Tuesday Bird Droppings

Realigning Major League Baseball and What it Means for the Orioles - Birds Watcher | A Baltimore Orioles Blog
Think about how unfair it is for the Orioles and Blue Jays in the AL East and the Marlins and Mets in the NL East (I’m excluding the Nats because they’ll be good in a few years). It’s impossible for the first 2 teams to compete with the payrolls of the Yankees, Red Sox, and even the Rays and it’s impossible for the latter 2 teams to compete with the Phillies and Braves. By creating this whole new conference/division outline, you eliminate those ridiculous power-heavy divisions."

MacPhail on O's International Spending (Part I of II) - Camden Depot
"MacPhail is putting forward the message that international talent is pretty much a crapshoot. That a player who can sign a 4MM bonus is not worth that amount because we have no idea what he will become. I do not agree with this."

Orioles Insider: Orioles midseason report card - baltimoresun.com
"Midseason grades for the Orioles' players were posted as a photo gallery earlier today. If you're not inclined to browse the photos, here's a text-only version of the report card."

Wieters makes his first All-Star appearance - CBSSports.com
"Few players have arrived in the majors with as much hype as Orioles catcher Matt Wieters, who is making his first All-Star appearance in his third season in the big leagues. While the #MattWietersFacts phenomenon has died down, Wieters is proving himself to be the elite talent many believed he'd become."

So yeah, the 2011 Orioles haven't hit rock bottom yet - Baltimore Sun
"Unfortunately, a glance at the start of the second-half schedule makes me think the Orioles haven’t yet toed rock bottom this summer. The last-place Orioles play the Red Sox, Yankees, Angels and Indians after the break. They play one series against team with a losing record in July. The Blue Jays. In Toronto. We know how that one is probably going to go."

The Giants Win the Pennant - Joe Posnanski
"A couple of years ago, I put together a list of the 20 greatest home runs ever hit in baseball history. In honor of Bobby Thomson, who died on Tuesday at the age of 86, I’m going to rework the Top 10 a little bit — we’re going to go with the 10 most memorable home runs ever. I don’t know if that’s notably different than "greatest" home runs ever, but I see it a bit differently, so the lists are different. These are the home runs that stand against time." What are the most memorable Orioles homeruns, Birdland?

Orioles Insider: Orioles news, notes and opinions on Day 1 of All-Star break
"You can say what you want about Hendrickson as a pitcher, but there aren’t too many guys like him in this organization. He’s a class act and a total pro." Hendo took Brian Matusz aside to dispense some sage advice upon Matusz' demotion, just as he had when Zach Britton was sent out of MLB camp in Spring Training. -duck

Baltimore Orioles on TV too painful to watch - baltimoresun.com
"All that remains is frustration and anger -- and now, I find myself yelling at the TV when Rick Dempsey or one of the other post-game folks starts pulling punches about how awful this team is." David Zurawik says some REALLY dumb things in this article, but a lot of it is spot on about the complicity of the Baltimore media in "culture of losing" that the Orioles cultivate. -duck