Sunday Bird Droppings: The 10,000th dong edition

Good morning, Birdland. After Thursday and Friday night’s games, this weekend was starting to give me flashbacks of the fateful four-game sweep at the hands of the lowly Twins almost exactly two years ago. Fortunately, last night was a good one and the O’s will go for the split today. On to the links:

Orioles' Hunter Harvey glad to finally 'get back on the mound and compete again' - Baltimore Sun

Remember this guy??? After some time in Sarasota, Harvey is starting a “real” game on Wednesday for Aberdeen.

Orioles acquire Brallan Pérez from Rangers - Roch Kubatko

In a drastic change in strategy, the O’s have traded international bonus slot money for a minor league depth piece.

Beckham hits 10,000th home run in club history in 5-2 win - Roch Kubatko

Tim Beckham has been on fire since being acquired by the O’s, and now he’s a cool part of Orioles history.

Miguel Castro should be moved to the starting rotation - Birds Watcher

Kristen Bentley from Birds Watcher makes the argument for using Castro as a starter. Based on some comments from Buck Showalter after Thursday night’s game, it seems like he might agree.

There’s also this tweet from Eduardo Encina that indicates Mark Trumbo will likely rejoin the team on Wednesday, without playing any rehab games. I had a feeling they might milk this injury a little bit more. Between Trumbo’s poor play, the impending Anthony Santander situation, and the roster spot currently occupied by the withered husk of Chris Tillman, it doesn’t really make sense to rush this one. Then again, I don’t get paid the big bucks.

Today’s birthdays

If today is your birthday, you share it with Victor Zambrano, who was an Oriole for a month in 2007 and sported a nice 9.49 ERA, and pitcher Jim Hardin, who pitched for the O’s from 1967-1971.

Hardin pitched 244 innings with a 2.51 ERA as a 24-year old in 1968, which was somehow only good for a 2.4 bWAR at the time. Hardin was never able to repeat that excellent performance, and was out of MLB by age 29.

Hardin is unfortunately best known for being killed in a 1991 plane crash near Key West. After his propeller failed, Hardin was widely reported to have steered the plane away from a baseball field full of children before it crashed in a nearby parking lot.

Non-Orioles related birthdays include Alexander Fleming, Lucille Ball, Andy Warhol, David Robinson, and M. Night Shyamalan.

On this day in history:

• Bolivia gained independence from Spain (1825)
• The Little Boy bomb was dropped on Hiroshima (1945)
• Jamaica became independent from the United Kingdom (1962)
• LBJ signed the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 (take a guess which year)
• NASA’s curiosity rover landed on Mars (2012).

On this day in O’s history:

• In 1959, Hoyt Wilhelm tossed ten shutout innings in relief against the White Sox. He was rewarded with a no-decision as the game was called with the score tied 1-1 after the 18th.
• In 1986, the O’s and Rangers set a record by combining for three grand slams in one game. Larry Sheets and Jim Dwyer hit the Orioles’ two slams, which both came in a nine-run 4th inning.