Sunday Bird Droppings - Clawing back into the WC race

We enter today with the Orioles one game away from a sweep at division-leading Boston, one game away from .500 and just two games away from the second Wild Card. Lucy may still pull the football away, but she hasn’t done it yet.

Gausman sharp in Orioles’ 7-0 win over Red Sox - The Washington Post
“Kevin Gausman allowed four singles over 7 2/3 innings, Tim Beckham hit a three-run homer and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox easily for the second straight day, 7-0 on Saturday.”

Notes on Miley, Tillman, Bundy, Britton, Wright, Hardy and more - School of Roch
“We got the good news that we were expecting and hoping to get on Zach, that nothing structurally changed,” Buck Showalter said. “He got the off-day yesterday. I’m not going to divulge when he’ll pitch again, but very soon, I hope.”

Early notes on Hardy, youthful core and Castro - School of Roch
“I’ve heard them say that about a lot of pitchers and all of a sudden they’re on the DL and you want to go, ‘What happened to that rubber arm?’ Well, you made it not rubber anymore, but pretty rigid.” - Buck Showalter on not over-using Miguel Castro

Orioles notes: Buck Showalter sees separation coming in playoff race - Baltimore Sun
“It's all about whose pitchers are hot and who's out of it right now. A wild-card team wins the Super Bowl; is that bad for football? I'm all for having the regular season matter for home-field advantage and all that, but after that, there's such a small separator for teams. These are the best players in the world ... and on a given night, a team that can lose 100 games can embarrass you if the pitching's right, if certain stars are aligned."

Each passing day shows Orioles, new shortstop Tim Beckham are rubbing off on each other - Baltimore Sun
"He's brought more than just a hot bat, but an energy that the flagging team was lacking a month ago."

Acquired for next to nothing, Tim Beckham is keeping the Orioles' playoff hopes alive - The Comeback
"Even before Saturday’s big home run, he had been worth 1.8 wins above replacement for the Orioles, per Baseball-Reference (after being worth 1.2 in four months with the Rays). Tim Beckham’s presence has been the difference between Baltimore falling out of the wild-card race and sticking right in it."

Birthdays and History

Happy Birthday to former Oriole Jim “Firm Handshake” Thome. He shares today with famous people including Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson 1908; musician (The Captain and Tennille) Daryl Dragon 1942; actress Barbara Bach 1947; comedic actor Paul "Pee-wee Herman" Reubens 1952; and Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson 1953.

On this day in Baltimore baseball history...

1961 - The Orioles' Milt Pappas pulls a Rob Van Dam and is the whole show as he blanks the Twins, 3 - 0. He allows just two hits while belting two homers. Eddie Robinson adds a homer.

1970 - Mike Cuellar wins his 20th game for Baltimore, defeating the A's, 6 - 4. Chuck Dobson is the loser, giving up four runs in 2+ innings

1973 - The 1st-place Orioles beat the Rangers, 6 - 1, for their 14th consecutive victory. It is the longest winning streak in the American League since 1960, and in the major leagues since 1965. The streak began on August 12th.

On this day in world history...

1660 - The books of John Milton were burned in London due to his attacks on King Charles II.

1789 - The Declaration of the Rights of Man was adopted by the French National Assembly.

1859 - The first oil well was successfully drilled in the U.S. by Colonel Edwin L. Drake near Titusville, PA.

1921 - The owner of Acme Packing Company bought a pro football team for Green Bay, WI. J.E. Clair paid tribute to those who worked in his plant by naming the team the Green Bay Packers. (NFL)

1928 - The Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed by 15 countries in Paris. Later, 47 other nations would sign the pact.

1984 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced that the first citizen to go into space would be a teacher. The teacher that was eventually chosen was Christa McAuliffe. She died in the Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986.

1998 - "Titanic" became the first movie in North America to earn more than $600 million.

2001 - Work began on the future site of a World War II memorial on the U.S. capital's historic national Mall. The site is between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.

And with that, in the words of Jon Snow, “My watch has ended.” My first FanPost was put on on July 12, 2005, as best I can tell. I posted my first Open Thread on my birthday in 2009 (July 24, and yes, you forgot to send me a card) and my first edition of Bird Droppings dropped on Sept. 28, 2009 (remember when making dumb Open Thread jokes with movie quotes was a thing?). And this shall be my last. School’s ready to start, my youngest is about to start his senior year (with all the marching band tournaments, college applications, senior portraits and other busyness that goes with it), so, it’s time.

I’d like to thank SC (look him up, newbies), Stacey and Mark for allowing me this space for my under-developed sense of humor and numerous typos. I still have a few Power Rankings left, but nobody reads those anyway, so this effectively ends my time as a Camden Chat author. Thanks for reading, and continue to do so with the numerous talented people here.

See you in the comments.