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Morning, Birdland!
Can the sun chill out? It gets hot and muggy and gross in Baltimore every summer. This is to be expected. But these last couple of days have been brutal. It hurts to go outside. It feels like the sky is covering you in one big blanket. I can’t handle these UV rays. I’m a delicate little flower.
On top of that I have to drink an obscene amount of water every day to rid myself of constant dry mouth. That means carrying around a cartoonish-ly large jug of H2O, making me look like on of those bodybuilder types that EVERYONE had in a few of their courses in college.
At least the blinding sunlight has given me something to complain about other than my pathetic baseball team. I am a glass half-full kind of guy after all.
The #Dodgers are doubling down: They not only are aggressively pursuing #Orioles SS Manny Machado, but also #Tigers starter Michael Fulmer. The #Orioles, heavily scouting the Dodgers' minor-league system, want Class A pitcher Dustin May included in any package of prospects.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 3, 2018
Links
Colby Rasmus has left the Orioles, will “discontinue his career” - Camden Chat
So many questions arise from this predictable outcome. Why was he signed in the first place? Who was the chief decision maker in this process? Why did he even get to return to Baltimore after his injury and rehab? This was just so, so weird on many levels.
O’s tap longtime sports exec to lead all business operations - Baltimore Business Journal
An interesting off-field development. If you just watch the games on TV and observe the team from afar, this will likely not change much about your Orioles experience, but it sounds like this guy will get involved in promotions, stadium changes and other aspects of the in-person experience at Camden Yards.
Kevin Gausman Is Doing Second-Half Things In The First Half - Camden Depot
When archaeologists of baseball future look back on the 2018 Orioles, they will have to dig for quite a while before they happen upon any trace of enjoyable sporting goodness. Kevin Gausman will not be front of mind when thinking about this team, but he has quietly been pretty solid in the Baltimore rotation.
Jim Palmer Thinks I’m An Idiot - Camden Depot
There was some drama late last week! Not really, but I was involved so I made it a bigger deal of it than it really was. Listen to the podcast on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Podbean, TuneIn and a few other places as well. If you are into social media, we can be found on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Thanks!
Orioles birthdays and history
Is it your birthday? Happy Birthday!
You have just two Baltimore baseball birthday buddies, Birrer and Beattie.
Today would be Babe Birrer’s 89th big day, but he passed away back in 2013. The right-handed pitcher appeared in just four games for the 1956 Birds, allowing five runs (four earned) on nine hits, a walk and a strikeout in 5.1 innings of work.
Jim Beattie turns 64 today. He was in the Orioles front office from 2003 through 2005, when he shared duties with Mike Flanagan during some of the organization’s most difficult years on the field.
Other notable birthdays: America (1776), Ulysses S. Grant (1881), Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (1951), Pam Shriver (1962) and Post Malone (1995).
1776 - Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence of the United States.
1827 - Slavery is abolished in New York state.
1918 - Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, along with his family, is killed by the Bolsheviks. They made a Disney cartoon about it!
1939 - Lou Gehrig delivers his “Luckiest man on the face of the earth” speech at Yankee Stadium and retires from baseball after a diagnosis of the disease that now bares his name.
1944 - Oriole Park, originally built in 1914, burns down. The team moves to Venable Stadium. A second tier would later be added and the stadium would be dubbed, Memorial Stadium.