Tuesday Bird Droppings: Where Opening Day is only two days away

Hello, friends.

There are now just two days remaining until Orioles Opening Day. At the time this article goes live, there will be about 56 hours to go until real Orioles baseball - as long as there’s not a rain delay.

There is no more fake baseball to get through before the regular season. The Grapefruit League season is in the past. The little exhibition against the Tides is over. Now all attention can be turned to the Twins. Well, that and whether the minor injuries that kept Tim Beckham and Trey Mancini out of that same Tides exhibition will linger for another couple of days.

Beckham hasn’t played since Thursday due to a groin issue. Mancini was resting his hamstring. There could yet be a surprise in the Opening Day lineup. Hopefully not, though.

Around the blogO’sphere

Orioles’ potential Opening Day roster lacks the flexibility that has allowed for creativity in past (Baltimore Sun)
Will Dan Duquette break out in hives if he can’t option a new player almost every day? His roster merry-go-round seems like it won’t be able to happen this year, at least so far.

Slider could be key for Cashner this season (Orioles.com)
Slider? I barely know her!

Don’t overlook these prospects: American League East (Minor League Ball)
John Sickels at SB Nation’s Minor League Ball wants to make sure you don’t forget about Anthony Santander. He certainly had a memorable spring, even if it doesn’t count.

Table for Two: Previewing the Baltimore Orioles (Baseball Prospectus)
Many people will preview the Orioles before the season starts. These guys kind of try to talk themselves into the Orioles, but I don’t think they succeed. I’m not familiar enough with them to know why they seem to have residual excitement about Gabriel Ynoa.

Five things we learned about the Orioles this spring (Baltimore Sun)
The first thing is “The Orioles changed the perception of themselves this spring,” which is a statement from which I would exclude myself from “we learned” as I do not believe it.

2018 Positional Power Rankings: Starting rotation #16-30 (Fangraphs)
Shocking no one except for the people who think the Orioles changed the perception of themselves this spring, the Orioles project to have the #27 rotation in MLB. Hey, that’s still an improvement over last year.

Birthdays and anniversaries

There are two former Orioles with birthdays today. They are: 2015 short-timer Junior Lake, and 1987 catcher Dave Van Gorder.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: X-ray discoverer Wilhelm Rontgen (1845), Rolls-Royce founder Henry Royce (1863), sociologist Karl Mannheim (1893), movie maker Quentin Tarantino (1963), actor Nathan Fillion (1971), singer-songwriter Fergie (1975), and singer-songwriter Jessie J (1988).

On this day in history...

In 1794, the government of the United States established a permanent navy. Along with this, they authorized the building of six frigates. One of these, USS Constitution, remains afloat today and is the oldest commissioned warship.

In 1886, the Apache warrior Geronimo surrendered to the U.S. Army, effectively ending the Apache Wars.

In 1915, “Typhoid” Mary Mallon, who was the first person in the US ever found to be an asymptomatic carrier of disease, was put in quarantine, where she remained for the last 23 years of her live.

In 1977, a pair of Boeing 747 planes collided on a foggy runway in the Canary Islands. The resulting 583 deaths remain the deadliest aviation accident in history. There were no survivors on one plane and 61 survivors on the other.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on March 27 - or at least, unless something happens later. Have a safe Tuesday.