The Case For: A Baseball Hall of Fame Podcast · Russell Christian

Episode 29 - Darren O'Day

·39 min·2 clips

Darren O'Day learned Nick Adenhart had died hours before his Mets debut.

1. The Case For: A Baseball Hall of Fame Podcast focuses this episode on Darren O'Day, a former Braves reliever and current Braves radio announcer on 680 The Fan. 2. Host Russell Christian says he is an attorney and baseball fan, and longtime listener Pete Turner suggested the Darren O'Day topic. 3. The episode asks whether a bullpen specialist with 21 saves and a 2.59 career ERA has a Hall of Fame case. 4. Russell places O'Day in a "Bullpen Trilogy" with John Franco and Jesse Orozco, because all three lack starter-style counting stats. 5. O'Day was born on October 22, 1982, in Jacksonville, Florida, and attended Bishop Kenny High School. 6. Bishop Kenny also produced Todd Dunn, Kevin Witt, Matt Gammill, Travis Chapman, Jonathan Papelbon, and Billy Powell of Lynyrd Skynyrd. 7. Russell spends time on O'Day's University of Florida career, including 13 straight games without a walk as a freshman and an SEC academic honor roll nod. 8. O'Day finished at Florida second all-time in appearances, fourth in saves, tied for seventh in victories, and tied for ninth in ERA. 9. After signing with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 2006, O'Day moved through Cedar Rapids, Orem, Rancho Cucamonga, Arkansas, and Salt Lake. 10. He reached the majors in 2008 with the Angels, then was taken by the New York Mets in the December 11, 2008 Rule 5 draft. 11. Russell highlights the April 9, 2009 news of Nick Adenhart's death as a turning point in O'Day's Mets period. 12. O'Day was claimed by the Texas Rangers on April 22, 2009 and debuted that night against the Toronto Blue Jays after arriving from the airport. 13. In 2009 and 2010, he posted 1.94 ERA and 2.03 ERA seasons for Texas, then reached the 2010 ALDS, ALCS, and World Series. 14. Injuries in 2011 limited him to 16 games and ended his Rangers run before Baltimore claimed him off waivers. 15. The 2012 Orioles season launched O'Day's seven-year Baltimore stretch, and Russell calls Baltimore the team most closely associated with him. 16. Russell notes five straight winning seasons from 2012 through 2016, four seasons with an ERA of 2.28 or lower, and two sub-2.00 ERAs. 17. The episode compares O'Day's peak innings totals to Nolan Ryan, Jumbo McGinnis, and Grover Alexander to show how unusually good his run prevention was. 18. Russell also compares O'Day with Jesse Orosco, Bruce Suter, Lee Smith, Kenley Jansen, and Craig Kimbrel using WAR, ERA+, strikeout rate, and walk rate. 19. The tone is conversational, stat-heavy, and full of repeated disclaimers that O'Day is not being called better than Nolan Ryan, Cy Young, or Clayton Kershaw. 20. Baseball fans who like reliever analytics and Hall of Fame edge cases will probably like this episode, while listeners wanting a short, story-only recap may skip it.

As heard by us

A careful Orioles-era relief portrait that turns setup work into a real Hall case.

This episode makes a careful, well paced case for Darren O'Day. Russell Christian moves through the waiver claim, the Orioles years, and the postseason work without rushing, and the 2012 season comes through as the real hinge point.

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Why you'd press play

You want Darren O'Day's Orioles years weighed like a Hall case.

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