About Michael O'Nair

The Media Watchdog has been lurking, observing the local and national sports media for quite some time. He’s connected, in it and clandestine. Like Batman is to Bruce Wayne, the Media Watchdog is to Michael O’Nair.

Reasons for O’s Fans to be Optimistic in 2019

Posted on March 29, 2019 by Michael O'Nair

view of brick building directly behind camden yards with scoreboard

The Baltimore Orioles are heading into an important season in franchise history, even if they aren’t expecting to become competitive in the American League East right away. The team is undergoing an overhaul to where they are hoping that they can get back to the top of the American League in the near future, meaning that the most important thing for the Baltimore Orioles is finding out exactly what they have going forward. As is expected when going through a rebuild like the one that the Orioles are currently on, […]

Sportsbooks Hold Out Little Hope for the Orioles

Posted on March 28, 2019 by Michael O'Nair

sunset view of oriole park at camden yards

The forlorn-looking Orioles are praying for a brighter 2019. The 2018 season was not a fun one for Orioles fans. They suffered an eye-watering 115 losses and recorded the worst win percentage in the league. It was a long, hard season, and there seems little hope of 2019 being any brighter. Unsurprisingly, the Orioles underwent a significant spring cleaning of their hierarchy in the offseason, letting manager Buck Showalter walk, along with general manager Dan Duquette. The team’s new management team involves Mike Elias and head coach Brandon Hyde, formerly […]

Age-27 Rule is a Baseball Myth

Posted on February 1, 2019 by Michael O'Nair

For a long time, it was said that baseball players reach their prime at the age of 27. It has, of course, been debunked as a myth – there is no rule that can ever state when an individual athlete reaches his or her peak age in sports. Besides, there is the new peak age for athletes in every generation, considering the ever newer and more efficient training techniques and nutrition regimens becoming increasingly widespread. This might be the reason why the peak performance of athletes in various sports has […]

Did You Know These Celebrities are O’s Fans?

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Michael O'Nair

Photo by Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil / CC BY 3.0 BR We like celebrities. We love Orioles fans. These are two fine groups of people who usually have nothing in common. So, it’s something special when famous celebs and Orioles fans overlap as one and the same. Get it? We’re talking about well-known showbiz types and athletes who happen to have exquisite baseball tastes of the Baltimore variety. And we especially love seeing famous fans repping the team when they step out in O’s swag. It might be Edward Norton plugging healthy veggie juice on […]

Can Anything Help the 2019 Orioles?

Posted on January 21, 2019 by Michael O'Nair

partial view of brick building and entrance to camden yards

Baltimore finished the season laying on the floor of the AL East. The 2018 season was close to as bad as it gets; less than 50 wins. But the bright side about all of this bad, is there is no where to go but up! Top betting websites such as 5Dimes don’t expect the Os to even be near contention for playing in the Fall Classic. But, with some trades and big moves they can pick themselves up from the bottom of the dredges and wipe the mud off. What […]

Should O’s Consider Buying These Free Agents?

Posted on November 23, 2018 by Michael O'Nair

Jeremy Hellickson stands on the mound as an Indians player rounds the bases behind him.

The Orioles have a lot of depth in the squad. So many of you might be thinking, do we even need to make additions to the squad in the offseason? But the Orioles rotation has been a problem for some time now and it looks as though none of the current players can offer a solution. A possible solution could be to sign an experienced player who can offer consistency throughout the year. It does not need to be a high profile athlete who will cost us dearly. There are […]

Will the Orioles Draft Bobby Witt Jr. First Overall?

Posted on November 1, 2018 by Michael O'Nair

For just the second time in franchise history, the Baltimore Orioles hold the first overall pick ahead of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft. The Orioles laboured to a 47-115 record in 2018, crawling past the Detroit Tigers’ 43 regular season wins from 2003. Baltimore snapped a six-year run of selecting in the top five back in 2013 but the Orioles have unfortunately slipped back down the MLB pecking order. The three-time World Series winners have reached the playoffs five times since their most recent success in baseball’s showpiece series […]

How Do the O’s Approach the Offseason and 2019?

Posted on October 26, 2018 by Michael O'Nair

maryland orioles player holding metal bar on shoulder

It was a dismal season from the Baltimore Orioles, with the only real solace being that they met the record of the appalling 2003 Detroit Tigers of 43-108 with games in hand. Regardless of the record, the baseball played by the Orioles over the course of the 2018 season was on par, if not worse than that of the ’03 Tigers. Thankfully, in the MLB, there are rewards for enduring a season of hardship, which comes in the form of getting the first overall pick in the amateur draft. It’s […]

MEDIA WATCHDOG: A Vote For 105.7 The Fan

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Michael O'Nair

metal baseball honoring player in stone work of side of building

Baltimore is crazy about the World Cup Did anyone work yesterday? It sure didn’t seem like it. I’m not complaining, I was one of many at a local watering hole on Thursday afternoon watching the U.S. take on Germany in their final match of the group stage in the FIFA World Cup. Based on what I saw, Baltimore does indeed have World Cup fever. I guess the local television ratings were right, though I’m still struggling to figure out why there’s such an avid soccer fan base in Charm City. […]

MEDIA WATCHDOG: Manfra Set to Return

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Michael O'Nair

orioles player talking to man while leaning on fence

Fred Manfra Aiming For July 1 Return Amidst his amazing call of Nelson Cruz’s home run, Joe Angel revealed that his broadcast partner Fred Manfra is targeting a return to the Orioles radio booth on July 1. Manfra underwent hip replacement surgery in April and suffered a setback in his recovery in May that required a second surgery. “Everything’s going well,” Manfra told the Baltimore Sun’s Peter Schmuck in June. “A pin slipped, and I had a second surgery two weeks ago. Hopefully, this one will take.” The second surgery […]

MEDIA WATCHDOG: MASN’s Machado Exclusive – Fair or Foul?

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Michael O'Nair

baltimore orioles player being interviewed

After Sunday’s game, an emotional Manny Machado initially denied chucking his bat toward the Oakland A’s infield intentionally. There wasn’t a person in the world who believed him — not after seeing the downward spiral of events that began on Friday night and eventually led to his outburst two days later. In response to the PR crap storm that was brewing over Charm City, Machado (and likely the Orioles) decided to apologize in an exclusive interview with MASNSports.com’s Roch Kubatko. Essentially, this was the video version of Machado issuing an […]

MEDIA WATCHDOG: Washington, D.C. – Birdland

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Michael O'Nair

map showing nationals park and orioles camden yards

If you’ve been watching Orioles games on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network this season, you’ve likely seen the nightly “This Is Birdland” feature after a commercial break. Essentially, the Orioles broadcasts show a few scenic highlights of a place where O’s fans are located. Some of the places include Annapolis, Towson, Westminster and recently, Washington D.C. As you can imagine, that last one has rubbed some people the wrong way. The Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg wrote this week that MASN was trolling Nats fans with such a bold proclamation during their […]

MEDIA WATCHDOG: In Defense of “Cakes”

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Michael O'Nair

man in suit with hand up waving standing next to statue

There are a lot of stupid opinions among Baltimore sports fans. Just turn on 105.7 right now, you’re bound to hear one in about ten seconds. I shouldn’t just single out our city though. If I were to be entirely honest, it’s not just Baltimore. Fans are stupid everywhere; it’s just showcased in local sports talk radio. Each fanbase has it’s own unique stupidity. As we rapidly approach the start of the Major League Baseball season (well, the North American start of the Major League Baseball season), I’m reminded of […]

MEDIA WATCHDOG: New Technology Coming to MASN

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Michael O'Nair

baseball field showing players and stats

That whole “baseball is dying” narrative is an annoying, lazy and (not surprisingly) false story line about America’s past time. Yet you still see it, read it and hear it everywhere, usually around this time of year. Just last week, ESPN ran a poll that claimed that Major League Soccer was more popular among kids than Major League Baseball. Deadspin quickly debunked that story. Baseball has a rich history and will always have its place in our country. As Terrance Mann famously says in Field of Dreams, “America has rolled […]

MEDIA WATCHDOG: O’s/Nats MASN Marriage Won’t Last Forever

Posted on March 7, 2014 by Michael O'Nair

Eventually there will come a day when the Washington Nationals won’t be on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network. Major League Baseball has got to stop sending the Lerner family checks to financially compensate them for the bad television deal they were forced to sign with Orioles owner Peter Angelos in order to enter his broadcast turf. The whole thing is a mess and likely won’t be fixed until after commissioner Bud Selig is gone, but mark my words: it’s going to happen — even if it doesn’t end pretty. The next […]

MEDIA WATCHDOG: MASN Listens to Whiners, Eliminates Split Booth

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Michael O'Nair

guy wearing hat backwards holding microphone giving thumbs up

Good news seems to be emanating out of the Warehouse of late. No, I’m not referring to the Ubaldo Jimenez and/or Nelson Cruz deals with the Orioles, instead I’m talking about a bit of information released this week regarding MASN’s broadcast (or should I say, “broadcasts”) of the Battle of the Beltways. The combined both that brought together the play-by-play voices of the Orioles and Nationals is no more. That means that O’s fans no longer have to listen to F.P. Santangelo gush over Bryce Harper during an 0-for-4 day […]

MEDIA WATCHDOG: Steve Melewski, eternal optimist

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Michael O'Nair

I have to hand it to Steve Melewski of MASN. No one is more optimistic about the Orioles than him. Everyone from national baseball pundits, to our local media, to fans that call into sports talk radio stations agrees that no team has had a more frustrating and baffling offseason than our Orioles. Everyone that is, but Melewski. In a world of universal doom and gloom, his strange and unexplainable cheerfulness is actually rather refreshing. Here we are, in the midst of the longest, coldest, most miserable winter, anxiously awaiting […]

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