The Loss Column — Baltimore Sports Blog and Community

In last week’s third installment of the Bmore SMARs, ESPN 1300’s Anita Marks limped around the bases to an impressive 86% “nay” rating (which could change slightly in the next couple of hours before the poll closes). At first I was shocked that the comments on her poll weren’t more active, but I suppose there are only so many ways to say “she’s not that good.”

This week we shift gears to focus on a far more interesting subject: Jim Palmer himself.

Jim Palmer the player was the undisputed man. 3 Cy Youngs, 6 all-star appearances, 4 gold gloves, 2 ERA titles, and he led the American League in victories three times. Indeed, one could make an argument that he’s the greatest player ever to don the black and orange. If he’s not, he’s close.

But our focus here is on Jim Palmer the broadcaster. He’s currently an Orioles color analyst for MASN, and he has been a team broadcaster in some form for 15 seasons. He has also worked for ABC, most notably during the late eighties as part of a team with Al Michaels and Tim McCarver.

Jim’s reputation is as a smart, insightful commentator who isn’t afraid to speak the truth. That’s how I think of him, anyway. I’ve heard folks in the past describe him as a little too smart, in a way that some have derided as arrogant.

Time to settle it once and for all. Cast your “yea” or “nay” vote for Jim in the poll below, then join the discussion in the comments. As always, keep it clean etc etc.

At 48-28, the Chicago Cubs are the best team in baseball. At 38-36, the Orioles are arguably the most surprising. So while this isn’t exactly a clash of the titans it is, at least, an interesting matchup. Tonight it takes the form of Jeremy “Quality Start” Guthrie opposite lefty Sean Marshall. Game on.

Guthrie has only ever faced 4 Cubs: Blanco (2 for 2), Cedeno (1 for 1), DeRosa (1 for 1), and Ramirez (0 for 2). Only one Oriole has ever faced Marshall, and that (weirdly enough) is Lance Cormier, who’s 0 for 1 with a BB. On the whole I think that gives the O’s a slight advantage in this one.

The Orioles, as we all know, were terrible in interleague play (79-114) before this year. So far, though, they’ve put up a relatively impressive 8-4 mark. I’m thinking that anything other than getting swept will be A-OK for this series.

Note: don’t forget that tonight is radio night for me, as I join the Fighting Ungers from 6:30 (or maybe a little earlier) until 8. Tune in to 1570 AM or go to wnst.net and click on “listen live” (it’s buried at the top near the logo).

Tonight’s a special appearance, too, because I’m bringing my own bumper music. Fugazi, Nation of Ulysses, the National, the Strokes, Secret Machines…should be fun.

I’m settled back in, the site appears to be functioning properly (cross your fingers), and the Orioles are off before visiting Wrigley Field for a series against the seemingly unstoppable Chicago Cubs. Perfect time for the latest installment of the Baltimore Sports Media Approval Ratings, no?

And this one’s a biggie, too. For today we tackle the person who is arguably our city’s most polarizing and controversial sports media figure: none other than Ms. Anita Marks herself.

I went back and forth a few times with this one. Is it too early? Should I let the SMAR concept marinate a bit more before taking on Ms. Marks? Maybe so, but screw it. The time is now.

Anita Marks is, for those who don’t know, the afternoon drive time host on ESPN Radio 1300 AM and, for part of the show, MASN. She arrived in Baltimore back in June of 2006 and has been a vocal and visible part of our sports landscape from basically day one. Prior to her time here, she was a sports radio host in her native Florida.

She’s also a former women’s pro football player who (as if anyone doesn’t know this) once appeared in Playboy.

She has an occasionally updated blog at the 1300 site and has her own site.

So: yea or nay on Ms. Marks? Vote below and explain/analyze in the comments. Criticize to your heart’s content but do so in a thoughtful and respectful way. Clean, cool, and on-topic are the order of the day.

Buck Martinez staged an impressive comeback in the last poll, eventually finishing as a solid “yea” with 72%. Something tells me Marks might not have it so easy…

Who better to kick off our local version of the SMARs than Amber Theoharis? The comely MASN sideline reporter — who does double duty as a PressBox columnist and triple duty as an ever-so-occasional radio host — is a native of the area and the most visible media face (save for maybe Palmer, who we’ll get to) of the local baseball team.

Here’s more from her MASN bio:

Prior to joining MASN, Amber was the weekend sports anchor and reporter at FOX45 in Baltimore, and also hosted Ravens Wired, a weekly NFL magazine show. Throughout her career Amber has held on-air positions at WSYX-TV in Columbus, OH; WNBC-TV in New York City; New 12 Long Island and WBOC-TV in Salisbury MD. She began her career behind the scenes at WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C.

An Emmy-award-winning sports journalist who was recently named Maryland Sportscaster of the Year by The National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association, Amber is a proud graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park.

Smart money says she only stays here for so long before the siren song of ESPN lures her off to Bristol. In the meantime, she’s ours to love or hate.

Cast your vote below, then elaborate in the comments. But remember: keep it clean and cool. Don’t say anything in the comments you wouldn’t feel comfortable saying while hanging out at the same bar as Amber (something, no doubt, many of us would like to do). I know I probably don’t need to say that, but it’s worth mentioning just in case this idea takes off.

So a couple of days ago I mentioned something new I was going to be adding to the site. Here it is: the Baltimore Sports Media Approval Ratings.

Those of you who read Deadspin are already familiar with this concept. When I first saw it there I didn’t think much other than “great idea.” Then it got picked up with a local (DC) angle by Dan Steinberg at the DC Sports Bog. I saw it there a few times and thought, “why can’t we do that here?”

My only hesitation is that things like this tend to work best on sites with blazing traffic numbers. After all, if we get, like, ten votes per poll then it’s not going to be much fun. I don’t know what to expect in that regard, but I figure it’s at least worth a shot.

The first poll will go up Monday, featuring MASN’s own Amber Theoharis. It’ll be a simple “yea” or “nay” proposition, with open comments (as always) for discussion.

I’ll do at least two or three of these and we’ll see how it goes. My definition of success will be (a) we get a decent amount of votes, and (b) the comments are fun but respectful and clean. I think those are pretty reasonable expectations, right?

Give me your initial thoughts on the idea in the comments, if you’re so inclined.

The O’s are back home — finally — for a two-game series against the hated Pinque Sox. And we all know what that means. The good news, though, is that I think a handful of Sox fans actually work for a living, so these weeknight games might be relatively tame. We shall see.

We’ve got Jeremy Guthrie on the hill tonight against Josh Beckett, which should be fun. Surprisingly enough, too, Orioles hitters are batting a collective .291 against Beckett. Something tells me we won’t touch him up quite that badly tonight, but one never knows.

Also, don’t forget that tonight I’ll be a guest on the Fighting Ungers radio show on 1570 WNST from 6:30-8.

Starting tonight, this is a regular gig every other Tuesday. So, tune the hell in! And why not call while you’re at it?

I got an email a week or so ago from a fellow named Sean, who works for Da Capo Press. Sean wanted to see if I’d be interested in checking out a copy of the Baseball Field Guide, to which I naturally responded with “absolutely.” He dropped it in the mail, it arrived today.

Originally I figured I’d take a look and maybe mention it in the comments or as a tack-on to the next Open Thread. Now that I’ve seen it, though, it deserves a post of its own.

Essentially, the Guide is the baseball rulebook. But saying that doesn’t really do it justice. Authors Dan Formosa and Paul Hamburger have taken what should be rather dense and tedious material — useful for reference only — and turned it into something enjoyable to read in its own right.

Utilizing crisp typography (FF Din, I believe) and a wealth of gorgeous infographics — all anchored to a strong, grid-based layout — they’ve taken the rules and made them engaging and surprisingly satisfying.

The end result is the kind of book I love to have around, one I can just pick up anytime, open to a random page, and enjoy for a few minutes. But that doesn’t mean it’s somehow watered down — it isn’t. The level of detail is frightening, and I’ve already learned (then quickly forgotten) quite a bit.

My only complaint is that it refers to the “league presidents” several times. In fact, Bud Selig removed the league presidents in 1999 and consolidated decision-making power in the Commissioner’s office.

That’s a small quibble, though, because overall the book is quite satisfying. I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending that you pick up a copy for yourself.

Which is a relief, for sure, because if the book had sucked I would have felt really bad telling Sean that I wasn’t going to mention it.

I promise not to derail the conversation to non-sports-related topics too often, but — if you’ll indulge me — I want to spend a minute talking about what I’m up to outside of running The Loss Column.

Specifically, I want to let everyone know about Slant Six Creative, a communications studio I recently founded.

It got some attention yesterday at the Baltimore Sun on account of the “I’ve Stepped Out For a Smoke” cards I designed and made. Other recent projects include a guest post for the highly respected Copyblogger site, and ongoing work providing a local pet store with a new identity and brand awareness program (here’s the logo we did).

You might have noticed that I placed a small ad for Slant Six in the sidebar. Doing that, and putting up this post, represent the first steps in giving the studio/company a kind of “launch”. What better way to do it than to spread the word to all of you, who have meant so much and made TLC what it is?

So…if anyone has need of creative services — writing/editing, communications, design, new media, marketing, branding, etc — please get in touch. And if you know anyone who might need these services, please pass my name along and ask them to give me a ring/email — here are a number of ways to get in touch.

I also use the Slant Six site to blog about things like creativity and design and communications and culture, and everyone is more than welcome — if you’re interested — to join me there and have some more good conversations.

So, thanks for reading. I might mention this on occasion in the future, if that’s OK with everyone, but only when necessary. I appreciate the attention and respect — very much.

Back to the O’s…