Wednesday’s Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles are capable of winning

Morning, Birdland!

Our long mid-Atlantic nightmare is over! The Baltimore Orioles have won a game. Sure, it came against the New York Mets, who may be the only team in the world that is playing worse baseball, but it still counts. I highly recommend reading the recap of last night’s 2-1 victory. The writer is a real nice guy. Ugly, but nice.

An O’s win plus the draft has me feeling all optimistic about this team again like a true idiot.

“Look,” I tell myself. “They aren’t totally worthless. These kids they picked will smash through the minor leagues like kindling and ascend to Baltimore as the next great club legends. The prophecy has foretold of this day. It is their destiny!”

Sports are torture.

Links

Let’s Overract to the Orioles Draft Pick! - The Warehouse Podcast
Folks! I heard you need a new baseball podcast. Well, are you in luck! I host one, and we had a new episode come out on Tuesday morning. You can subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn and YouTube to make sure you get all of that sweet, sweet #content.

Orioles Trade Deadline Power Rankings: June 5, 2018 - Press Box
This is pretty pointless, but people like to read lists so have at it.

Orioles notes: Darren O’Day reaches career, rehab milestones Tuesday - Baltimore Sun
Darren O’Day has been in Major League Baseball for 10 seasons, and he has spent the last five in Baltimore. That means he can, like Adam Jones, reject any trade he doesn’t like. Not to mention, big time pensions come to those that make it through a decade at the highest level. Congrats, Darren!

TU’s Palacios Taken by Indians in Third Round of MLB Draft - Towson.edu
Not Orioles-related, but some around here care about college baseball. As a Towson grad myself, I like to see the Tigers get some pub. There hasn’t been a major leaguer from TU since Casper Wells exited the bigs back in 2013. It would be cool to see a local product (even though he’s really from Brooklyn) make it to the show.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is it your birthday? Happy Birthday! Sorry to say that you share this special day with just one former Bird.

Merv Rettenmund was an outfielder in Baltimore from 1968 through 1973. In that time, he batted .284/.383/.436 with 50 home runs, 82 doubles and 13 triples to accumulate a 17.0 WAR. Not bad at all. He finished 19th in the 1971 voting for AL MVP, which sounds really good, but he was behind four of his own teammates (Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, Dave McNally and Pat Dobson) and tied with Davey Johnson. That was the year that the Birds had four 20-game winners on the mound and lost the World Series to the Pirates. Rettenmund led that team with a .318 batting average, and he turns 75 today.

Other notable birthdays: tennis player Björn Borg (1956), actor Paul Giamatti (1967), skateboarder Geoff Rowley (1976) and YouTuber Ryan Higa (1990).

1892 - Chicago’s elevated “L” rail system begins running.

1892 - The Cincinnati Reds defeat the Washington Senators with Benjamin Harrison in the crowd. Harrison was the first United States President to attend an MLB game.

1912 - Novarupta begins erupting in Alaska. It would be the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century.

1933 - In Camden, New Jersey, the first drive-in theater opens.

1968 - Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated in Los Angeles.

1992 - Eddie Murray, playing for the New York Mets, drives in the 1510th run of his career to pass Mickey Mantle as the major league RBI leader among switch-hitters.