Friday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles have a winning streak

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

Is there a little extra pep in your step today? A smile on your face? That’s called happiness, something that has been nearly nonexistent for the Orioles and their fans this season.

Live it up! The Orioles have won two games in a row for the first time in more than a month. They picked up their 10th win of the season with an 11-6 thumping of the Royals on Thursday. Check out my recap for all the lovely totals.

As the Rays head into town for the weekend, the Orioles will now attempt to win three consecutive games for the first time this year. Things are getting crazy, friends. Three in a row — could you imagine?

Links

Wrapping up an 11-6 win - School of Roch
Buck Showalter was noncommittal when asked about Chris Tillman's future in the Orioles' rotation, which is to be expected. Even if Tillman is done for, Showalter isn't going to throw him under the bus right after the game ends.

Orioles Game of Thrones and the Way Forward - Orioles Hangout
Tony Pente writes about the power struggle that has taken place in the Orioles' front office between Dan Duquette, Brady Anderson, and Buck Showalter during the last few years. The crux of it is that Brady and Buck have gained a lot more influence with ownership than Duquette has.

The Baltimore Orioles are the saddest team there is | SI.com
Sports Illustrated has now jumped aboard the "Orioles are horrible, time to blow it up" train. I have a feeling we're going to be seeing a lot of these types of stories around the blogosphere until the Orioles do, in fact, blow it up.

5 unsung heroes in American League East (MLB.com)
When I read this headline, there was no doubt in my mind that the Orioles' selection would be Richard Bleier. Spoiler: it was Richard Bleier.

Camden Depot: Welcome to the Abyss
This Jon Shepherd article begins with a Frederich Nietzsche quote and ends with the line, "And as we stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back into us, perhaps changing us." But there is some actual Orioles-related content in here, I swear.

Baltimore orioles (the birds) have a new favorite: SC | The State
OK, this one is not baseball related. But how often do you see actual Baltimore orioles in the news? Apparently they're flocking to South Carolina because people are putting grape jelly in their gardens. This better not be some sort of metaphor about our beloved baseball team getting relocated to, like, Myrtle Beach.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have four Orioles birthday buddies. The most prominent is lefty Milt Pappas, the Birds’ longtime ace during the fledgling years of the franchise in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. Pappas, a two-time All-Star, was 110-74 with a 3.24 ERA in his nine-year O’s career, ranking seventh on the Birds’ all-time wins list. As good as he was, though, his best contribution to the team was getting traded for Frank Robinson, which propelled the Orioles to their first World Series win in 1966. The late Pappas would have been 79 today.

Your other birthday buddies are 2003 reliever Kerry Ligtenberg (47), 1989 eight-gamer Mark Huismann (60), and outfielder Trenidad Hubbard (54), whom Syd Thrift inexplicably acquired in one of his fire sale trades in 2000 even though he was 36 years old at the time. Classic Syd Thrift.

On this day in 2004, the Orioles lost a game to the White Sox by a 15-0 score. Starter Sidney Ponson and reliever Rick Bauer each gave up seven runs — and in Bauer’s case, he retired only one batter.

2018 Orioles vs. 1988 Orioles

As the 2018 Orioles try to stave off the 1988 Orioles to avoid becoming the worst team in franchise history, let’s check the progress of that ‘88 squad at the same point in the season.

In their 37th game, the ‘88 Orioles won a wild one over the California Angels, 8-7, at Memorial Stadium. The O’s broke a two-all tie with a five-run rally in the sixth and carried an 8-2 lead into the eighth. The Angels furiously clawed back to narrow the gap to one, but closer Tom Niedenfuer closed out the game despite allowing two runs in the ninth. That win “improved” the Orioles to 6-31, putting them four games worse than the present-day Birds.