Tuesday Bird Droppings: Where the suffering never ends

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

How are we going to put up with another three and a half months of this excruciating Orioles baseball? The O’s lost their fifth game in a row last night, somehow managing not to score in 12 innings, and are now 19-46. Stacey’s recap has the grisly details.

Chris Davis went 0-for-5 to drop his average to a cool .150 on the season, along with a .454 OPS. This is real life.

The Orioles have two more games remaining with the Red Sox before they get a possible reprieve with a three-game set against the Marlins. Will the O’s finally pick up their elusive 20th win sometime this week? How sad is it that we’re asking that question in mid-June?

Links

With Machado out sick and Britton back for trade showcase, Orioles return home to find future inevitable (Baltimore Sun)
Buck Showalter and various Orioles players seem resigned to the fact that a lot of guys are probably going to be traded. They have more confidence in the front office than I do.

Zach Britton on returning to the active roster today - Steve Melewski
Zach Britton is back, y’all. And he’s happy to be an Oriole for another few weeks.

Araujo placed on disabled list with elbow injury - School of Roch
A cynical person might suggest that the Orioles are pulling some DL shenanigans to keep team control of Araujo while letting him “rehab” in the minor leagues for a few weeks. Certainly I’m not implying that’s what they did! I’m just saying that’s one view of the situation.

Factoids, quotes and tidbits about each of the Orioles' 40 draft picks in 2018 - BaltimoreBaseball.com
Dean Jones Jr. did an incredible amount of research to write up bios and tidbits on all 40 Orioles draft picks. For instance, 15th-round draft pick Cody Hacker had to cut short a Fortnite tournament when he learned he’d been drafted.

Manny Machado to the Phillies could happen — eventually | NBC Sports Philadelphia
There’s been buzz about the Phillies being interested in a Manny Machado trade. But slow your roll on that, says Jim Salisbury.

MLB All-Star Game: Braves have 3 leading vote getters on NL ballot (USA Today)
In ex-Oriole news, Nick Markakis is second among NL outfielders in early All-Star voting. Even if he doesn’t get voted in, Markakis seems like a lock to make the team as a reserve. Good for Nick!

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your two Orioles birthday buddies are 1977-1980 catcher Dave Skaggs (67) and 1993-1995 outfielder Damon Buford (48). The Baltimore-born Buford was the son of Orioles Hall of Famer Don Buford and was sent to the Mets in the Bobby Bonilla trade in 1995.

On this day in 2004, in the first game of an interleague doubleheader at Camden Yards, two members of the 500-homer club hit home runs in the same game for only the third time in history. The Giants’ Barry Bonds hit his 675th career blast, while Rafael Palmeiro hit two for the Orioles, numbers 536 and 537. The Orioles lost in extra innings, 9-6.

Going way back to 1884 on this date, some real shenanigans occurred involving the American Association’s Baltimore Orioles. As described by Baseball Reference: “Dissatisfied with umpire Jack Brennan’s calls, hundreds of fans storm the field at Oriole Park. ... One man wielding a large revolver threatens to shoot Brennan if he makes any more bad calls.” A fan ended up punching Brennan after the game. And we thought people hated umpires today?

2018 Orioles vs. 1988 Orioles

In their 65th game, the ‘88 Orioles were — just like the ‘18 Orioles — playing against the Red Sox at home. And they bagged a dramatic victory with an 11th-inning walkoff, thanks to Jim Traber’s RBI single. The rally was set up when Eddie Murray walked and stole second base (!) and advanced to third on a throwing error. Fred Lynn also homered in that game. The win improved the ‘88 Orioles to 18-47, just one game worse than this year’s squad.

Race for the 2019 No. 1 pick

The Orioles remain comfortably in front of the pack for the No. 1 draft pick. The Marlins won and the White Sox lost tonight, while the Reds and Royals were idle.