Rob Long I Host, 105.7 The Fan Baltimore

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That's BetterHelpHELP.com slash positive. Music Back to back doubles to start the game for the Orioles. First Henderson and now Ruchman, and the Orioles lead it 1-0. Fly ball center field backing up. Myers going back, back, back.

It's gone! He ran out of room. That one into the Oriole bullpen. Anthony Sante in there.

Touch them all. Henderson rips this into Whitefield. On a line, it's Cinco and Soler. He makes the catch. Tagging at third base and scoring is Kouser. A sacrifice fly for Henderson who smoked it to White on the first pitch. But an RBI for Henderson. Kouser scores and it's 5-0 Baltimore. Two down, two strikes. Pitch on the way.

Line drive. Hayes is right there and he gloves it. The Orioles have won. Ball game. Danny Coulombe gets the most dangerous hitter in the game. Luis Arias and the Orioles put it in the win column for the eighth straight time. You're listening to After Hours with Amy Lawrence.

Call Amy at 855-212-4CBS. With our apologies to Messi. Okay, maybe Messi is hotter right now than the Orioles, but that's it. There's no other figure in sports who can match the Orioles hot streak. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. With eight straight wins, they are now a team to watch and the Rays are certainly watching because they're hot on their heels.

So coming out of the All-Star break, they're still not having this streak interrupted. Rob Long in Baltimore for our Baltimore affiliate. 105-7 the fan getting set to do his morning show. I'm sure they're going to be a topic, but I know you moonlight with the Orioles. So Rob, how much fun is it with this team right now? I don't know. It's a lot more fun than it was back in 2020 when I was doing pre and post and I would have PR tell me that I couldn't yell that loud during the game because they could hear me.

No one else was in the stadium. I could see that. I could see that and I could hear that. You know me.

I do. So it's so much fun. I mean, the fans are having fun. They're back out there. They're caring, you know, I mean, because the team and the organization has given them a reason to care. You know, what with a game better than the Rays in the loss column, only one game back altogether in the AL East. This is a good baseball team. I said this before about a week or so ago, Amy, before the All-Star break that the national storyline for them is that they're going to be a team that came out of nowhere when they get to the playoffs, which is totally sound true. They're not a team that came out of nowhere.

They started this run, if you look back, last June is when this one started and they got really hot one, 10 in a row in July and they've never looked back. So they're not a team that came out of nowhere. They're a team that started building this the second half of last year.

Well, for people who don't know a lot about the Orioles or how they've built it, yeah, why don't we start there? How did they put this team together finally after years of futility? Draft picks in development, too. I don't want to take anything away from that, but let's go back to the draft picks. They haven't missed on draft picks. You look at some of the guys that are producing now with this ballclub, these are guys that are drafted by the Baltimore Orioles. Austin Hayes and Cedric Mullins came before this regime of Mike Elias and Sigma Dell and Eve Rosebaum, but also Gunnar Henderson is their draft pick. You have Attlee Russman who came up their draft pick. You have Colton Cowles who came up with their draft pick. They have not missed on draft picks and that's been a big key and they've taken those draft picks and they've developed that talent.

So drafting and development, player development have been key for this team. I love the Attlee Russman story and it was so much fun to see him get his due and to see him get a lot of the attention and spotlight for a little bit at the home run derby. I can imagine Orioles fans were eating that up, but just the chance for some of their stars, up and coming stars, guys who were developed in the system to finally get a little more attention. I feel like, Rob, that from Orioles fans there's a chip on the shoulder a little bit. Hey, what about us? What about us? We're here, too. You know, it's funny you say that because there is a chip on our shoulder, but we also, we could be a little quirky as well because when we start getting too much attention, then you have some of the fan base say, well, I don't want that kind of attention.

I want the flies and the radars. So, you know, you're kind of damn if you do, damn if you don't. I'm not saying those are the same people. Those may be two different facets of your fans, but you get both around there. You get, you know, no one recognizes us. And then when the record will get recognized, you get people who come out and say, well, you know, I don't I want to fly on the radar.

I'm not that person. Sports is entertainment. I think sometimes people forget that. It's entertainment. So, you know, when teams are entertaining, they're going to capture the odds and imaginations of fame. This is one of the more entertaining teams in baseball right now. They have swagger.

They do the water work celebration, the sprinkler, turn it on the faucet. You know, you've got the section out in left center field where, you know, get holes down, extra base hits and score runs. So this is a fun team that's starting to capture the imaginations of the rest of the baseball world. Rob Long is with us from our Baltimore affiliate.

One of five, seven, the fan is getting set for his morning show is the Baltimore Orioles, not only part of their broadcast to get you could catch him. In fact, I don't know. Do you take a selfie every single day when you're at the ballpark? Because I feel like I get one selfie a day from you. You have to. It's my rule. It's in my contract.

One selfie a day, Rob. I'm having fun too, Amy. Think about this. I was born and raised in Baltimore. I don't remember life without the Orioles. I don't.

I don't. There's not a time in my life that I recall where the Orioles weren't at least in the backdrop, you know? So for me, this is to see these guys grow up and become what they're becoming. It's not only a great job, as you know, but it's also fun to see the birth of this and to see it come to fruition. Well, it's a lot more fun when the team that you're covering, whether you cheer for the team or not, is winning. There's a different electricity.

There's a different excitement. And so you want to check out Rob's Twitter, at RobLongSports, because you'll see not only the selfies, but you'll see the videos. And he's got great seats, too. So he's right there. Field level.

He's the host of O's Extra on Massen. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. So it's been kind of fun. And I don't know how early fans start scoreboard watching, but you can see the Orioles reeling in the Rays. And after the historic start for them, especially with the teeny weeny little payroll that the Rays have. I mean, this AL East is a monster anyway, and that's what impresses me about the Orioles and the other teams in that division, is that any progress they make has to be done against the best division in the game. Every team in the division has at least 50 wins, Amy. That's unreal.

We're in mid July. Every team has 50 wins. And you talk about scoreboard watching. I asked Brandon Hyde when we were out in Minnesota, I said, you know, are you aware of what other teams in the division are doing? He looked at me and said, Yeah, I'm aware. I know exactly what they're doing. We pay attention, which I thought was refreshing because normally you get the you know, we just take care of ourselves.

We just go day by day. We just no. He admitted he said, No, I'm aware of what they're doing. Who's playing? Who will they beat?

Who's pitching today? And I love that because normally, you know, you would get the other answer from him because they'd be 20 games back. You don't want to pay attention to what other teams are doing. But now, you know, they're in the thick of things. And he and some of the other players have admitted to me also, they're watching.

They're scoreboard watching. They know what Tampa does. They know what New York does. They know what the other wildcard teams do. But right now they're fighting for this division. And with 57 wins, they would be the leaders of the AL Central of the AL West, even as good as the Rangers have been. They'd be the leaders of the NL Central, obviously, and also the NL West.

So really, you're talking about a record and preparation for what's to come. They're only a game back of the Tampa Bay Rays. So this is great for them to get some real world experience or some potential October experience in their own division in the middle of the summer. I mean, normally this time of the year, Orioles fans are wondering who's going to get traded away. Now they're like, OK, who are they going to add to this? And now fans want to become buyers. In the past, you know, since Adam Jones has left this team. Because they had a good run back then, too, in the early 2010s and mid-2010s. But now, once again, the team, the fan base is looking at who are the Orioles going to pick up to help out.

Even as I look up on one of the TVs in my studio, I'm seeing the hoses go and the fans getting splashed by Mr. Splash. What is their Achilles heel? I think, in my opinion, the Achilles heel, and people thought it would be starting pitching. And I argue that all year long.

I didn't think so. I thought you lacked starting pitching names because these guys are young. But look at what they've been doing lately.

The quality start after quality start. My opinion is they have a great back end of the bullpen. I'm a big Michael Bauman fan. Everybody knows Kano.

Everybody knows Batista. And when you get to that back end of the bullpen, this game could be, for the most part, over. Well, they need to bridge the gap between the starters and the back end of that bullpen. That's how pennants are won.

I've seen Tito Francona when he lost the World Series to the Cubs. But getting to the World Series, I saw him take his starting pitcher out in the fourth inning, or after four innings, because he had a great bridge to the back end of the bullpen. That's how postseason baseball is played. You just don't get starters going seven to eight innings in the playoffs that often, if ever. So I think they need a bridge from the starters to the back end of that bullpen. And if they can find that, they'll be dangerous in the postseason. When should fans start to worry, maybe it's already happened, about the lease at Camden Yards expiring?

I think with some of the things that John Angelos is doing right now with the governor of Maryland, partnered with him trying to make some runs and make some changes in Camden Yards area, I think that relationship has kind of put that worry to rest. I think fans are eager for it. They're anxious for it. But I wouldn't call it now worry, because with some of the changes that are taking place in that ballpark, you don't make changes in a ballpark if you're planning to leave. So I think it's more anxiety right now than it is worry. Alright, so we've stepped down from worry to anxiety.

That's a positive. Rob Long, before I let you go, because I know you have your own show coming up in Baltimore. Is there room with Baltimore sports fans right now for the start of Ravens training camp?

Because the rookies report tomorrow! There is room. Yeah, there is room, and we're going to make room for that on the Big Bad Morning show.

There's room for that, because what else are you going to do now in this crazy world? You know, you got the Orioles winning games and the excitement of that. You have a new offense with the Baltimore Ravens and excitement of that. Amy, I'm telling you, I'm telling you right now, September and October, I'll be on your show multiple times. Oh! Okay. What, you're like Tyree Kill guaranteeing things right now? September and October is going to be busy in Baltimore. Can I ask you a question as a sports fan slash radio host?

Okay. Would you go see Messi? Even if you don't love soccer, would you go see Messi? Well, I love European soccer, number one, and I would definitely go see Messi. Some people transcend their sport, and you've got to see it. It's like music. I'm not a U2 fan, but when they came to Baltimore, I had to see if they transcend their genre.

There's certain people that transcend what they do, and Messi's one of those guys. If he's in your area and you call yourself a sports fan, you've got to go. If you can go, you've got to go. When European soccer comes over here, and they play at Ebony Bank Stadium, you've got to go. You can't be a sports fan and ignore that they're in your backyard. So to me, I went downtown to see Indy Carrey, all those things. When they come, you've got to see it.

Messi's one of those guys. Laying down the law, Rob Long Sports on Twitter, that's where you can find him, getting set for the Big Bad Morning show on our affiliate in Baltimore, 105.7 The Fan. Hottest team in baseball, breathing down the necks of the Rays atop the AL East. And as he says, we're not going to be strangers because apparently he's going to ambush my show multiple times over the course of, what do we say, the rest of the summer? September, October.

Oh, September, October. All right. Well, then I look forward to talking to you again soon, my friend. Thank you.

Anytime, baby. He's decided. He's like Tyreek Hill, giving us predictions about what's to come. And actually, Ty's name is in my head just because I wrote a CBS Sports Minute about him. So I need to go and record that.

Boomer Esiason's out this week, which means some of the minutes are being divvied up by various hosts here on CBS Sports Radio. All right. On Twitter, ALawRadio, I just put up a new set of photos from my climb to the Statue of Liberty crown. These are aerial photos, which are so amazing.

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Get 45% off selected products right now at Blinds.com. Rules and restrictions may apply. Being a baseball play-by-play broadcaster demands a blend of learned mechanics, intense preparation, and a calm sense of entertainment. How hard is it to do this job? Let's talk to the ones who do it. This is Matt Spiegel. My new podcast, The PBP Voices of Baseball, will bring those conversations to you as the best working and former broadcasters tell you why and how they do it. New episodes come every Thursday all summer long. Follow The PBP Voices of Baseball on the Odyssey app or wherever you find your podcasts.