Friday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles still believe in the Orioles

Hello, friends.

There are now 173 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day. For today, at least, the playoffs may be able to entertain us, as all four series will be in action with start times staggered from 2:05-10:30. There might not be another day with four games for the rest of the year, so enjoy it!

Thursday's playoff action was certainly enjoyable for an Orioles fan. Both the Red Sox and the Yankees now face 1-0 deficits in their series. Much-ballyhooed Sox acquisition Chris Sale bombed. The Yankees were unable to capitalize on the fact that Corey Kluber isn't starting until the second game of the series.

One game in a best of five is still just one game, but for now, it's fun that they both lost. It'd be more fun if the Orioles were the team that beat either the Yankees or the Red Sox. Well, maybe next year.

Around the blogO'sphere

Jones, Davis agree Orioles aren't far from recapturing winning formula (Baltimore Sun)
It’s nice that the players believe stuff like this, but I hope that the front office doesn’t think so.

Yankees make a point about bullpen, but O's don't have much else to deal for rotation help (Baltimore Baseball)
The AL Wild Card game showcased the Yankees bullpen and how that can be crucial in the playoffs. The Orioles only expendable assets may be their relievers. So it may not stay a strength for long.

Duquette on "stand-up guys" Hardy and Tillman (School of Roch)
Everybody knows it wasn’t a great season for J.J. Hardy or Chris Tillman. Dan Duquette wants to make sure nobody forgets the success that they had in the past for the O’s.

J.J. Cooper says O's farm has "taken a big step forward" (Steve Melewski)
Cooper of Baseball America believes the O’s system could now be in the top half of baseball, helped in large part (but not entirely) by the surprising Austin Hays, who himself might end up in the top 20 prospects in baseball.

Birthdays and anniversaries

In 1966, Jim Palmer pitched a shutout in the World Series at age 20, becoming the youngest pitcher to ever do so. Dodgers legend Sandy Koufax was opposite Palmer in the game. It was Koufax's last appearance in MLB.

There are a few former Orioles with birthdays today. They are: 2007-08 starter Radhames Liz, 2013 sweat machine Freddy Garcia, 1990 short-timer Greg Walker, and the late Joe Frazier, a 1956 reserve.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: early globe creator Martin Behaim (1459), Westinghouse founder George Westinghouse (1846), football coach and talker Tony Dungy (1955), actress Elisabeth Shue (1963), actor Ioan Gruffudd (1973), and basketballer Rebecca Lobo (1973).

On this day in history...

In 23, rebels in China captured and decapitated Xin dynasty emperor Wang Mang, the capital having fallen two days previously to a peasant rebellion.

In 1600, Euridice, an opera by Jacopo Peri, premiered in Florence. This is noteworthy because it's the earliest surviving opera and is regarded as the beginning of the Baroque period.

In 1927, The Jazz Singer, the first significant "talkie" movie, premiered.

In 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a coordinated assault on Israel, initiating the Yom Kippur War. Two days previously, a US intelligence estimate deemed it "unlikely" that there would be an Arab-Israeli conflict.

In 1979, Pope John Paul II became the first pope to visit the White House.

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And that's the way it is in Birdland on October 6 - or at least, unless something happens later. Plenty of baseball will be happening, although probably not much of it will involve the Orioles. Have a safe Friday.