Big doings around here: New radio show; Orioles FanFest booth; new hires & content; Hot Stove Talk info

There’s been a whole lot going on with BaltimoreBaseball.com recently that we want you — our readers, listeners and viewers — to know about.

I guess the biggest is that we’ve surpassed the 10-million mark in page views and we haven’t quite hit 10 months in existence yet. I think if you would have told Steve Cockey and me in March that we’d exceed that number in our first year, we would have been thrilled. We still have two months to go and are still counting. So, thanks everyone. We really appreciate it.

This piece, though, isn’t just a back-patter for us. It’s to let you know some of the other things we are doing that we hope are of interest to Orioles fans, like a new radio show starting today; like our presence at FanFest on Saturday; like a few new hires/content for the site; and like a set time, date and guest list for my annual Hot Stove Talk next month in York, Pa.

The goods:

‘The Baltimore Baseball Show’ debuts tonight

As many of you know, I was born and raised in Baltimore, but have lived in York for more than 20 years, and it’s become my adopted hometown. So, I couldn’t have been more excited when I was approached a few months ago by the Atlantic League’s York Revolution to host a show on the Revolution’s radio station, WOYK, 1350.

The Baltimore Baseball Show, a 30-minute program which will run every Tuesday through the rest of the baseball offseason, kicks off tonight at 6 p.m. My special guests will be Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette (who is speaking at the Revolution’s Hot Stove Luncheon on Tuesday afternoon) and ESPN.com baseball writer Jayson Stark, who will discuss Hall of Fame voting. I’ll also feature a segment in which I’ll answer some Twitter questions (we won’t be doing live call-ins, at least not initially).

If you don’t live in Southern Pennsylvania, no worries. WOYK, York’s oldest radio station, will stream the show at 6 p.m. tonight and it will be archived on the radio station’s website and on BaltimoreBaseball.com, so if you want to hear it, you’ll have multiple ways to do so.

I’m really excited about this opportunity, and the chance for BaltimoreBaseball.com and WOYK to be partners in this endeavor.

Come see us at Orioles’ FanFest; win cool things

I’ve attended the club’s FanFest at the Baltimore Convention Center for most of my years as a baseball writer. Saturday’s event is going to have a different twist for me. I’ll still be interviewing players and will be participating in the media forum at 5 p.m. But I’ll have a greater opportunity to talk to Orioles fans this year.

Steve Cockey and I will be at our own FanFest booth Saturday, answering questions about the site, showing you how to download our free app and basically meeting and greeting. You can enter to win some free stuff, including signed baseball memorabilia as well as inscribed copies of my book, “100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.” I’ll also personalize copies of the book that will be available for purchase. So, come by and say hello.

Expanding our staff and our content

Without a doubt, the best thing about our first year at BaltimoreBaseball.com has been the quality staff that we’ve assembled. Dean Jones Jr., my former supervisor at The Baltimore Sun, has done a tremendous job with minors and high schools for us. Adam Pohl, the voice of the Bowie Baysox, has created our “Minor League Podcast,” which quickly has become a favorite among our site’s visitors. And photographer Joy R. Absalon has made the site look so much better with her fantastic ability to capture the beauty and anguish of baseball.

We believe BaltimoreBaseball.com will be even better in Year 2, especially with the addition of three more staff members.

Paul Folkemer has covered the Orioles for more than a dozen years, most recently for PressBoxonline.com and previously for Camden Chat and Orioles Hangout. He’ll be providing general Orioles content as well as a statistics-driven column a couple times a month.

Harrison Swartz, the play-by-play voice of Johns Hopkins University Baseball and the Baltimore Redbirds, will be writing a weekly feature for us on college baseball in Maryland. It’s the one coverage area we were missing (from preps to the majors), and now we’ll have it.

Jennifer Bookwalter is our new advertising sales consultant. If you are a local or national business interested in advertising with us or sponsoring one of our blogs or podcasts, she can be reached at Jenny@BaltimoreBaseball.com

We couldn’t be more psyched about the BaltimoreBaseball.com group in 2017.

Hot Stove Talk in York; Mike Bordick featured speaker

I’ll flush this out a little more in the coming weeks, but each year I host a Hot Stove Talk at Zion Lutheran Church, 2215 Brandywine Lane, in York, Pa. The seventh annual event will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 8.

Guests joining me this year are MASN Sports color commentator Mike Bordick, the former All Star shortstop and member of the Orioles’ Hall of Fame; and MASN Sports panelist and Sirius/XM Radio host Mel Antonen, who has joined me at Zion for the past six years.

It’s a really good time – and it’s for a good cause. The event itself is free, but there will be a freewill offering with all proceeds going toward the church’s youth ministry program. For more information, contact the church at 717-767-4673.