What are the best things in life? For me, it’s siting on the beach at Assateague (federal side, since they have better bathroom facilities), reading a history of some part of World War II on a sunny day when I’ve remembered to put on sunscreen, and of course my wife and kids, because you legally have to include that when you’re a married dad. For Conan the Barbarian, it’s “Crush your enemies. See them driven before you. Hear the lamentations of their women.”
But I’ll tell you what it’s not. It’s not the Orioles right now. The words of Dante may as well be above the Orioles locker room right now - “Abandon all hope ye who enter here”. And it may not get better any time soon. On to the links...
Jiménez fails to get through three, Orioles match '24 Phillies' record in 15-5 loss to Rays - Baltimore Sun
Embattled Orioles right-hander Ubaldo Jiménez’s bid to end the club’s stretch of 19 straight games of allowing at least five runs lasted all of two innings, and his second start back in the rotation didn’t extend much past that.
Showalter's right; blaming McDowell for pitching woes is 'wrong tree to bark up' - BaltimoreBaseball.com
“If someone’s gonna try to use him as a scapegoat, it’s the wrong tree to bark up,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter told me earlier this week.
With Orioles 'not clicking,' Adam Jones hopes they remember what made them successful - Baltimore Sun
"I think you just have to not necessarily go with the flow, but you have to remind players of the good things that they've done," Adam Jones said. "Right now, especially, the last 30 games, we haven't played our style of baseball. We'd like to control the tempo of the game. We'd like to control the speed of the game when it comes to our defense and our offense right now. You can't pinpoint anything specific. As a team right now, we're not clicking."
Orioles' Darren O'Day: Reinstated from DL - CBSSports.com
Darren O'Day (shoulder) was reinstated from the 10-day disabled list Friday.
Britton update, Flaherty on shoulder and Gentry on return - School of Roch
Closer Zach Britton will pitch Saturday in a relief role at Single-A Delmarva instead of working the first inning. The Orioles want him to get into the proper mindset.
Birthdays and History
Happy Birthday to former Oriole Doug Jones. He shares today with famous people including DuPont founder E.I. Du Pont 1771; journalist Ambrose Bierce 1842; boxer Jack Dempsey 1895; "Happy Days" actor Al Molinaro 1919; musician Mick Fleetwood 1947; guitarist Jeff Beck 1944; and Tears fo Fears member Curt Smith 1961.
On this day in Baltimore baseball history...
1894 - The Chicago Colts score five runs in the top of the 9th to take the lead over Baltimore, but the National League leaders respond with three runs in the bottom of the inning to claim an 11 - 10 win.
On this day in world history...
1497 - Italian explorer John Cabot, sailing in the service of England, landed in North America on what is now Newfoundland. You should go some time. It’s very nice in the summer.
1509 - Henry VIII was crowned King of England. And spawned countless movies and TV series.
1664 - New Jersey, named after the Isle of Jersey, was founded. That ended well.
1812 - Napoleon crossed the Nieman River and invaded Russia. That ended well.
1931 - The Soviet Union and Afghanistan signed a treaty of neutrality. That ended ... well, nothing, actually.
1964 - The Federal Trade Commission announced that starting in 1965, cigarette manufactures would be required to include warnings on their packaging about the harmful effects of smoking. That actually did end well.
1997 - The U.S. Air Force released a report titled "The Roswell Report, Case Closed" that dismissed the claims that an alien spacecraft had crashed in Roswell, NM, in 1947. That's what they WANT you to think, anyway.
Consider this your discussion space for the NCAA College World Series Final Four.