Friday Bird Droppings

It is a happy Friday, indeed, and we are presented with another weekend series against a division rival. Sure would be swell to get a positive outcome, here. No Jeter, no A-rod, no Tex, no Youk...who are these guys? Robby Cano, the re-animated corpse of Ichiro and...Zoilo Almonte. Huh. The Birds do get to see their old buddies C.C. Sabathia and Hiroki Kuroda and get airtime on Fox and ESPN.

Any thoughts on the NBA Draft? Wimbledon? Cuban Defector Henry Urrutia? What do you know, folks?

School of Roch: A closer look at McFarland and tonight's start How do you beat a quad-A lineup?

T.J. McFarland Should Stay in the Bullpen | Baltimore Sports and Life Tucker Blair is skeptical.

Orioles expect Brian Roberts back this weekend - CBSSports.com Back for how long? Man, that guy that played 2B during Spring Training and the first few games of the season was pretty good.

Freddy Garcia signs minor league deal with Baltimore Orioles - ESPN Rest easy, Birdland.

Eastern League reveals All-Star rosters | MiLB.com News | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball Whole lotta Baysox goin on.

O's: No formal complaint against umpires | Comcast SportsNet Baltimore If you feel like the Orioles have been hard done by some shoddy officiating the last few weeks, you're probably right, but Buck's not making a big thing out of it.

Eutaw Street Report | An overused JJ is a wild JJ A closer look at the trials and tribulations of Jim Johnson.

On this day in the year 2000 (the year two thou-saaaaaannnnd), B.J. Surhoff extended his hitting streak to 21 games by going 5-6 in an 8-7 victory over the Red Sox in 11 innings.

It's the birthday of Don Baylor.