Friday Bird Droppings: Where things are going from bad to worse

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

If you weren’t able to watch any of the Orioles’ late-night West Coast games against the Angels this week, consider yourselves lucky. The Birds got swept again — the fourth time in their five road series this year that’s happened — with a 12-3 blowout loss in the finale. Joe’s recap has all the brutal details.

The Orioles now hold a shudder-inducing record of 8-23. I’d like to thank the 7-24 Cincinnati Reds for keeping the Orioles from being the worst team in the majors. For now.

Dan Duquette has indicated in recent interviews that the Orioles won’t even consider selling off players until after Memorial Day. That means we’ll most likely have to swallow almost another month of truly atrocious baseball before any meaningful personnel changes are made.

Another month of watching befuddled Orioles hitters turn every opposing pitcher into Cy Young. Another month of watching the O’s rotation eke out one or two decent outings out of every five games, if they’re lucky. Another month of watching a leaky bullpen let games get away, a shoddy defense kick the ball around the field, and the Orioles descend further into a bottomless abyss.

Anyway, have a great day.

Links

Tap-In Question: Is this really the most frustrated you've been as an Orioles fan? - BaltimoreBaseball.com
Dan Connolly wants to know: Is this season really worse to watch than the miserable Orioles teams of the early aughts?

Five Things Orioles Need To Do To Get Back On Track (Press Box Online)
Three of them include the bullpen needing to improve, the offense needing to improve, and the defense needing to improve. Oh, is that all?

These are the AL East's best pitches (MLB.com)
MLB.com rated the best pitch for a member of each AL East team. The Orioles' representative is currently injured. Just wonderful.

After 40 years of loving TV baseball, I’ve tuned out thanks to the Orioles and MASN (Baltimore Sun)
The Sun’s TV critic is officially done with the Orioles because they stopped showing games on WJZ. He picked a good year to quit.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your lone Orioles birthday buddy is reliever Joe Borowski (47), who pitched six games for the O’s in 1995 and had brief success as a closer after he left, posting 30+ save seasons for the Cubs, Marlins, and Indians. The O’s acquired Borowski in a trade for Pete Rose Jr. and later dealt him for Kent Mercker.

Former Orioles manager Paul Richards passed away on this day in 1986, and legendary announcer and one-time O’s broadcaster Ernie Harwell in 2010.

2018 Orioles vs. 1988 Orioles

New feature! With the 2018 Orioles making a bid to become the worst team in franchise history, I’ll be tracking their season progress compared to the 1988 Orioles, who currently hold that dubious distinction.

The ‘88 Orioles, in their 31st game of the season, lost to the Texas Rangers, 13-5. Three O’s pitchers — Mark Thurmond, John Habyan, and Don Aase — each gave up at least four runs, while the Birds’ bats were held in check by 40-year-old knuckleballer Charlie Hough (who pitched another six years after that). At that point, the ‘88 Orioles had a record of 4-27. So at least the present-day O’s have a four-game advantage over them. For now.