games will do that to a fanbase. But the O’s are still […]

Thursday Thoughts: Orioles Right to Extend Netting at OPACY

Posted on July 18, 2019 by Andrew Stetka

stadium at camen yards during practice with mostly empty seats

1. I was only mildly surprised by Saturday’s Andrew Cashner trade, and really only for a second. It makes total sense that the O’s would deal Cashner, who had put up some decent numbers this season prior to his Boston debut the other night. What shocked me more than the trade, however, was the reaction to it. I guess I haven’t adjusted my brain to be able to deal with Orioles fans who expect anything other than misery for at least the next five years. This is year one of that, […]

Thursday Thoughts: Don’t Buy Into The Fan’s Manny Shtick

Posted on June 27, 2019 by Andrew Stetka

After a brief hiatus, Andrew Stetka returns with his Thursday Thoughts column for ESR. 1. I was pleasantly surprised, for the most part, in the crowd’s reaction to Manny Machado’s return to Baltimore this week. It’s not that I expected to hear overwhelming booing from the fans, but I expected to hear more of it than I did. It’s great that, at least over the TV broadcast, it couldn’t really be heard at all. It looked all positive for Machado, who deserved all positive. Machado provided Orioles fans with some […]

Thursday Thoughts: Bad News Birds

Posted on May 23, 2019 by Andrew Stetka

girls softball team with jerseys on that say bears

This is a weekly column that dives into some random thoughts about the Orioles/MLB. I used to do eight as a nod to Cal Ripken Jr. A couple years back, I cut it down to four or five, so consider it the Earl Weaver/Brooks Robinson era of Thursday Thoughts. (Today we have a Billy Ripken version) – A.S. 1. If you’ve watched the last week or two of Orioles baseball, I applaud you. You must really enjoy pain and agony. That, or you are locked in a dungeon somewhere and […]

Thursday Thoughts: Vegas Rumors, Anderson’s Status, & More

Posted on May 9, 2019 by Andrew Stetka

A panoramic shot of Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

This is a weekly column that dives into some random thoughts about the Orioles/MLB. I used to do eight as a nod to Cal Ripken Jr. A couple years back, I cut it down to four or five, so consider it the Earl Weaver/Brooks Robinson era of Thursday Thoughts. (Today we have a Billy Ripken version) – A.S. 1. It was so silly to me to hear all of the scuttlebutt regarding the Orioles potentially moving to Las Vegas over the last week. It all stemmed from an interview given […]

Thursday Thoughts: Locking Up Mancini Would Make Little Sense

Posted on May 2, 2019 by Andrew Stetka

Trey Mancini catches a ball at first base.

This is a weekly column that dives into some random thoughts about the Orioles/MLB. I used to do eight as a nod to Cal Ripken Jr. A couple years back, I cut it down to four or five, so consider it the Earl Weaver/Brooks Robinson era of Thursday Thoughts. (Today we have a Billy Ripken version) – A.S. 1. There’s been some bluster over the last few weeks about the fact that the Orioles are one of a handful of teams that haven’t handed out an extension to any players. […]

Thursday Thoughts: Stop the Position-Player-Pitching Madness

Posted on April 25, 2019 by Andrew Stetka

This is a weekly column that dives into some random thoughts about the Orioles/MLB. I used to do eight as a nod to Cal Ripken Jr. A couple years back, I cut it down to four or five, so consider it the Earl Weaver/Brooks Robinson era of Thursday Thoughts. (Today we have a Billy Ripken version) – A.S. 1. No one should be surprised at the demotion this week of Orioles center fielder Cedric Mullins. Neither fans, nor coaches or even Mullins himself can fret at the fact that he […]

Thursday Thoughts: Expectations, No-Hit Bids, & The Davis Problem

Posted on April 4, 2019 by Andrew Stetka

1. There’s no question that the Orioles’ hot start is exciting. Even after coming into the season expecting the worst from this team, there’s always a desire to watch a winning baseball team. Who knows how long the O’s will keep up their winning ways, but when you anticipate a lot of losses coming in, you learn to appreciate victories even more. I’ve written a lot about expectations over the last handful of seasons. This season’s are obviously the lowest they’ve been in perhaps seven or eight years. It’s important […]

Thursday Thoughts: Buckling Up is Done, Now We Strap In

Posted on March 21, 2019 by Andrew Stetka

1. As we all come out of hibernation and rub our eyes to awaken before baseball season, let’s not be too afraid of what we’re expected to encounter as Orioles fans. This one is going to be rough. Like, really rough. Let’s also remember that baseball is fun, and actually, already underway. The Mariners and A’s have taken care of that over in Japan with a pair of regular season games. 2. The only thing I’ve been able to think about regarding the 2019 Orioles thus far is how painful […]

Thursday Thoughts: Mike Mussina Get His Hall of Fame Nod

Posted on January 24, 2019 by Andrew Stetka

Congrats to The Moose In his sixth year of eligibility, former Orioles ace Mike Mussina is finally headed to Cooperstown. “Moose” was elected to the Hall of Fame earlier this week with 76.7% of the vote (needing 75%). He’ll be joined in this year’s class by Mariano Rivera, Edgar Martinez and Roy Halladay, who will go in posthumously after tragically passing away late in 2017. Fellow former Orioles Lee Smith and Harold Baines will also be enshrined this summer in upstate New York after being selected in December by the […]

Thoughts on the Hiring of Mike Elias

Posted on November 17, 2018 by Andrew Stetka

The Orioles have a new leader in place of their front office, following a harrowing six weeks that left fans in limbo. Mike Elias has been hired as the team’s Executive Vice President and General Manager. He will take over all of the team’s baseball operations, and according to the club, has “full autonomy” to build a staff and make the decisions. This is where you insert the “shocked face” GIF. Let’s first take a step back and think about what the last month-plus has been like for Orioles supporters. […]

Thursday Thoughts: Limping to the Finish Line

Posted on September 27, 2018 by Andrew Stetka

This is a weekly column that dives into some random thoughts about the Orioles/MLB. I used to do eight as a nod to Cal Ripken Jr. As of last year, I cut it down to four or five, so consider it the Earl Weaver/Brooks Robinson era of Thursday Thoughts. – A.S. 1. Welcome back to Thursday Thoughts. I’ve been limping to the end of this abysmal season just like the baseball team in Baltimore. If you hadn’t noticed, we took a few weeks off here at Thursday Thoughts, and for […]

Thursday Thoughts: Bundy, Andreoli, & 2019 Schedule

Posted on August 23, 2018 by Andrew Stetka

This is a weekly column that dives into some random thoughts about the Orioles/MLB. I used to do eight as a nod to Cal Ripken Jr. As of last year, I cut it down to four or five, so consider it the Earl Weaver/Brooks Robinson era of Thursday Thoughts. (Today we have a Billy Ripken version) – A.S. Before we get going with this week’s Thoughts, I want to do a real quick shameless plug. I spoke with Justin McGuire of the Locked On Orioles podcast yesterday about a piece […]

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