MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports The Baltimore Orioles introduced their new manager on Tuesday, Craig Albernaz, who for the past two seasons was bench coach and associate manager for Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt. Albernaz is a former minor league catcher, who has worked his way up in the game as one of the most…
MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports You thought baseball was dead? In the immortal words of Jacob McCandles, “Not hardly.” To conclude what was certainly one of the best World Series most of us have seen, Game 7 on Saturday night – a come-from-behind 5-4 Los Angeles Dodgers victory in 11 innings over the Toronto Blue…
MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Bob D’Atri was my don. At least I called him my don whenever I saw him, and he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he kind of got a kick out of it and even began to call me “Ah, Michael” in a raspy voice. One time he jokingly (I…
MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Another Homecoming Week in Cumberland is upon us, or, as some of us used to call it back when things were a bit more edgy between Allegany and Fort Hill, Idiot Week, which was never directed toward any of the participants in the game even when a coach or a…
MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports The good news is Maryland doesn’t play this weekend. The bad news is, under head coach Mike Locksley, the Terps are 0-10 following bye weeks, including the first of three consecutive gut-punch losses to Washington three weeks ago. The really bad news is Maryland’s Homecoming opponent next weekend is Indiana,…
MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports The American League champion Toronto Blue Jays have rarely been considered a plucky team. After all, how can a team with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the middle of its lineup be plucky? On top of that Toronto is the equivalent of the No. 6 metro area in Major League Baseball,…
MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports James Franklin was 4-21 against Top 25 teams and won “only” one Big Ten title in his time as the Penn State head football coach. It can honestly be said he earned the derisive nickname of “Big Game James,” but it cannot be denied that he took a program that…
MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Fort Hill hosts North Hagerstown tonight at Greenway to mark the first meeting between the schools since 2014. Used to be the Sentinels and the Hubs, which I always thought was a cool nickname, played every season beginning in 1957 as members of the Cumberland Valley Athletic League, better known…
MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports That Maryland is now safe to play as an underdog on the FOR AMUSEMENT ONLY cards is a hopeful sign, as the Terps have covered the spread the past two weeks against two very good Big Ten teams. There was a time not long ago when Maryland wasn’t even on…
MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports In the unfortunate ESPN vernacular that is, it was called an instant classic, and it was if you consider 15 gut-wrenching innings, 15 pitchers, 4 hours and 58 minutes of anxiety and 472 high-stress pitches to be instant. The decisive moment came on a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded…
