Sunday Bird Droppings: Where the team is slowly transforming

Happy Sunday, Camden Chatters! Now that the Orioles have hired their manager, the ball is rolling for the rest of the season. What exactly will that look like? Your guess is as good as mine. For now, I will trust Mike Elias.

“We’re going to get up to speed as soon as possible”: A Q&A with Mike Elias - Baltimore Sun
Mike Elias is saying more Mike Elias things. They make me feel good about the future of the team.

A most wonderful year for baseball books - BaltimoreBaseball.com
Christmas ideas! Did you know that Peter Schmuck wrote a children's book about Mark Trumbo? This is true!

Roster decisions developing slowly - School of Roch
We're used to the Orioles spending the entire off season doing nothing. It might feel like that again this year, but for different reasons.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have three Orioles birthday buddies. The late Mike Flanagan would have turned 67 years old today. Flanny pitched for the Orioles for 15 seasons and also worked as a broadcaster and as a co-GM. He passed away in 2011.

It’s also the birthday of Billy Ripken, who turns 54 years old today. Billy played second base for the Orioles from 1987-1992 and again in 1996. He’s currently an analyst on MLB Network and has a kind of famous baseball card.

Finally, today is the day that Chris Britton turns 36 years old today. Britton appeared in 52 games out of the bullpen for the 2006 Orioles with a 3.35 ERA. He went on to appear in just 26 games for the Yankees in 2007-08 and was then never heard from again.

On this day in 2003, the Orioles signed Miguel Tejada to a six-year, $72 million contract. Things got kind of weird with Miggi at the end of his time here, but man was he a good baseball player. And that’s not the only big free agent signing on this day in Orioles history! (This is sarcasm)

In 2002, the Orioles signed Deivi Cruz. In 2008 they signed Cesar Izturis. In 2009 they signed Mike Gonzalez and Garrett Atkins.