Hear the thrill Oriole fans

As I said earlier this week, MASN will be televising six Oriole games during spring training. However if you’re unable to watch those games or you just prefer the radio, you’re in luck! WBAL radio announved yesterday that they’ll air the following spring training games this season:

• Monday, March 5 Pittsburgh Pirates 7:05 p.m.
• Tuesday, March 6 at Boston Red Sox 1:35 p.m.
• Thursday, March 8 Atlanta Braves 1:05 p.m.
• Saturday, March 10 at Philadelphia Phillies 1:05 p.m.
• Sunday, March 11 Boston Red Sox 1:05 p.m.
• Tuesday, March 13 Tampa Bay Rays 1:05 p.m.
• Saturday, March 17 Boston Red Sox 1:05 p.m.
• Sunday, March 18 New York Yankees 7:05 p.m.
• Tuesday, March 20 Philadelphia Phillies 1:05 p.m.
• Friday, March 23 Boston Red Sox 1:05 p.m.
• Saturday, March 24 Washington Nationals 1:05 p.m.
• Sunday, March 25 at Philadelphia Phillies 1:05 p.m.
• Wednesday, March 28 at Toronto Blue Jays 1:05 p.m.
• Thursday, March 29 at New York Yankees 7:05 p.m.
• Saturday, March 31 at Pittsburgh Pirates 1:05 p.m.
• Sunday, April 1 Tampa Bay Rays 1:05 p.m.

According to the news release, longtime Oriole announcers Joe Angel and Fred Manfra will once again team up in 2012 to call all of the action for Oriole fans on WBAL (1090-AM). Of course the only issue is that many of these games are in the afternoon under the blonde rays of the Florida sun; many folks are at work and are unable to follow the games. However if your job permits it, you can listen to the games right there at your desk. One change from in years past is that WBAL will also air their normal 30-minute pre and post-game show during select games (in bold print) on the schedule. Previously for all spring training broadcasts they would simply come on at the specified time with only the call of the game.

This will be the second year since the Orioles have returned to WBAL after four years on WJZ (105.7 “the fan”). One thing I will say is that I was a bit…”disappointed” in the gameday coverage that WBAL provided last season. (Incidentally this is in no way a reflection of the announcers, personalities, crew, etc. I think that Angel & Manfra, along with their off-air crew and anyone else who appears on the broadcasts do an incredibly professional job. Oriole fans are lucky to have Angel and Manfra in my opinion.) However, one thing that I did like about WJZ was the coverage they provided on gameday. They’d go on the air live one hour before the game with Tom Davis and former Oriole Dave Johnson’s pregame show live from the Bud Light Warehouse Bar at Camden Yards for home games. (For road games they’d broadcast from the WJZ studios.) Following the game (and Angel and Manfra’s wrap-up) they’d be on for another hour recounting the game action and sometimes taking calls from fans.

WBAL does a thirty-minute pre and post-game show. Again, the coverage that they do provide is good, however I thought that WJZ’s gameday access was better. Broadcasting live from the stadium as such is something that we often see for football games, and I felt that it was fairly cutting-edge in that sense for a baseball team. In choosing the games that would air on WBAL this spring, I feel that they did a good job given that games will be aired every Saturday and Sunday. Hopefully Oriole fans take advantage of this and put the game on the radio in the background as they begin their spring cleaning or whatever other household chores they may be doing. It’s unclear if stations across the Orioles’ radio network will carry these exhibition games, however in the past that hasn’t been the case. In case you’re wondering, the Orioles’ radio network of stations can be found here.

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