Monday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles finally beat an AL team

Hello, friends.

Another day has dawned with the Orioles in last place in the American League East. After becoming the first team since division play began in 1969 to be 32 games out of first place on July 1, the Orioles gained a game on the Red Sox yesterday and are now just 31 games out. They trail the fourth place Blue Jays by 15 games.

In their 83rd game, the 1988 Orioles were beaten by the White Sox, 4-1, to drop to 25-58. That edition of the O’s only got four hits, two of which were picked up by future Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. The 2018 O’s are one game behind where the ‘88 team was through this many games, and they’re now on pace to win just 47 games, seven fewer than the 1988 team.

The Orioles are one game behind the Royals in the quest to avoid having the worst record in MLB. Or, if you want the Orioles to be the worst after all of this losing, a reasonable position to take, then the O’s are actually one game ahead of the Royals for the #1 pick in the 2019 draft.

If you missed Sunday’s game, the Orioles finally beat an American League team! As absurd as it remains to write this, they did not accomplish this feat in the entire month of June. Now, they’re 1-0 in July. That’s more like it. Check out Ben Hansford’s recap of the game for the lovely totals, and don’t forget to vote in the Most Birdland Player poll.

An off day awaits today before the O’s play a couple of games against an NL team, the Phillies.

Around the blogO’sphere

Orioles pitched settlement offers to eliminate cloud of MASN dispute with Nats (Baltimore Sun)
One party comes across as an unreasonable one in the MASN dispute here, and it’s not the Orioles.

Showalter on Schoop: “He’s got a pure heart and there’s a lot of empathy” (School of Roch)
It seems that Buck Showalter was unhappy that there was some media discussion over whether Jonathan Schoop should get optioned to the minors to figure things out.

Darren O’Day discusses season-ending surgery (Orioles.com)
The way the season has ended up for O’Day is a bummer on several levels.

O’s reach agreement with Cadyn Grenier, close in on Blaine Knight (Steve Melewski)
Two of the Orioles high draft picks went all the way to the end in the College World Series, so they can only get signed now.

As new signing period approaches, will Orioles invest more in international market? (Baltimore Sun)
I’ll believe it when I see it.

Sunday Notes: Mike Bordick on how to work on defense, and other things (Fangraphs)
The O’s TV commentator pops into the usual Sunday notes column from Fangraphs.

Birthdays and anniversaries

Five years ago, the Orioles traded Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop to the Cubs for Scott Feldman. The trade haunts me less than some around Baltimore if only because I don’t believe Arrieta would have ever been good on the Orioles.

One current disabled list Oriole has a birthday today: Happy 25th birthday to Rule 5 pick Pedro Araujo. It’s also the birthday of 1963 six-gamer Pete Burnside.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: early Church of England figure Thomas Cranmer (1489), ground-breaking Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall (1908), civil rights martyr Medgar Evers (1925), Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas (1932), actor/comedian Larry David (1947), wrestler Bret “The Hitman” Hart (1957), singer-songwriter Michelle Branch (1983), soccer champion Alex Morgan (1989), and actress Margot Robbie (1990).

On this day in history...

In 1776, the Continental Congress adopted a resolution which severed ties between the American colonies and Great Britain, though it wasn’t until two days later that the wording was finalized and declared.

In 1853, the Russian Army entered Moldavia and Wallachia, eventually sparking the Crimean War, which would last for the next two and a half years or so.

In 1863, Union and Confederate forces fought around Gettysburg for a second consecutive day. In one now-legendary action, a regiment led by Maine college professor Joshua Chamberlain held the left flank of the Union lines at Little Round Top with a downhill bayonet charge.

In 1881, President James Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau. Garfield died of his wounds over two months later.

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was meant to prohibit segregation in public places.

In 1976, the Republic of Vietnam officially fell when the communist forces of North Vietnam took over the South and proclaimed a united Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on July 2 - or at least, unless something happens later, which it probably won’t, because the day is important for MLB’s international amateur signees, something the Orioles don’t participate in at all. Have a safe Monday.