Hello, friends.
Another day has dawned on the undefeated 2018 Orioles. They have lost their grip on the top spot in the AL East, however, with the Yankees victorious on the Orioles off day, so they are a half game ahead of the O’s as this day begins.
There are 161 games still to be played, and unless there’s a surprise with the weather, the next of them will begin at 7:05 tonight as the O’s continue their series against the Twins. O’s fans will get their first look at Andrew Cashner in real game action for the team, while the O’s lineup will try to do better against Twins starter Kyle Gibson than they were able to manage on Opening Day.
It seems like it will be chilly for baseball. That probably won’t help the offense much.
Around the blogO’sphere
Astronaut Ricky Arnold told Adam Jones he saw his walk-off dinger from outer space (Cut4)
It seems like it’s almost a rule that there must be an Orioles fan in outer space. I think the last three space station crews have had an Orioles fan on them. Awesome.
Orioles hoping to be defensive in 2018 (School of Roch)
Craig Gentry robbing a home run was a good start, although the Orioles having two plays that should have been called errors wasn’t.
In young players like Trey Mancini, Orioles have candidates for early contracts like those popping up around league (Baltimore Sun)
This kind of thing would require the kind of creativity and willingness to accept risk that the Orioles just don’t seem to possess, but maybe they’ll surprise us.
The Orioles minor league break camp rosters (Steve Melewski)
Official team rosters will be out closer to the minor league opening days, but for now, this is a decent idea of who is going where. There are going to be some starting pitchers to keep an eye on in Bowie and Delmarva, and personal favorite Alex Wells is headed to Frederick.
Birthdays and anniversaries
On this day in 2005, the Orioles and Major League Baseball reached an agreement that would allow games of the newly-moved-in Walgreens branch to be televised. The non-Orioles parties of this deal have been trying to reverse it ever since.
One lone former Oriole has a birthday today: the late Dave Koslo, who pitched in all of three games for the inaugural 1954 Orioles.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: mathematician/philosopher Rene Descartes (1596), Baroque composer Johann Sebstian Bach (1685), Classical composer Joseph Haydn (1732), poet Edward FitzGerald (1809), hockey legend Gordie Howe (1928), fashion designer Liz Claiborne (1929), and actor Christopher Walken (1943).
On this day in history...
In 1774, after the passage of the Boston Port Act, Great Britain ordered the port of Boston to be closed. The colonists, unrepresented in the Parliament that passed this act, were not thrilled.
In 1854, Commodore Matthew Perry and the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan reached the Convention of Kanagawa, which opened ports in Shimoda and Hakodate to trade with America.
In 1889, the Eiffel Tower officially opened to the public.
In 1968, President Johnson, at the end of a televised speech in which he outlined steps he said would limit the war in Vietnam, announced: “I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president.”
In 1985, the first WrestleMania was put on at Madison Square Garden by the WWE, or as it was known then, the WWF.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on March 31 - or at least, until something happens later. Have a safe Saturday. Go Orioles!