Lone Orioles All-Star Jonathan Schoop is bright spot for team.
This has been a rough first half of the Orioles season, to say the least. As we head into the All-Star break, the Orioles have a record of 40-45, a starting pitcher ERA of 8.66 in the month of July, and are averaging 3.25 runs per game this month—the worst run differential in the American League.

But we here at Baltimore magazine are optimists so, through our rose-colored glasses, we see that Jonathan Schoop was selected to play in his first All-Star Game on July 11 at Marlins Park in Miami. The second baseman, who leads the Orioles with 51 RBIs and 16 home runs, was selected by the MLB to be an AL reserve and becomes the fourth player from Curacao to become an  All-Star.

“I’m excited, happy,” Schoop told The Sun. “My head is spinning everywhere right now. I’ll just go in there and try to enjoy it . . . All I know since I was a kid was playing baseball. It was tough times for me to go through all this and now I’m an All-Star.”

Of course, his baseball BFF Manny Machado couldn’t contain his excitement either, and said he’s already offered to host Schoop and his family while they’re in Miami for the game. 

“To finally see what he’s turning into as a player, it’s unbelievable to watch,” Machado said. “His game has gone to another level and finally other players and teams and coaches are seeing it . . . words can’t describe how happy I am for him.”

Cue the chorus of awes. 

Plus, Britton is back!
Is it just us or does it seem like a lot of our problems can be traced back to May 5 when closer Zach Britton was put on the 60-day disabled list with a strained left forearm. Up until then, the closer had recorded a save in all five chances with a 1.00 ERA.

Though Buck Showalter says he’s easing him back into the ninth inning, things are looking promising as Britton pitched a scoreless seventh on Wednesday against the Brewers. And, clearly, fans are excited, too.

Swimmer Chase Kalisz dominates in 400-meter IM at Nationals.
Cheering on a local swimmer comes naturally to us, which is why we were so excited to see Bel Air native Chase Kalisz dominate in the 400-meter individual medley at the National Championships this past week. The 2016 Olympic silver medalist—who trained with the North Baltimore Aquatic Club—clocked in a winning time of 4:06.99—the fastest in the world this year.

All of this is fuel for Kalisz’s next big goal—the Olympics Games Tokyo in 2020.

“I’m really happy with that progress,” Kalisz told TeamUSA.org. “I tell people all the time that the best thing that happened to me for this four-year period was me getting silver. It motivates me every single day.”

Dunbar alum Jamel Artis shines in Knicks Summer League.
Though he was undrafted in the two-round selection process, Dunbar alum Jamel Artis is hoping to change is his story in the New York Knicks Summer League team in Orlando. In the team’s first three summer games, he has averaged nine points in under 18 minutes a game. Though he’s a swingman, Artis is playing mostly at forward and made five of 12 3-pointers.

“I’m in a good position right now with the Knicks,” told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I’m in a great position, actually. I can only be thankful and grateful for the position I’m in now. I’ve just got to go out there and play hard.”

Jimmy’s Famous Seafood comes through.  
The Ravens, whose offense could be charitably described as mediocre in 2016, got a big lift this week with the signing of free agent receiver Jeremy Maclin. The quick, 9-year vet’s production dropped off last year in Kansas City, partly due to injuries, but he’s only one year removed from back-to-back 85-plus catch, 1,000-yard-plus receiving seasons. Maclin seems like a natural fit in Baltimore, teaming with speedsters Mike Wallace and Breshad Perriman.

Throughout contract negotiations with Maclin, Jimmy’s Famous Seafood pitch in with some recruiting of their own. Initially, the popular Dundalk restaurant offered Maclin free crab cakes for the length of any deal, and then eventually, crab cakes for life. The offer from Jimmy’s (which often hosts Ravens events and players) didn’t go ignored. This was Maclin’s second tweet after signing: @JimmysSeafood “I read what y’all said … I love crab cakes! Lol.” 

Local soccer teams goes on Cinderfella run. 
Sponsored by a Glen Burnie liquor store, the Christos Football Club took the American soccer world by storm over the last two weeks, reaching the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup, the nation’s oldest soccer tournament. The local squad, which doesn’t even practice, was the last amateur club standing (they knocked off two pro teams in the process) before they had their run ended by the D.C. United of the professional Major League Soccer on Tuesday. Amazingly, the match was tied right until the 81st minute when three late goals put the game away for the professional—and fitter, we assume—club from D.C.

The best news: A shoutout from Sports Illustrated? A sponsorship deal with Adidas? The $15,000 grand the organization earned for being the last amateur team standing? 

Nah. Just scoring first and holding a lead against the pros until 23rd minute.

“To go up 1–0, that’s heaven right there,” Christos club founder told SI.

Not much to cheer about regarding the Orioles right now, so we’ll take a laugh where we can. 
Hyun Soo Kim, our endearing Korean outfielder, just got more likeable. Check his spot-on impersonation of O’s closer Zach Britton. Note: Kim actually throws right-handed.

O’s make a great first impression on Opening Day.
Here’s to next Monday being as good as the last one: Opening Day at Camden Yards. More than 45,000 fans in the ballpark. Cal in the front row. The weather held up nicely all day. And, just before 7 p.m., with the stadium’s fancy new LED lights flashing and Mark Trumbo rounding the bases, the scene on the field and in the stands was pure jubilation.

The Orioles made an indelible first impression this 2017 baseball season. Trumbo (happy to have you back) smacked a game-winning home run to left field in the bottom of the 11th inning, shortly after closer Zach Britton found a measure of redemption against the Toronto Blue Jays, pitching a scoreless ninth and 10th, after not getting a chance to throw in a eerily similar situation in the O’s final, playoff-exiting game of 2016. And Manny Machado, our dear third baseman, dog-lover, and best bud of teammate Jonathan Schoop, wasted no games making a play worthy of a Gold Glove.

In the end, the lasting image of the day might have been the empty Gatorade coolers near home plate—thrown in celebration—and their icy contents melting into the dirt, as players and staff headed to the clubhouse.

The O’s beat the Jays 3-2, and they have now won their last seven Opening Day games, all under Buck Showalter. Two nights later, they beat Toronto 3-1 against a gorgeous sunset backdrop, so tonight the team welcomes the Yankees on an undefeated streak.

Michael Phelps sports a goggle tan.
Boy, he looked tan, didn’t he? Baltimore’s Olympic hero — and his sunburned red face — made the Internet rounds later on Monday night, when CBS’ broadcast of the NCAA men’s basketball championship game between North Carolina and Gonzaga showed Phelps’ sporting what some reporters with too much time on their hands deemed a “goggle tan.”

The memes took no mercy.

But don’t feel bad. This may be a case of what goes around comes around. Just 48 hours before, on April Fools’ Day, Phelps tweeted out to the Internet that he was making another Olympic comeback in 2020 in Tokyo. He’s not, for the record, he later said.

Manny sports Skittles.
If accessories make the outfit, then consider the aforementioned Machado red-carpet worthy. He’s apparently a big fan of Skittles and, inside the self-designed Air Jordans he wore on Opening Day, are insoles with pictures of the rainbow candy on them. Plus, the candies are personalized with the letters M, Y, and K, for his name, his wife, Yainee, and his dog, Kobe. Turns out Manny’s wife gives him a goody-bag of Skittles for every road trip. The shoes also boast the number “305,” in homage to the area code of Miami, where Machado played in high school. Swag on.

Adam Jones talks education.
If there’s any week to go heavy on Orioles news, it’s this one, especially when a face of the team like Adam Jones spends the day between the O’s first game and their second (a 3-1 win over Toronto on Wednesday) talking about the value of education to a group of kids from the local Boys & Girls Club.

The Orioles, Jones and his wife, Audie, the former Roland Park girls basketball star, made a $75,000 donation to the youth organization for the fourth straight year. Jones never went to college, because he pursued a major league career right out of high school in San Diego, but told the kids “education is the backbone of anything.”

Baltimore Brigade’s first season starts tonight.
It was a relatively slow news week on the Ravens front—the team welcomed free agent center Nick Mangold for a visit to the Castle (he left without signing a contract), the club traded defensive lineman Timmy Jernigan to the Eagles, and it signed wide receiver Michael Campanaro to a one-year deal. Those are humdrum developments compared what’s happening tonight: the debut of the town’s newest football team, the Arena Football League’s Brigade, as it kicks off its inaugural season in Washington, D.C. Here’s some more info about the team, which will host its first home game on May 7 at Royal Farms Arena.

The Orioles were robbed of Gold Gloves, Cy Young nod.
There were clearly a lot of surprises this week and, while this one seems minor in the grand scheme of things, Orioles fans were shocked with the news. For the first time since 2010, no Orioles were awarded with Gold Glove awards. This is especially jarring since third baseman Manny Machado had the highest fielding percentage and the second-fewest errors at his position. The decision not to award Chris Davis, who we saw make some impressive catches at first base this year, is a bit more understandable considering his 10 errors to winner Mitch Moreland’s two.

But the real crime is that closer Zach Britton wasn’t even named a finalist for the Cy Young Award, when he didn’t blow a save all year. Granted, relievers don’t normally factor in, but his 2016 season was exemplary with a perfect 47-for-47 in save opportunities, a league-leading 0.54 ERA for pitchers who have worked at least 50 innings, and a span of 43 appearances without a single home run (from April 30 to August 24). Needless to say, manager Buck Showalter is not pleased.

“That’s a real poor reflection on the people who are evaluating him,” the skipper told MASN. “This guy had maybe the best year in the history of relief pitching. He should have finished in the top three in MVP, OK? He should. There’s nobody in baseball who’s more valuable to their team than Zach Britton is to the Orioles.” Preach!

One possibly silver lining? Quite literally, Mark Trumbo received the 2016 Silver Slugger Award for one of three American League (AL) outfield positions, the first Oriole outfielder to win the award since 2013. And, possibly best of all, Showalter was once again named a finalist for AL Manager of the Year with some stiff competition in the Indians’ Terry Francona. The winner will be announced next Tuesday, November 15, but we all know who gets our vote.

Orioles don’t make QO to catcher Matt Wieters.
Fan favorite and hometown boy Matt Wieters may not be wearing an Orioles uniform next year. While the team made a qualifying offer to Trumbo, they passed on the chance to extend the $17.2M, single-season offer to Wieters this time around. The catcher struggled a bit this past season with a .243 average and fell well shy of the above-average offensive number he has posted in prior years. Though he was an All Star, hit 17 home runs, and had solid fielding, the team likely wasn’t willing to pay big bucks based on his age, offensive production, and future injury risk. But Wieters, now a free agent, should have his fair share of suitors.

As far as the Orioles, they may not have to look very far for a replacement since Chance Sisco was named as the best position player in the club’s minor league system by Baseball America. The 22-year-old spent most of the season at AA Bowie before a promotion to AAA Norfolk, hitting for a combined .317 with six homers, 28 doubles, and 51 RBIs.

Tatyana McFadden wins fourth-consecutive New York City marathon.
We’ve got a real-life Superwoman in Clarksville native Tatyana McFadden. After a stunning performance at the Olympics in Rio, the Paralympic athlete returned to the states to dominate at the New York City marathon on Sunday. It is her fourth-consecutive title, finishing the wheelchair race in one hour, 47 minutes and 43 seconds. Not to mention that she completed the Grand Slam by winning in London, Boston, Chicago, and New York. The New York Times beautifully recounted McFadden’s multi-burough race, in which she thrived on the uphill climb of the Queensboro Bridge and stayed focus throughout:

McFadden pushed well ahead of the field at the start, before Schär, Amanda McGrory and Susannah Scaroni caught up by Mile 6 in Brooklyn. The pack stayed tight until the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge. Koch, a former New York mayor, had a trademark line — “How’m I doin’?” — and McFadden had an answer. Just fine. She even loves the crosswind. Makes it even tougher. Here she continued to pass the elite male wheelchair racers, including her coach, Adam Bleakney, a four-time Paralympian. What did he say to his star racer? “Not a word,” Bleakney said. “She was going too fast.”

Zach Britton saves American League’s All-Star win.
Though we really shouldn’t be surprised, our very own Zach Britton closed out a 4-2 American League victory with a scoreless ninth inning in Tuesday’s All-Star Game. Britton is a perfect 27-for-27 in save opportunities this year and go to show off his skills for the last three at-bats of the game, ending with a double-play grounder that sealed the AL’s victory. In doing so, he became the second O’s pitcher to earn a save in the All-Star Game since Don Aese in 1986. More disappointing, however, were the Orioles position players, who combined for an 0-for-6 performance at the plate. One silver lining? Mark Trumbo reached on an error and had an impressive showing at the Home Run Derby the night before, clocking 30 dingers and making it to the semi-finals. Regardless, the moral of the story is that, with the American League’s win, the Orioles will have home-field advantage when they (inevitably) make it to the World Series this year.

Athletes + dogs = cute.
This formula is a no-brainer and one that we recently tested out when we visited two Orioles and their dogs at Camden Yards. (Check out the photos in the current July issue of Baltimore magazine.) And, as if we needed further proof, there were two news items relating to athletes and their pets this week. The first was that Ravens center Jeremy Zuttah and wife Heran included their dog Ace as a groomsman when they got married last month. Ace, donning a black-and-white doggie tux, put in some extra training at the Downtown Dog before walking down the aisle with Jeremy’s brother. “He’s awesome,” Heran told BaltimoreRavens.com. “I just could not imagine getting married without him.”

Plus, the Orioles announced this week that they’ll be giving away a bobblehead featuring Chris Davis and his English bulldog, Samson on August 20. The bobblehead—with Davis’s alter ego Crush and Samson with a bobbly head himself—will be given out to the first 25,000 fans ages 15 and older. That same night, the beloved Orioles pet calendar will go on sale at the park, with proceeds benefiting the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS).

Pokémon Go takes over everywhere.
I’m extremely hesitant to classify this as a sport. In fact, I’m hesitant to write about Pokémon Go at all. Age-wise, I completely missed this boat and I’ve heard far too many weird stories about people nearly getting hit by a car due to Pokémon overindulgence. But, alas, it’s a thing. And these creatures(?) are seemingly everywhere in Baltimore. They’ve been hanging out with the Kooper’s Chowhound Food Truck. Patterson Park is apparently crawling with them. There have been some lurking on the water in Harbor East. Local app Loople is hosting a Pokémon bar crawl this Saturday. I am honestly afraid to think which ones could be near me right now.

Good luck catching them or whatever, but just remember to look up every once in a while.