Introducing Bird Tapes 2025

In Year Two of my one-of-a-kind exploration of Orioles history, I'll post new interviews with legendary players, broadcasters and beat writers. And I'll continue to find new angles to write about.

The way it was: a game at Memorial Stadium

When I debuted the Bird Tapes nearly a year ago, I had a shoebox full of plastic microcassettes containing recordings of rare interviews with figures from the history of the Orioles. The figures ranged from the legendary (Brooks, Earl, Frank, etc.) to the not-so-famous (Barry Shetrone) and also included front office executives, a broadcaster (Ernie Harwell) and even an owner (Peter Angelos).

The shoebox had gathered dust in my home office closet for more than two decades, since the time when I collected the interviews while writing From 33rd Street to Camden Yards, my oral history of the Orioles. That book was published in 2001.

Over the past year, I’ve pulled microcassettes out of the shoebox, one by one, and posted the interviews after having the recordings digitized. I hope listening to these conversations from years ago has enabled Bird Tapes subscribers to enjoy an exploration of Orioles history that is unavailable anywhere else. (It takes a paid subscription to hear the interviews. I’m also writing free articles on Orioles history that are posted every week.)

I wasn’t initially sure how the project would be received, and fortunately, the public has gobbled it up. Substack quickly declared the Bird Tapes a “bestseller.” It soared beyond a thousand subscribers months ago and continues to rapidly grow. I’ve promoted the Bird Tapes in local and national interviews.

But as all that good stuff happened, the stash of microcassettes in my shoebox steadily shrank. Once one was digitized and posted, I put it in a baggie to keep those separate from the ones that were still in the shoebox, needing to be digitized and posted. As the baggie swelled with tapes and the shoebox emptied out, I realized the day was coming when I’d run out of vintage interviews to post.

Well, that day has come.

A nearly empty shoebox …

… and a baggie full of microcassettes

Here’s there math: I started out with 42 potential Bird Tapes interviews on microcassettes, and I’ve posted 34, leaving just a few in the shoebox. And the tapes/interviews still in the shoebox are, in my judgment, not suitable for public consumption, mostly because they were recorded in the Orioles’ clubhouse in the late ‘90s and there’s a ton of background noise competing with the conversations.

Vintage interviews with Mike Mussina, Brady Anderson and Rafael Palmeiro are among those with too much competing noise, and as I looked at those microcassettes in the shoebox recently, the light bulb came on for me about how the Bird Tapes should proceed. I covered those guys when I worked for the Baltimore Sun. I can go back to them and record NEW interviews. In fact, I can record a slew of new interviews with important and interesting figures in Orioles history who are still around and have tales to tell.

So … here we go.

Introducing the Bird Tapes 2025.

I’ve already started collecting new interviews, having spoken at length to former players Al Bumbry, Fred Lynn, Gregg Olson and Tippy Martinez, former GM Dan Duquette and Hall of Fame broadcaster Jon Miller about their Baltimore experiences. There’s no doubt, people are delighted to participate, especially when I explain that their interview will go into the Bird Tapes archive alongside interviews with Brooks, Earl, Frank, etc. And I’ve got my eye on a long list of others I’m hoping to interview, including Mussina, Anderson and Palmeiro.

My vintage interview with Olson, recorded in 2000, was another that I didn’t feel comfortable posting because of competing background noise. When I recently contacted the retired closer, who is still the Orioles’ career saves leader and now a broadcaster, he was totally up for recording a new interview about his Baltimore career. We spoke for over an hour, and if anything, the opportunity to look back at what transpired years ago honed and sharpened his perspective.

I’m also going to widen the Bird Tapes’ storytelling net by interviewing former Oriole broadcasters and newspaper beat writers. As an indication of where this might lead, my recent conversation with Jon Miller lasted two-and-a-half hours and included the most detailed account I’ve ever heard about his controversial departure from Baltimore. Amazing stuff. Can’t wait to post it. And as you may know, the list of former Oriole beat writers includes ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian and Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports and The Athletic. Both are former colleagues of mine and extraordinary storytellers.

Starting with my hourlong conversation with Bumbry in a couple of days, I’ll roll out these new interviews at the same pace I’ve followed over the past year, continuing the deep-dive exploration of Orioles history that Bird Tapes subscribers have come to expect. (Bumbry’s account of his tour of combat duty in Vietnam gave me chills.) Meanwhile, I’ll continue to augment the recordings by writing new articles about various individuals and moments in Orioles history. You can expect a new series of posts focusing on vintage Oriole baseball cards and the stories behind them.

I’ve published 11 books over the past three decades, but I’m not working on another book right now. The Bird Tapes is where I’m writing. And enjoying writing.

The audio quality of the new interviews is topnotch. While very few subscribers complained about not being able to understand the vintage interviews I’ve posted in the past year, they weren't intended for public consumption when they were recorded years ago, and I’m aware that extraneous noise got in the way at times. While it may have been amusing to hear Steve Barber talking to his dog at his home in Las Vegas in 1999, I’m pleased to present podcast-quality interviews going forward.

Having said that, as I go along, I’m going to re-post the vintage interviews that were especially popular during the past year, including those in what I call my Hall of Fame collection (Brooks, Frank, Earl, Eddie, Palmer, Ripken) as well as my conversations with Mike Flanagan, Jim Gentile, Paul Blair, Boog Powell and others. Those and the entire archive of Bird Tapes interviews are available now with a paid subscription. Re-posting them will put them front and center in your inbox … and earbuds.

According to Substack, the Bird Tapes is now heard/read in 46 states and 15 countries, including Morocco, Nigeria and Brazil, which is gratifying and, I think, astounding. It’s a testament to the reach of the Internet, and also to the fact that the Orioles have been around since 1954, making history and memories for a lot of people. They’re a popular and intensely scrutinized institution, yet I seem to have found unexplored terrain with the Bird Tapes. There’ve been more than 100 posts so far. I’m proud of their scope and variety, and excited about what’s coming. I hope you’ll continue to subscribe.

A free subscription will continue to provide access to some material, while a paid subscription gives you the full Bird Tapes experience, enabling you to hear both the new and vintage interviews. I’m considering trying out video posts and chat.

Subscription prices aren’t changing in Year Two: it’s still $6 per month or $66 per year. A bit more content may land behind the paywall going forward, but there’ll still be free content.

To commemorate the introduction of Bird Tapes 2025 and the beginning of Year Two, I’m offering discounted monthly and annual subscription rates through this Friday. Click on the “subscribe now” button to take advantage. Normal rates will resume after Friday.

The price of what Substack calls a “founding” membership to the Bird Tapes is rising to $125 per year, but as a bonus, I’m going to give founding members one of my books, personally inscribed and mailed to your door. Unfortunately, the list of books I’m making available does NOT include my Orioles oral history, From 33rd Street to Camden Yards, or The Streak, my 2017 book about Cal Ripken and the history of endurance in baseball (sorry, all out). The books I’m making available with a founding membership are all from my other writing lane as a pro football historian:

+ The League: How Five Rivals Created the NFL and Launched a Sports Empire (bestselling paperback published in 2019, limited availability, first come, first serve)

+ Rocket Men: The Black Quarterbacks Who Revolutionized Pro Football (hard cover published in 2023, limited availability, first come, first serve)

+ Ten-Gallon War: The NFL’s Cowboys, The AFL’s Texans, and the Feud for Dallas’s Pro Football Future (hard cover published in 2012)

+ That First Season: How Vince Lombardi Took the Worst Team in the NFL and Set It On the Path to Glory (hard cover published in 2009)

As Bird Tapes 2025 begins, I want to thank each and every subscriber for their interest in the project. Your support is much appreciated. I started the Bird Tapes because I thought fans of the Orioles would enjoy hearing rare interviews and exploring the history of the team. My plan is to keep providing what you want.