I was supposed to publish a themeless puzzle this week but when I realized it was MLB opening week I audibled. I threw together this baseball related puzzle as a timely tribute to the beginning of the baseball season. It's maybe not the most original puzzle theme but it works and it was built on short notice. I never watched 62-across and sometimes feel like I'm the only one who didn't. It just never appealed to me and seemed very inane, to put it nicely.
I wasn't able to get the Orioles, my favorite team, into a theme answer. There aren't really any oriole phrases that aren't just the bird. The early projections predict another 100-loss season for the birds but hopefully they win a few more than expected. The actually have decent farm talent for the first time in a long time. Maybe things are turning around,, or maybe Mike Elias just wants us to think they are. They have the lowest payroll in baseball and aren't really trying to win but maybe that will change. Anyway, enjoy the puzzle and watch some games. I'll be at Nationals opening day on Thursday where I won't be seeing deGrom pitch. *sigh*