Tuesday Bird Droppings: Where one Orioles foe has been vanquished

Hello, friends.

There are now 169 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day 2018. There will only be one game to entertain us today, as the Dodgers knocked off the Diamondbacks. That leaves only the Cubs and the Nationals to play the fourth and potentially decisive fourth game of their division series. You all know who I’m hoping to win that contest.

We can enjoy at least a little bit of celebration today for knowing that in the end, the Red Sox won as many postseason series as the Orioles did this season. That number, of course, is zero, with the Sox being eliminated by the Astros on Monday despite a ninth inning inside-the-park home run.

Do I love that the fans got their hopes up only to have them crushed thoroughly? Well, yes. Do I enjoy that next month, little Red Sox fans will start to turn four years old who have never been alive for their team winning the World Series? You got me there. Another three decades and perhaps I'll start to feel bad for them.

Alas, the Yankees survive to Game 5 on Wednesday, but we can worry about that on Wednesday... or, perhaps, start pinning our hopes on the Astros to take care of business on the Orioles Fan Postseason Haterade Tour.

Around the blogO'sphere

Talking about Tillman (School of Roch)
Roch offers the “Tillman didn’t get his usual offseason” argument for Tillman’s 2017 struggles, concluding that it makes him a good guy to sign for a low price for next year. This may be true.

A few facts and a few opinions (Steve Melewski)
Resorting to hack newspaper columnist fact/opinion stuff in early October is a cry for help.

A final look at WAR and the 2017 Orioles (Baltimore Baseball)
Friend of the blog Paul Folkemer is here with some things to say about some Orioles players and WAR, and even though he engages in the heresy of proclaiming an “average WAR” between bWAR and fWAR, he is still friend of the blog.

2017 Orioles roster review, part one: The replaceable position players (Press Box)
...and a very busy friend of the blog he is, because here he is on another outlet, writing about the various useless position players who appeared for the Orioles this year.

Mountcastle readies for hot corner trial in AFL (Baseball America)
If Ryan Mountcastle can both hit and stick in the infield - an idea of which we could get about both in the Arizona Fall League - that’s a good sign for the Orioles of the future.

At Arizona Fall League, Orioles infielder Steve Wilkerson has chance to present himself as a prospect (Baltimore Sun)
Lots to say about the AFL today because it’s getting started soon. Keep an eye on Steve Wilkerson as a possible utility infielder, you know, if he proves himself capable of being this.

2017 Arizona Fall League preview: Salt River Rafters roster (Minor League Ball)
The Salt River Rafters is the AFL team that will have the Orioles prospects playing for it. Here’s our friends over at SB Nation’s Minor League Ball with thoughts on all of the players on that roster, including the O’s guys.

Birthdays and anniversaries

One lone former Oriole has a birthday today. It's Gordie Sundin, who pitched to two batters in one game for the 1956 Orioles, walked both, ended up with an infinity ERA and never pitched in MLB again even though he was only 18. Dang.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: hydrogen discoverer Henry Cavendish (1731), opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813), pianist Thelonious Monk (1917), playwright Harold Pinter (1930), Van Halen lead singer David Lee Roth (1954), actor Mario Lopez (1973), NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1974), Halestorm singer/guitarist Lzzy Hale (1983), and Friday Night Lights actress Aimee Teegarden (1989).

On this day in history...

In 732, a force of Franks led by Charles Martel defeated an Umayyad Caliphate army in the Battle of Tours. At the time, Charles was seen as saving the Christian world from further Muslim encroachment beyond the Pyrenees, and he was given the sobriquet "The Hammer."

In 1845, what we now call the Naval Academy opened its doors in Annapolis with 50 students and seven professors.

In 1846, the astronomer William Lassell discovered Triton, the largest moon of Neptune.

In 1957, President Eisenhower issued an apology to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbedemah, who had been refused service at a Howard Johnson's in Dover, Delaware.

In 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned after being charged with tax evasion.

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And that's the way it is in Birdland on October 10 - or at least, unless something happens later, which if it does, it probably won't have anything to do with the Orioles because it's still October. Have a safe Tuesday.