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Morning, Birdland!
Listen, folks. Do not watch this team today. There’s really no reason. Yet again, the Orioles are in the midst of a looooooong losing streak. The only team they’ve beat this month is the New York Mets. That almost doesn’t even count. In case you missed it, the O’s lost (again) to the Marlins on Saturday by a score of 5-4. Mark recapped the sadness.
Instead, check out the World Cup. The tournament has been full of some awesome matches so far, and there is another great slate on tap for today.
Costa Rica and Serbia kick off at 8 a.m. ET. The Costa Ricans were the tournament darlings back in 2014 after unexpectedly winning a group that also included England, Italy and Uruguay and then coming incredibly close to a berth in the semi-finals. The Serbians aren’t overly exciting but Nemanja Matić is capable of dominating the midfield and Aleksander Mitrovic has oodles of attacking talent.
Germany and Mexico headline things at 11 a.m. ET. No one is better than Deutschland. They are the defending World Cup champs, and this group is just as good as the team that won in 2014. The entire squad is full of world class talent. Mexico is the cream of the CONCACAF crop. Since the United States missed out like a bunch of jabronis, our southern neighbors are North America’s best shot at going deep.
Brazil and Switzerland wrap up the day at 2 p.m. ET. Even though the entire Brazilian squad is great, this one is all about Neymar. The Paris St. Germain playmaker missed the last chunk of the Ligue 1 season with a foot injury, but he’s said to be 100 percent. Not to be outdone, Switzerland’s Xherdan Shaqiri is a heck of a lot of fun to watch. His club, Stoke City, just got relegated, so he will be hungry to put on a show for potential employers.
Links
The Orioles have finally benched Chris Davis, and, really, what took them so long? - The Washington Post
But, he’s one of “his guys.”
After a fire destroyed a fan’s Brian Roberts picture, the Orioles replaced it and set up a meeting with Roberts - MLB.com
In a season barren of good feels, stories like this help a little bit. Brian Roberts seems like one of the good guys in the game. His role in making this happen seems relatively small, but it’s still nice.
Duquette on report that Orioles are interviewing other executives: ‘My understanding is it’s not true’ - Baltimore Baseball
Dan. Buddy. Friend. They’re playing you. They’re still playing you. Of course they interviewed Colletti. It just sounds so very Orioles, doesn’t it? This organization, in general, is a mess. More and more, it seems, that those five years of success were a fluke.
How Orioles first-rounder Grayson Rodriguez became the draft’s fastest-rising prospect - Baltimore Sun
As always, this is some really good, fun reporting from Meoli. He has tons of quotes from the people surrounding Rodriguez and how he went from a decent prospect to one of the finest in the 2018 class.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is it your birthday? Happy Birthday!
According to Baseball Reference, it looks like just one former Oriole that shares this big day. Dave Pope was an outfielder for the 1955 Birds. In 86 games that year, he batted .248/.302/.333 with a home run, eight doubles, four triples and five stolen bases. Unfortunately, he passed away in 1999. He would have been 97 today.
Other famous birthdays: singer Barry Manilow (1943), actor Greg Kinnear (1963), actor Will Forte (1970), tennis player Venus Williams (1980) and rapper Kendrick Lamar (1987).
1885 - The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor.
1987 - The dusky seaside sparrow becomes extinct after the last of the speices dies.
1994 - O.J. Simpson is arrested in connection to the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, but not before leading police on a low-speed pursuit in a 1993 white Ford Bronco.
2005 - Miguel Tejada ties Gus Shur for ninth place on the all-time list after playing in his 822nd consecutive game.
2009 - Matt Wieters hits the first home run of his MLB career.