If a receiver can catch a pass in the end zone and take three steps while in possession of the ball and the TD is overturned, the rule has been way overthought.

Soccer is a global sport. Its center of gravity is arguably the UK and the Premier League. Join the Povich Center in January 2026 as we explore the expanding role of Americans in the sport in the UK and around the world in the run up to World Cup ‘26. Apply here: myea.umd.edu/index.cfm?Fu...

Beyond delighted to see Baltimore Magazine praise my work on the Bird Tapes, my Orioles history project on Substack, in the 2025 “Best of Baltimore” issue.

New Bird Tapes post: In Part 2 of a classic interview, Bobby Grich, 76, dives into what it was like to play for Earl Weaver (spoiler: not easy) and other topics such as whether he belongs in the Hall of Fame - a longshot notion that has recently gained steam. birdtapes.substack.com/p/bird-tapes...

I interviewed Mike Mussina, a future Hall of Fame enshrinee, countless times when he was the Orioles’ ace in the ‘90s. My latest post at the Bird Tapes recalls the events that led me to ask him a question I knew was utterly ridiculous. birdtapes.substack.com/p/the-time-i...

ICYMI: My latest post at the Bird Tapes recalls a managerial hiring the Orioles botched in the early ‘60s. “The inmates were running the asylum,” one player told me years later. birdtapes.substack.com/p/classic-ca...

Thank you!

New at the Bird Tapes: Part 1 of my recent interview with Jon Miller, the legendary broadcaster who ruled in Baltimore in the ‘80s and ‘90s. He discusses Earl, Eddie, Cal, EBW, 0-21, Jeffrey Maier, his departure for SF and much more. It's a riveting history lesson. open.substack.com/pub/birdtape...

My latest at the Bird Tapes: Remembering the Orioles' Paul Bunyan, a gigantic farm boy from Wisconsin whose one-of-a-kind persona and antics were more memorable than his pitching. open.substack.com/pub/birdtape...

New at the Bird Tapes: My conversation with Fred Lynn, a nine-time All-Star who is recalled as a Red Sox star but also played for the Orioles from 1985-88. He signed with them because he wanted to play behind their stellar pitching. But his timing was unfortunate. open.substack.com/pub/birdtape...

New at the Bird Tapes: A kid once wrote to Moe Drabowsky that “baseball needs more nuts like you.” Indeed. The one-and-only Moe is remembered today as the game's greatest-ever practical joker, but he was also a World Series hero for the Orioles. open.substack.com/pub/birdtape...

(2) How the Oriole Way continues to shape baseball, check out my biography of Harry Dalton, @jmjournalist.bsky.social best selling bio of the Earl of Baltimore, and subscribe to the Bird Tapes on Substack. #Birdland www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-La...

@johneisenberg.bsky.social has a great interview up on the Bird Tapes with former #Orioles GM and Dalton Gang member and my friend Dan Duquette. Dan has a great sense of the Orioles history and a wonderful understanding of the modern game. If you want more on Dalton, Earl Weaver, and (1)

As a new baseball season nears, a new season of the Bird Tapes begins! In Year 2 of my Orioles history project, I’ll post new interviews with legendary former players, broadcasters and beat writers, and continue to explore the club’s history. Check it out! birdtapes.substack.com/p/introducin...

Probably only one day in my life when I wake up to a rave review of my book in the New York Times and that day is today. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/b...

Isn’t this when the lights go out?

My latest at the Bird Tapes: Commemorating Black History Month, here’s the story of the obscure pitcher who integrated the Baltimore Orioles. birdtapes.substack.com/p/the-oriole...

Looking forward to this!

My latest at the Bird Tapes: If Bobby Grich had come a long just a few years earlier, he would have spent his entire career with the Orioles - and what a fine career it was. But free agency came along, and he left Baltimore. birdtapes.substack.com/p/lost-voice...

My latest at the Bird Tapes: Recalling the greatest mythological figure in the history of the Baltimore Orioles. No one threw harder or lived harder than Steve Dalkowski. birdtapes.substack.com/p/the-legend...

Now up at the Bird Tapes: Remembering when Brooks Robinson fact-checked my book on the Orioles. birdtapes.substack.com/p/from-the-a...

My latest at the Bird Tapes: When I went through my decades-old baseball card collection, searching for Orioles to use to illustrate posts at the Bird Tapes, I discovered I had pretty much cornered the market on the cards of a couple of long-forgotten Birds. birdtapes.substack.com/p/the-baseba...

You’ve got until Saturday to vote in the finals of the Bird Tapes Holiday Gift Contest. On Monday 12/23 I’’ll post my interview with either Jim Palmer, Earl Weaver, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson or Mike Flanagan — depending on who prevails in the voting. birdtapes.substack.com/publish/post...

From the Bird Tapes, at BaltimoreBaseball.com

My latest at the Bird Tapes: As they rose to prominence and began to dominate the American League in the 1960s, the Orioles didn’t have hard-throwing youngsters at the back end of their bullpen. They had the Sunshine Boys. birdtapes.substack.com/p/when-old-g...

Thanks for the kind words, Daniel.

All Bird Tapes subscribers are getting a bird as part of their holiday haul this year. But which bird? Check it out. birdtapes.substack.com/p/holiday-sp...

New at the Bird Tapes: In the second part of his vintage interview, the Orioles’ relief specialist from their glory years unintentionally asks and answers some of the best Oriole-themed trivia questions you’ll ever hear. Test your knowledge! birdtapes.substack.com/p/the-bird-t...

The Orioles have had many great pitchers, but none had better control than Dick Hall, who is in the history books for having literally walked almost no one. A vintage conversation with Hall, one of the most fascinating Orioles, is now posted at the Bird Tapes. birdtapes.substack.com/p/the-bird-t...

Black Friday Deal Alert! Subscribe to the Bird Tapes at a major discount! (33 percent off is major, right?) Use the offer for yourself or give the Bird Tapes as a gift to the Orioles fan on your holiday gift list. The offer runs through early next week. birdtapes.substack.com/subscribe?co...

Happy Thanksgiving from the Bird Tapes! I'm very, very thankful for the many, many subscribers who turned my little startup idea about the history of the Baltimore Orioles into a Substack bestseller. More to come!

Why did I interview a utility player from the 1950s when I wrote my book on Orioles history a quarter-century ago? Because he turned out to be a Hall of Fame manager. Now up at the Bird Tapes: My vintage interview with Dick Williams. Please subscribe! birdtapes.substack.com/p/the-bird-t...

New at the Bird Tapes: Mike Cuellar was so good back in the day that his success was viewed as inevitable in hindsight. But when the Orioles acquired him in 1969, he was older than many fans realized, with a modest record. His success wasn't guaranteed. birdtapes.substack.com/p/the-ace-wh...

At the Bird Tapes, my Substack about the history of the Baltimore Orioles, I've written a lot about players and events from the team's past. Here's something I wrote about Curt Blefary, the 1965 AL Rookie of the Year, who struggled in life after baseball. birdtapes.substack.com/p/a-final-ri...

My latest post at the Bird Tapes, my Substack about the history of the Baltimore Orioles, contains Part 2 of my vintage interview with the late Peter Angelos, who owned the club for 31 years - a period during which they never reached the World Series. birdtapes.substack.com/p/the-bird-t...