Author. Sportswriter. Baltimore. Ravens and Orioles. Check out my latest at birdtapes.substack.com.https://bsky.app/profile/johneisenberg.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/johneisenberg.bsky.social/post/3m7gifkikik2mIf a receiver can catch a pass in the end zone and take three steps while in possession of the ball and the TD is overturned, the rule has been way overthought.07 Dec 2025 21:44 +0000at://did:plc:7epitpmheziusnt7uk4u2ft2/app.bsky.feed.post/3m7gifkikik2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/johneisenberg.bsky.social/post/3lunm4jxl3k25Beyond delighted to see Baltimore Magazine praise my work on the Bird Tapes, my Orioles history project on Substack, in the 2025 “Best of Baltimore” issue.23 Jul 2025 18:03 +0000at://did:plc:7epitpmheziusnt7uk4u2ft2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lunm4jxl3k25https://bsky.app/profile/johneisenberg.bsky.social/post/3ltwto2tbws2xNew Bird Tapes post: In Part 2 of a classic interview, Bobby Grich, 76, dives into what it was like to play for Earl Weaver (spoiler: not easy) and other topics such as whether he belongs in the Hall of Fame - a longshot notion that has recently gained steam. https://birdtapes.substack.com/p/bird-tapes-podcast-he-wouldnt-even14 Jul 2025 16:46 +0000at://did:plc:7epitpmheziusnt7uk4u2ft2/app.bsky.feed.post/3ltwto2tbws2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/johneisenberg.bsky.social/post/3ltmfcs4f422cI interviewed Mike Mussina, a future Hall of Fame enshrinee, countless times when he was the Orioles’ ace in the ‘90s. My latest post at the Bird Tapes recalls the events that led me to ask him a question I knew was utterly ridiculous. https://birdtapes.substack.com/p/the-time-i-asked-mike-mussina-a-really10 Jul 2025 13:03 +0000at://did:plc:7epitpmheziusnt7uk4u2ft2/app.bsky.feed.post/3ltmfcs4f422chttps://bsky.app/profile/johneisenberg.bsky.social/post/3lt6366mt4k2aICYMI: My latest post at the Bird Tapes recalls a managerial hiring the Orioles botched in the early ‘60s. “The inmates were running the asylum,” one player told me years later. https://birdtapes.substack.com/p/classic-card-billy-hitchcock-196704 Jul 2025 20:24 +0000at://did:plc:7epitpmheziusnt7uk4u2ft2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lt6366mt4k2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/johneisenberg.bsky.social/post/3lpwlssqxuc2xThank you! [contains quote post or other embedded content]24 May 2025 16:45 +0000at://did:plc:7epitpmheziusnt7uk4u2ft2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lpwlssqxuc2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/johneisenberg.bsky.social/post/3lm7z3p7afk2tNew at the Bird Tapes: Part 1 of my recent interview with Jon Miller, the legendary broadcaster who ruled in Baltimore in the ‘80s and ‘90s. He discusses Earl, Eddie, Cal, EBW, 0-21, Jeffrey Maier, his departure for SF and much more. It's a riveting history lesson. https://open.substack.com/pub/birdtapes/p/bird-tapes-2025-an-interview-with-b70?r=10nhws&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true07 Apr 2025 12:56 +0000at://did:plc:7epitpmheziusnt7uk4u2ft2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lm7z3p7afk2thttps://bsky.app/profile/johneisenberg.bsky.social/post/3llyjlpim2k2xMy latest at the Bird Tapes: Remembering the Orioles' Paul Bunyan, a gigantic farm boy from Wisconsin whose one-of-a-kind persona and antics were more memorable than his pitching. https://open.substack.com/pub/birdtapes/p/classic-card-gene-brabender-1968?r=10nhws&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true04 Apr 2025 13:30 +0000at://did:plc:7epitpmheziusnt7uk4u2ft2/app.bsky.feed.post/3llyjlpim2k2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/johneisenberg.bsky.social/post/3llogtjolmc2hNew at the Bird Tapes: My conversation with Fred Lynn, a nine-time All-Star who is recalled as a Red Sox star but also played for the Orioles from 1985-88. He signed with them because he wanted to play behind their stellar pitching. But his timing was unfortunate. https://open.substack.com/pub/birdtapes/p/bird-tapes-2025-an-interview-with-3d4?r=10nhws&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true31 Mar 2025 13:14 +0000at://did:plc:7epitpmheziusnt7uk4u2ft2/app.bsky.feed.post/3llogtjolmc2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/johneisenberg.bsky.social/post/3llgv7xlbd224New at the Bird Tapes: A kid once wrote to Moe Drabowsky that “baseball needs more nuts like you.” Indeed. The one-and-only Moe is remembered today as the game's greatest-ever practical joker, but he was also a World Series hero for the Orioles. https://open.substack.com/pub/birdtapes/p/spirit-of-66-moe-drabowsky?r=10nhws&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true28 Mar 2025 13:10 +0000at://did:plc:7epitpmheziusnt7uk4u2ft2/app.bsky.feed.post/3llgv7xlbd224https://bsky.app/profile/johneisenberg.bsky.social/post/3lk6t3lrngk2fAs a new baseball season nears, a new season of the Bird Tapes begins! In Year 2 of my Orioles history project, I’ll post new interviews with legendary former players, broadcasters and beat writers, and continue to explore the club’s history. Check it out! https://birdtapes.substack.com/p/introducing-bird-tapes-202512 Mar 2025 14:45 +0000at://did:plc:7epitpmheziusnt7uk4u2ft2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lk6t3lrngk2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/johneisenberg.bsky.social/post/3lhrxovmkg22sIsn’t this when the lights go out?10 Feb 2025 01:13 +0000at://did:plc:7epitpmheziusnt7uk4u2ft2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lhrxovmkg22shttps://bsky.app/profile/johneisenberg.bsky.social/post/3lhbsl7s72k2lMy latest at the Bird Tapes: Commemorating Black History Month, here’s the story of the obscure pitcher who integrated the Baltimore Orioles. https://birdtapes.substack.com/p/the-orioles-first-black-player03 Feb 2025 14:59 +0000at://did:plc:7epitpmheziusnt7uk4u2ft2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lhbsl7s72k2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/johneisenberg.bsky.social/post/3lgvw7fprr22tLooking forward to this! [contains quote post or other embedded content]29 Jan 2025 21:32 +0000at://did:plc:7epitpmheziusnt7uk4u2ft2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lgvw7fprr22thttps://bsky.app/profile/johneisenberg.bsky.social/post/3lfg7br3wi22pMy latest at the Bird Tapes: If Bobby Grich had come a long just a few years earlier, he would have spent his entire career with the Orioles - and what a fine career it was. But free agency came along, and he left Baltimore. https://birdtapes.substack.com/p/lost-voices-bobby-grich10 Jan 2025 22:06 +0000at://did:plc:7epitpmheziusnt7uk4u2ft2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lfg7br3wi22phttps://bsky.app/profile/johneisenberg.bsky.social/post/3lew735tmc22xMy latest at the Bird Tapes: Recalling the greatest mythological figure in the history of the Baltimore Orioles. No one threw harder or lived harder than Steve Dalkowski. https://birdtapes.substack.com/p/the-legend-of-all-legends04 Jan 2025 13:20 +0000at://did:plc:7epitpmheziusnt7uk4u2ft2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lew735tmc22xhttps://bsky.app/profile/johneisenberg.bsky.social/post/3lec6id6vcs2lNow up at the Bird Tapes: Remembering when Brooks Robinson fact-checked my book on the Orioles. https://birdtapes.substack.com/p/from-the-archive-my-hall-of-fame?r=10nhws27 Dec 2024 14:16 +0000at://did:plc:7epitpmheziusnt7uk4u2ft2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lec6id6vcs2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/johneisenberg.bsky.social/post/3ldqkawkcs22lMy latest at the Bird Tapes: When I went through my decades-old baseball card collection, searching for Orioles to use to illustrate posts at the Bird Tapes, I discovered I had pretty much cornered the market on the cards of a couple of long-forgotten Birds. https://birdtapes.substack.com/p/the-baseball-cards-i-dont-need20 Dec 2024 13:59 +0000at://did:plc:7epitpmheziusnt7uk4u2ft2/app.bsky.feed.post/3ldqkawkcs22l