Orioles Hall of Famer Jim Palmer says he texted manager Craig Albernaz in February with advice for Colton Cowser and “never heard from Craig.” When Palmer brought it up on the field in Houston late in the season, he says Albernaz told him it’s a lot easier to talk about it than do it, and Palmer fired back: “I’ve been around over 60 years… if you don’t talk about it, there’s no chance to do it.” On The Ryan Ripken Show, Ryan, Zach and Rocco play the clip from the BMore Baseball Podcast and break down what it says about the Orioles after a 79-82 season.
What we cover:
Jim Palmer’s advice: have Cowser study Cody Bellinger’s at-bats against left-handed pitching, from the counts to the bat path through the zone
Palmer’s account of the Houston exchange, where Albernaz called the text “a long time ago” and said talking is easier than doing
Ryan, who has known Palmer his entire life, says Jim always has the best intentions, wishes the text had been answered and points to the bigger issue of platooning and player development, noting Cowser had only 57 at-bats against lefties
Zach doubts the conversation would have changed the season and says it only became a story because the Orioles missed the playoffs
Rocco’s advice for Albernaz: “Pick up the phone. Answer your unread text messages,” because Palmer is a legend
Subscribe to @ryanripkenmedia for more Ravens, Orioles and Baltimore sports talk. The Ryan Ripken Show is live weekdays 3-5 p.m. ET on YouTube and is also available as a podcast.
0:00 Unpacking the Jim Palmer and Craig Albernaz Drama
1:30 The Specifics of the Palmer-Albernaz Exchange
3:56 The Optics of Communication in Professional Sports
7:01 Does a Single Text Actually Change a Season?
11:51 Moving Forward and Fixing the Culture
#RyanRipkenShow #Orioles #JimPalmer #CraigAlbernaz #Birdland
Ryan pumping out excuses as usual stop get some help Ryan please 🙏
Ryan always trying to gloss everything over. Also Zach always has a different take on this “show” as opposed to his “show.”
Craig Albernaz has no idea. I'll make no excuses for him. Maybe he becomes a great manager, but based on this year, he's got a long way to go for that to happen.
Albernez has no business being the Coach of the O's! Elias and Sig should be FIRED as well!
Craig Albernaz is a clown. 🤡
How does Alby NOT listen to Palmer? At very least, give it a try! I think Jim Palmer knows a bit more about baseball than that idiot Alby! Alby showed a disgusting and disrespectful, and disgraceful actions!
You cannot praise Buck for bringing older players in (players that were in the league as long as him) to help especially in the spring then defend Craig in this. It’s one of the other. No one said cowers thing is why the season turned out how it did if they are they’re idiots. It shows a deeper problem in the organization. What are yall doing here?
Albernaz is a joke. He's 5'8" and his middle name is Francis. Enough said.
I think Palmer has a clear point when one watches both swing on video. Bellinger and Cowser do have similar swings. Is it as simple as adjustment? I'd would find out fast!
Dude, this is not some Joe Smo sending a txt; this is HOFer Jim Palmer trying to help you do your job better. One of the best Pitchers in the last 60 years…Thanks for taking this and running with it Ryan…Hell, I give Palmer credit; I heard the whole interview; he gave clues that Albernaz is a fart in the breeze; and never directly came out and said it. The same with Buck…
The entire franchise philosophy needs to change. Some old school situational hitting needs to be coached. Man on 3rd…less then 2 outs….put the F'ing ball in play. Enough of this launch angle crap. Get runners over…get them home…stop swinging for the fences
Buck Showalter, Jim Palmer, Ben McDonald, Billy Ripken… Need to be in some type of roles within the team.
Something is rotten in Baltimore !
Let me clue you in . Their initials
are M.E. and C.A.
The smell is like the Fish Market
In Denmark .
Time to clean house .
Jim Palmer had a lot more to say than that. Running theme: There are people who could provide expertise to complement analytics. Crowley. Surhoff. Palmer.
I got the idea that JP thinks that he and others are actively discouraged from helping.
I appreciate the fact that JP is just as frustrated as we are. He cares about the Orioles; just like us.
The bottom line is that you have to a feel for the Organization and the city that you represent! Elias and Albernaz have no clue about what it means to be an Oriole!
This team is horrible . Look at the teams in the playoffs . Orioles are
not a good team . Please dont
try to Gaslight the FANS !
Love your show, love the Orioles more than most things in life. Remind me again, who’s in the Albernaz camp? I cannot find a single person ANYWHERE that has said anything positive about anything Albernaz has done. How do they not hire an experienced manager? This all feels like Elias refuses to let go of control. We’re over analytics! It’s a tool, not the be all end all but if feels like that is how ALLLLLL of our decisions are made! Mayo starting get ABs against righties and he started to hit righties. We’re all over the bullshit and I’m the biggest homer and backer of the process. We have to try something new. They hired the guy they fired and the results are the same! Bring into an experienced manager and let them manage the team using analytics as a tool!
ALBERNEZ ONLY SAYS YES TO 2 PEOPLE….LYING MIKEY AND THEE ALLEGED OWNER…THUS…79-82
What do you mean “if “ the text did happen? Palmer said it happened!
The coach didn't hire himself. He only take orders from Mikey.
The bottom line is the model that they are using, whatever it is, clearly isn’t working!
This is the second year in a row that the Orioles finished in last place after Mike Elias declared it was "liftoff from here".
Meanwhile the White Sox went from worst team in MLB to playoffs in half the time that Elias has been rebuilding the Orioles with nothing to show for it.
"In it" until the last series in New York?! You're not "in it" when you're below .500 and only even close because the of the AL is historically bad too.
I hope Albernaz was embarrassed by what Palmer said. Albernaz didn't want to take pointers from a Hall of Famer. He wanted to do things his way. He reminds me too much of Elias, who hired him. Have the Orioles ever had a dumber manager?