Christmas Bird Droppings: Where we believe things will get better eventually

Hello, friends. Merry Christmas!

There are now 92 days remaining until the next Orioles game.

As with the last several Christmases, there’s not much to say about this team and what they’ve done so far this offseason. This year, the hiring of the new general manager and manager are a big deal, but the 2019 team was never going to be very good no matter who they hired or when.

Consider this as a Christmas present: 2018 will soon be over and this year’s sad sack squad of losers will be permanently a part of the past. And hopefully Mike Elias and Brandon Hyde can help make the players who remain better, along with supplementing them with better teammates than the scrubs who Dan Duquette was fond of bringing in.

Around the blogO’sphere

Roster rumors rare for Orioles (School of Roch)
“There’s going to be roster activit by spring training” does indeed sound familiar from the Duquette days.

Orioles new manager Brandon Hyde epitomizes Santa Rosa pedigree (San Francisco Chronicle)
It’s nice that people outside of Baltimore are impressed with the hire.

Sunday Notes: Respecting the consistent Nick Markakis (Fangraphs)
Nick Markakis probably isn’t going to make it into the 3,000 hit club, but he’s close enough that it’s fun to think he might.

Birthdays and anniversaries

There are a few former Orioles who were born on Christmas. They are: 1985-86 infielder Tom O’Malley, the late 1956-58 pitcher Charlie Beamon, and late 1954 pitcher Mike Blyzka.

Do you have a Christmas birthday? If so, happy birthday! Your Christmas birthday buddies include: scientist Isaac Newton (1642 in the Julian calendar), father of seismology John Michell (1724), American Red Cross founder Clara Barton (1821), trombonist Kid Ory (1886), actor Humphrey Bogart (1899), The Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling (1924), musician Jimmy Buffett (1946), baseball Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson (1958), and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (1971).

On this day in history...

A variety of rulers throughout history chose this day for coronation ceremonies, including Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne (800) and William the Conqueror (1066).

In 336, history has found the first documented signs of celebrations of Christmas in Rome.

In 1758, Halley’s Comet appeared, as predicted by Edmond Halley in 1705. This is noteworthy as it was the first passage of a comet which was predicted ahead of time. Halley, however, did not live to see the comet’s return, having passed away in 1742.

In 1776, George Washington and the Continental Army crossed the Delaware.

In 1868, President Andrew Johnson granted a pardon to all Confederate veterans.

In 1950, four Scottish nationalist students pilfered the Stone of Scone, which has been used as the coronation stone of England and Scotland for more than 700 years, from Westminster Abbey. The stone was recovered four months later, unless you believe the conspiracy that only a replica was returned; since 1996, it has been housed in Scotland rather than London.

**

And that’s the way it is on Christmas Day, and it will probably stay that way, because really, any team making moves today would just be cruel to everyone involved. Have a safe and merry Christmas, whether you assign any religious significance to this day or not.