Share This Episode
Amy Lawrence Show Amy Lawrence Logo

Rob Long | Host of The Big Bad Morning Show

Amy Lawrence Show / Amy Lawrence
The Truth Network Radio
July 10, 2024 5:28 am

Rob Long | Host of The Big Bad Morning Show

Amy Lawrence Show / Amy Lawrence

On-Demand Podcasts NEW!

This broadcaster has 2086 podcast archives available on-demand.

Broadcaster's Links

Keep up-to-date with this broadcaster on social media and their website.


July 10, 2024 5:28 am

Host of The Big Bad Morning Show and O's Xtra on MASN joins Amy to talk all things Baltimore sports.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Have you ever covered a carpet stain with a rug? Ignored a leaky faucet? Pretended your half-painted living room is supposed to look that way?

Well, you're not alone. We've all got unfinished home projects. Whether it's a door that sticks, or a disorganized closet, or an AC unit that only works half the time.

It all matters. You just haven't taken care of it yet. But there's an easier way. Just download the Thumbtack app. You can search for what you need done and find tons of highly rated pros right in your neighborhood.

Check prices, reviews, and book a pro right on the spot. Plus, you'll know what to tackle next. Because Thumbtack is the app that shows you what to do, who to hire, and when. Pull out your phone, and in just a few taps, say goodbye to all those unfinished home projects. And say hello to caring for your home the easier way.

Download Thumbtack and start a project today. Instacart knows nothing gets between you and the game. That's why they make ordering from your couch easy. Stock up today and get all your groceries for the week delivered in as fast as 30 minutes.

Without missing a minute of the game. You have 47 new voicemails. Download the app to get free delivery on your first three orders while supplies last. Minimum $10 per order.

Additional terms apply. Ready to start talking to your kids about financial literacy? Meet Greenlight. The debit card and money app that teaches kids and teens how to earn, save, spend wisely, and invest with your guardrails in place. Parents can send instant money transfers, automate allowance, and more. Plus, keep an eye on spending with real-time notifications. Join more than 6 million families building healthy financial habits together on Greenlight. Get your first month free at greenlight.com slash odyssey.

That's greenlight.com slash odyssey. We've got a lot going on in this edition of the show. In fact, I've got a very long list in front of me.

But in case our guest does not know the topic, I'm going to spring it on him. The Baltimore Orioles have had a great surge to the top of the American League East. And then we've got All-Star break and the trade deadline just beyond that. We want to talk about the O's. Plus, the Baltimore Ravens are among the first teams to begin training camp in Fuego. No joke. It's days away. So to that end, we're pleased to welcome our friend Rob Long, who is part of the Big Bad Morning show on our Baltimore affiliate 105.7, The Fan. And Rob, I'm going to spring this on you, no warning whatsoever, because I feel like you might have some answers for us.

We're talking about the best and brightest athletes, regardless of sport, regardless of nation, under the age of 24. Who are some of the best and brightest under the age of 24? Ooh, that's Lemby and San Antonio will be one of them. Yes. Oh, geez. Well, I thought you were going to go Baltimore. Oh, Baltimore? Under 24 will be Gunnar Henderson. There you go. Yeah, he just turned 23. Who else do we have under 24?

I wouldn't put Zay Flowers in that category yet, because he had a good year for a rookie here in Baltimore, a rookie receiver, but you've got to go over 1,000 yards and get a little bit more touchdowns, a few more touchdowns, because that guy is hard-pressed under 24. What am I missing? Oh, gosh, you're missing so much, but it's okay. We did get the Gunnar Henderson submission earlier, but how about C.J. Stroud? There's one that we can put on the list.

Also, this is kind of fun, too, while we're talking baseball. Paul Skeans is only 22 years old. He's unbelievable. He is unbelievable, the questions surrounding him. Could he go past five innings because he throws so hard?

Just out of college? He's answered all those questions. As crazy as it sounds, if it stacks up for him, he'll be excited if he can start for the National League and the All-Star game. I don't know what will happen, but I don't know what will be more exciting than having Paul Skeans part of the 32 first time as the All-Star game as a starter for the National League.

I'd love to see that. Yeah, absolutely. He's 22. You mentioned Wembe. He's 20. Gunnar Henderson, he's just 23. What has he meant to the Orioles in his short career in Baltimore?

Oh, my goodness. He's a starter. He's a table-setter. I know when you're up towards the league leaders in home runs, it's hard to call God a table-setter, but he bats lead-off. He's one of the league leaders in leading off the games with home runs.

He's been phenomenal in the field, at the plate. He's the guy with them sparks the lineup. He has tremendous swagger. He has fun playing the game. He looks like he's having fun playing the game. He's a baseball player that you'd pay to see because he has so much excitement to the lineup. He slings the bat with anger when somebody walks him. He's almost like a tuned-down Juan Soto. He's tuned down a little bit, though.

Juan Soto tends to take it over the top a little bit too much, but he adds the same type of swagger to his game, and he's fun to watch. I know the Baltimore Orioles lost last night. However, they are sitting on the top of the American League East, and there's two things at work here. Not only did Baltimore have a great June, and the O's were able to find their bats after a couple of little slumps, but the Yankees are backpedaling.

They just lost for the 17th time in 23 games. But while we're talking about the O's, when they string a couple of losses together, what's not working for them? What's not working for them is, I would say, they may be relying on a home run, the long ball. They've had games where they weren't scoring runs. Then again, maybe they're just not getting on base, but that may be relying on the long ball a little bit too much from time to time. I don't think that's a big problem with them.

It may be a game-to-game problem. But starting pitching has also, as Chipotle's got destroyed last week over the weekend, given up a ton of runs to the Oakland A's, starting pitching is going to be an issue. They've given a lot out of Alba Suarez, a lot more out of him than any of us could even imagine. But Kyle Bradish going down is huge, because for a while you thought you had Burns and Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez. That's a three-man rotation in the playoffs that's second to none.

Now you take him out. Grayson's still holding up his own. He has 11 wins.

Burns is unreal. He could have a chance to start for the American League and the All-Star Game. But not having Bradish, and they've been out without Dean Kramer for a little while. Dean Kramer should be back soon, but you're missing two big pieces. John Meade, they thought they'd get back this year.

He had elbow surgery once again. So starting pitching is something that a lot of Orioles fans are holding their breath for, hoping that Mike Elijah makes a move in less than three weeks. Yeah, where would they turn to find a starting pitcher? Well, maybe you turn from within and Dean Kramer helps you up and you help out your bullpen. But I think the Orioles, if they don't turn as a national starter in the trademark, they're going to have to be creative and give up some of their prospects. You know, no one has a better minor league system than the Baltimore Orioles. So I think if you make it worth someone's while, they'll give you a starting pitcher. I'm not saying a number one starter, but someone that could be maybe a number three starter, because I think you need three tough starters, three really good starters, who want to play off. I have trust in Dean Kramer, but we've got to see what he looks like when he comes back.

I'm sorry. We've got to see what he's like down the stretch. So that's one of the things you've got to get a starting pitcher. Either you're going to go a four or you trust Kramer to be a number three. Personally, Amy, I trust Kramer to be the number three, but I don't know what the front office is thinking. Rob Long is with us from Baltimore getting set for his own morning show on the fan, our affiliate 105.7. He's also host of O's Extra on Massen.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence. If possible, it seems like fans are even more excited after the last couple of seasons, seeing Baltimore go over 100 wins last year, understanding some of the young talent, the young potential. But how impatient are O's fans when it comes to this team?

Oh, that's a great question. I don't know whether it's impatience or nervous energy. You know what I mean?

I don't know whether those are akin to one another, but I would describe it more as nervous energy because they know this team is good. And it's an era of Baltimore where, OK, when the Orioles go to the playoffs, it's not if. No one says if around here anymore.

It's when. The fan base, that's what it says about the starting rotation. If you notice, even I said going into the playoffs because that's what you are right now. It's like a lies in company.

Brandon Hyde. Well, managers lost 100 games multiple times. They have a chance to turn it around and maybe even win 100 games now multiple times. You don't see that in baseball a lot. You don't see front offices with that kind of patience. Normally they bring a guy in like Hyde. And just as the tide turns, they get someone else.

You know, 2022 would have been a year that a lot of organizations said, OK, we've turned the corner now to get over the hump. Let's go get a veteran manager. No, but they did the smart thing and they stuck with Hyde. I think it's more of a nervous energy about what are they going to do at a trade deadline? We got swept in the first in the divisional round of the playoffs. What are they going to do to really fortify this roster to get to the playoffs and not let that happen again? Because I think fans are vulnerable or believe this is a World Series team. I said it in April. I think the Orioles are the best team in the American League.

I do. I think that we're going into June. There's a lot of nervous energy about, you know, all we have is one day off in June. What are they going to do when they face this team? What are they going to do when they face that team? And as I said, Ben, and I'll say again, I don't think the Orioles measure themselves up to other teams. I think now has got real time for other teams to wonder what are they going to do when they face the Orioles? So then beating the Yankees, no big thing anymore? It's always a big thing.

I'm not going to get stupid about that. Beating the Yankees, beating the Red Sox, it's always going to be big. Just because they are the Yankees and they are the Red Sox and the national media loves them. They can be 500 teams. ESPN is showing four times on Sunday Night Baseball.

I mean, that's just how it is. So yes, beating the Yankees is a big thing. You know, having the Yankee fans, I was in New York, actually I was off that series. But because it was too deep and we were off a day, I went up to go to a game there and I had the Yankee fans so preoccupied with what the Orioles are doing and trying to hit us and trying to do this. This is what the Yankee fans were saying. And to have the Orioles turn around and end the series on that blowout was just, to me, is typical of this team. You throw at Gunnar, Gunnar doesn't bite.

He just goes up and hands him with the bat. And just to see this team with that kind of poise, a young baseball team, to me that's a microcosm of who they are. You know, they're just very confident. Gunnar Henderson may be one of the more confident young men that I know, but we don't talk enough about Abby Westman and Jordan Westberg. Jordan Westberg was named to the All-Star team yesterday. Those guys are young and very confident as well, and they kind of lead this baseball team. Well, why aren't there more Orioles on the All-Star roster? That is a great question. It took till yesterday to get four.

And think about this, Amy. You had finalists at almost every position. You had a finalist at first base, you had a finalist at DH, you had finalists in the outfield, and none of those, you had finalists at third base. Now he gets in, but he gets in due to an injury, so you have all of these finalists and none of the finalists make the roster. That, to me, was very strange. I didn't get it because it's not like they just, Baltimore just stuffed the ballot box to put these guys in as finalists.

I think Baltimore fed routed around them and voted, but the numbers back up. I mean, after they started talking, they had 13 home runs in June, for goodness sakes. I mean, what do you have to do?

Grayson Rodriguez not only has the ERA and the 3-5, but he has 11 wins. Not on a roster, so I don't know what the criteria was this year. I really don't.

I would love to know, but I'm with you. I guess you have to lead your position in votes to get in, or somebody's got to get hurt. That was the big topic of discussion on Sports Talk Radio the next day because I thought there were at least five, or why did Klay Holmes go over Craig Kimbrough? I mean, if you're going to go with a closer in that spot, Holmes' stats compared to Kimbrough's, in fact, don't compare to Kimbrough's. Kimbrough's under one whip, his ERA is better, fewer blown saves, more strikeouts from every statistical category. He just blows Holmes away, but you choose Holmes over Kimbrough. That's a great question, I just don't know how to answer it. Rob Long from Baltimore, passionate on this Wednesday morning, and he's not even started with his own show yet.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. So who is the top competition for the Orioles if you believe they're a World Series team? The Yankees are going to try to turn around. The only thing you can rely on to the Yankees is those big guys get hurt.

That's what football team will do. If those big guys get hurt and if they stay relatively healthy, they're going to be there at the end. The Cleveland Guardians ought to be reckoned with, folks. I question whether or not they can score over the big dogs in a short series, a seven-game series, but they ought to be reckoned with.

Do not take them lightly. I don't really take anybody that serious out of the West unless the Astros finish the season on the bang. If they get there, you've got to take them serious because all they do is go to the ALCS series. You've got to take them serious for that. Boston's running right now. They look good.

I'm just not convinced. Overall, we talk about that World Series competition, so I've got to go with the Guardians, the Yankees, and just because of their history, you've got to go with the Astros, just because of their history. As you say, they've been in seven consecutive ALCS appearances. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence and Rob Long in Baltimore, pivoting a little bit because we're getting closer, gosh, just days away to training camps. And for the Baltimore Ravens, we even mentioned Zay Flowers, who is coming off his rookie season in which he showed flashes of brilliance, but it was a disappointment for the Ravens. Going into this season, what are some of the top questions around the football team? Well, first of all, you know, I've been telling Ravens fans, yes, this team lost in the AFC Championship game, but the season doesn't begin picking up where you left off.

You've got to do it again and get back there. Past rush is one of the things that I'm concerned with. J'Davion Cloudy was not a signing that I was in love with, yet he ended up being just for the doctor order for the past rush of this football team. You know, people talk about the numbers like quarterback rushes and quarterback hits. Today's quarterbacks don't worry about that. I mean, you rush them out of the pocket, they'll pick up 20 yards, you hit them, they'll throw it in the end zone for a touchdown. You've got to bring that quarterback down. I don't know if the Ravens' defense has the ability to do that at a pace that can help this defense out. The secondary was questionable last year. You did a great job in the draft getting a couple of some quarterbacks.

So I'm happy with that. But I don't care who's playing back there in the secondary. They need help getting to the quarterback.

You can't keep dialing up blitzes after blitzes after blitzes. And with some of these quarterbacks, you know, if you don't bring them down, now he has a wide open middle of the field or maybe even check off and go deep against you. So you've got to bring the quarterback down. And the defense, the biggest question of the month for me is that, can they get to the quarterback?

Offensively speaking, Amy, I've got to be honest with you. You know, you're bringing Derrick Henry. I've got no questions on offense. My only offense.

My only offense, the question is, are they going to get stupid again? Football at all. I mean, I love throwing the football more than anybody else. But you've got to run the football at some point, especially against the Kansas City Heat teams who can't stop the run. So, you know, my only question on offense is will it be play calling with the Ravens? It's always play calling. Well, Rob, who's giddier then? Is it the Ravens offense, the O-line, Lamar Jackson, about Derrick Henry joining the fold? Or is it Derrick Henry about being on a run first offense? Oh, another great question. Can you write these down?

You're welcome. No, just from my mind, my brain. Man, because I don't know who's giddier. Derrick Henry, I guess he may feel revitalized. When is the last time Derrick Henry has really been on a Super Bowl contending team? It's been a few years, yeah.

It's been a few years. Lamar Jackson loves a running back. I mean, he's just having a guy back there like him. I call this the Lamar thunder and lightning. I don't know if he's had a running back quite like Henry, even though I love Gus Edwards. I love me some Gus. But this is Derrick Henry.

He's all a flamer. Yes. And in the offensive line, when you have Derrick Henry, you don't have to get cute. You just have to go get somebody. You don't have to get cute at all.

Just go hit somebody and let the big man back there find his way. I don't know. You guys throw me in there.

I might be giddier than all of them. Over under on how many games until we see Derrick Henry stiff arm somebody and knock him over? First home game. I think this crowd is going to be electric. They're going to show him what football is like in Charles City.

They're going to show him a lot of love. And I think that electricity from the M&T Bank Stadium crowd will will bring it out in the first home game. You know, you don't you don't football ball was special that that that that atmosphere. I grew up in Baltimore, but I spent seven years in South Carolina and pregame the tailgating and all the festivities. It's like SEC football.

And you get that kind of atmosphere here and if Derrick Henry embraces that was I think he will first if I may happen on the first series offensive series. Yeah. Well, remember he came out of Alabama where you don't find more passionate crazy faithful fans actually tried to warn my older niece. She just moved to Baltimore because her boyfriend is working at Johns Hopkins the hospital and she's within a block. They can actually see the stadium from her window. I tried to warn her on game days. You better be careful there Deanna because it's going to be insane.

And so she's looking forward to because you can look at her window and see the stadium. All right. You can find Rob on Twitter at Rob Long Sports getting set for his morning show on the fan our Baltimore affiliate one of five seven. Also, the host of O's extra on Masson. So we'll continue to track these O's the second half of the season. I like the passion like the fire at this hour. Rob thank you so much for a couple of minutes. Well, you woke me up. You got me on my toes now got me thinking already good. I'm glad you're well. Have you ever covered a carpet stain with a rug ignored a leaky faucet pretended your half painted living room is supposed to look that way. Well, you're not alone. We've all got unfinished home projects whether it's a door that sticks or a disorganized closet or an AC unit that only works half the time.

It all matters. You just haven't taken care of it yet, but there's an easier way. Just download the thumbtack app. You can search for what you need done and find tons of highly rated pros right in your neighborhood check prices reviews and book a pro right on the spot. Plus you'll know what to tackle next because thumbtack is the app that shows you what to do who to hire and when pull out your phone and then just a few taps say goodbye to all those unfinished home projects and say hello to caring for your home the easier way download thumbtack and start a project today want to teach your kids financial literacy but not sure where to start green light can help with green light parents can keep an eye on kids spending and saving while kids and teens use a card of their own to build money confidence as a parent you can send instant money transfers set up chores automate allowance and more it's a convenient way to run your household customized to your family's needs and the easy way to raise financially smart kids get started with green light today and get your first month free at green light dot com slash Odyssey temp check what kind of summer are we having this year a family road trip summer a beach bum summer or awake me when the sun set summer with instacart choose your own adventure and skip the shopping side quests where available you can get ice cream delivered to your hotel sunscreen to the pool or cold brew to your bed well door in as fast as 30 minutes wherever you find yourself this summer you can get the goods download instacart for free delivery on your first three orders offer valid for a limited time minimum ten dollars per order excludes restaurants additional terms and fees apply come you're welcome for the show material we'll talk to you soon rob look around what do you see cars lots of them and guess what they're probably on auto trader whether you're into timeless classics or the latest trends did somebody say solar powered eco-friendly vegan leather wrapped aroma therapy scented disco ball equipped self-driving car if you see it on the road you can likely find it on auto trader big cars small cars blue cars new cars and used cars electric cars and one day maybe even flying cars with millions of options to choose from buying a car becomes a whole lot easier see it find it auto trader here's why April chose to vaccinate her child I think actually meeting someone who was not vaccinated and now has a lifelong struggle with a childhood disease really cemented for me that it's super important that we as parents continue to vaccinate our children talk to your pediatrician or visit why vaccines dot com brought to you by Merck you sit in traffic now but later there's a nice cold reward medulla the mark of a fight you've earned this rich golden lager with a crisp refreshing taste because you know all your patience is paid out in gold you remain calm through honks bumper to bumper and people yell come on you are a fighter and medulla is your reward medulla the mark of a fight trick responsibly beer imported by crown import chicago illinois
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-07-10 07:07:49 / 2024-07-10 07:18:04 / 10

Get The Truth Mobile App and Listen to your Favorite Station Anytime