Friday Bird Droppings: Where another O’s fan foe goes down in flames

Hello, friends.

There are now 166 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day 2018. Baseball has not left us quite yet, and tonight, if you're so inclined, you might be entertained (depending on the result) by the Yankees and Astros kicking off the ALCS in Cleveland at 8 o'clock on Fox Sports 1.

Although the Orioles didn’t find their way into the postseason this year, or even come close to it, those among us who are nurtured by watching the delicious failure of teams that we do not like can find some sustenance in the Nationals once again being booted from the postseason in the first round.

It seems that winning a division where the second place team is 77-85 maybe doesn’t do the best for sharpening the spears for October baseball. Too bad, so sad. Not that the Nationals defeat exactly makes for a fun postseason: The four largest media markets in America are now represented in the Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs, and Astros.

That’s not much fun. There are no underdogs here in that sense. When you get down to it, I don’t like any of these teams, and outside of wanting the Yankees to lose, I have no reason to like any of them. Maybe one day the Orioles will be good enough to be in this conversation again. Maybe next year can be the year, if we’re lucky and they get a better starting rotation and the high-priced sluggers start slugging again.

Around the blogO'sphere

Orioles announce home spring training schedule for 2018 at Ed Smith Stadium (Baltimore Sun)
Some people get excited for pitchers and catchers to report to spring training. I’m not one of them, but if you are, you should know that they report four months from today: February 13.

Santander and early talk about the bench (School of Roch)
Roch assesses that the Orioles have kept Anthony Santander this long, so they’ll probably keep him on the active roster for the 44 days needed to gain his rights. Sounds right! He also thinks they will play with a short bench again in March and early April.

O's list of Rule 5 eligible players includes pitcher Pat Connaughton (Steve Melewski)
The Orioles are going to have some choices to make this offseason on who to add to the 40-man roster to protect from the Rule 5 draft.

Farrell's firing in Boston accentuates the longevity Showalter has had with the Orioles (Baltimore Baseball)
I just wanted to post another article on this topic because I love when the Red Sox are engulfed in hilarious drama.

The Dolly Vardens, Philadelphia's 19th century all-Black women baseball teams (Beyond the Box Score)
This has nothing to do with the Orioles at all, but it’s cool as heck, so you should read about it.

Lady Orioles take one step closer to Big 8 cross country crown (The Coldwater Daily Reporter)
As you may know, it is the editorial position of this blog to celebrate the success of all Orioles teams of any kind. Here, the girls cross country-running Orioles of Quincy High School in Michigan had themselves a nice day.

Birthdays and anniversaries

There are two former Orioles with birthdays today. They are 2005-06 pitcher Hayden Penn, the first Oriole younger than me, and the late Ron Moeller, a short-time reliever of the 1956 and 1958 Orioles.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: explorer Mary Kingsley (1862), L.L. Bean founder Leon Leonwood Bean (1872), Simon and Garfunkel's Paul Simon (1941), Donnie and Marie's Marie Osmond (1959), pro football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice (1962), Grey's Anatomy actress Kate Walsh (1967), figure skater Nancy Kerrigan (1969), funny man Sacha Baron Cohen (1971), and singer-songwriter Ashanti (1980).

On this day in history...

In 54, Roman emperor Claudius died under mysterious circumstances, paving the way for his stepson Nero, later a noted fiddler but then just a 17-year-old, to succeed him.

In 1792, in Washington, DC, the cornerstone for the United States Executive Mansion was laid. Since 1818, this building has been known as the White House.

In 1884, the International Meridian Conference voted on the resolution that established the meridian passing through the Greenwich Observatory as the prime meridian for longitude.

In 1903, the Boston Red Sox beat the Pittsburgh Pirates to win the first modern World Series, although it wasn't quite recognizable to what we have today because the series went eight games.

In 2010, the last of the 33 Chilean miners who had been trapped underground for 69 days was rescued.

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And that's the way it is in Birdland on October 13 - or at least, unless something happens later, which, given that it's Friday the 13th in October, if something does happen, it probably won't be good. Have an extra safe Friday.