Thursday Bird Droppings: Where we’re still excited about our new manager

Hello, friends.

There are now 97 days remaining until the next Orioles game. They will presumably have a coaching staff by then.

There are also just five days to go until Christmas, a fact that is probably distressing to those who still have some buying to do for their holiday celebrations. Unlike in past years, the fact that the Orioles will leave no gifts under our Christmas tree, or even by the end of spring training, is not distressing. You should probably not try to claim “I’m rebuilding!” in order to get out of any present gifting for the next three years on an individual level, though.

While there’s not much happening in Birdland now that the new manager is in the fold, there’s still news of interest in the baseball world, with news that MLB and the Cuban Baseball Federation have reached an agreement that would allow Cuban professional players to be posted, in a similar way as Japanese and Korean players can be, to come to MLB.

Perhaps Mike Elias will get the Angelos people on board with scouting and signing players who are actually worth scouting and signing. It probably won’t start happening this offseason anyway.

Around the blogO’sphere

Pulling more out of the Brandon Hyde press conference (School of Roch)
It’s the gift that keeps on giving! We can all rejoice at Roch’s assumption that “stockpiling outfield/first base/designated hitter types will be frowned upon in this establishment.” Amen!

New Orioles manager Brandon Hyde, GM Mike Elias see similarities of rebuilds in Chicago, Houston (Baltimore Sun)
One thing that struck me from the Monday press conference was when Elias talked about how it was appealing to bring in someone who had a different organization’s perspective on a rebuild.

After strong AFL season, Ryan McKenna takes momentum into 2019 (Steve Melewski)
Everybody loves an underdog prospect who starts blasting his way towards the big leagues. Or at least, I love those guys. McKenna seems to be the latest, although of course, there’s no way to know what Elias thinks of him.

Birthdays and anniversaries

In 1995, the Orioles signed BJ Surhoff to a three-year contract. Five years later, they re-signed Mike Bordick to a two-year contract, after having traded him during the summer.

There is one lone former Oriole with a birthday today. It’s Aubrey Huff, to whom, due to a petty, provincial grudge I will never let go, I am honor bound to wish a birthday reminiscent of horse manure.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: tire pioneer Harvey S. Firestone (1868), Hall of Fame baseball executive Branch Rickey (1881), physicist Robert J. Van de Graaff (1901), Law & Order creator Dick Wolf (1946), and actor Jonah Hill (1983).

On this day in history...

in 1606, three ships full of settlers set sail from England, where, once they arrived, they would found Jamestown, Virginia.

In 1803, with a ceremony in New Orleans, the Louisiana Purchase was officially completed.

In 1946, It’s A Wonderful Life was first released in New York City.

In 2007, three men stole two paintings, including an original Pablo Picasso “Portrait of Suzanne Bloch” valued at $50 million, from the Sao Paulo Museum of Art. They were missing for about three weeks before being recovered by authorities.

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And that’s the way it is on December 20, or at least, unless something happens later, which I guess you never know, it might. Have a safe Thursday.