Ron Snyder, author of "A Season to Forget: The Story of the 1988 Baltimore Orioles"
With the Baltimore Orioles fully ensconced in a rebuild after a historically awful season, this week's episode focuses on an equally horrific Birds campaign from an earlier era. Sports reporter Greg Swatek and sports editor Josh Smith are joined by author Ron Snyder, whose book "A Season to Forget: The Story of the 1988 Baltimore Orioles" was released last week. Snyder, who has been a journalist in Maryland for the past 20 years and graduated from Towson University with Josh, discusses what prompted him to revisit in detail a year in which the Orioles — once a model franchise in MLB — went 0-21 to start the season. How did the team, which still had a core of players from the 1983 world championship roster, get so bad? What was it like for the players, who were part of a squad that became a national punchline and drew hordes of media to cover their train wreck of a start? In working on the book, what was it like for Snyder to reach out to former players about such a negative experience? Snyder also touches on the moves Baltimore made that led to a surprising 1989 season — in which the upstart Orioles suddenly had baseball fans statewide asking "Why Not?" — and touches on the organization's current state. Later, Greg and Josh provide tickets to some more worthy passengers for The Boat to Nowhere, including an entire NBA team and a certain rapper who can entertain the vessel's crowd.