Thursday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles still can’t hit or field

Hello, friends.

Another day has dawned with the Orioles in last place in the American League East. They are now 33.5 games back of the division-leading Red Sox and 15.5 games back of even the fourth place Blue Jays. The Orioles are now on pace to win just 46 games this season, if you round up.

If you were busy barbecuing or watching fireworks on the Fourth of July and weren’t watching the Orioles latest inability to hit or field yesterday, that’s probably for the better for you. Check out my recap of the game for the not-so-lovely totals.

In their 85th game in 1988, the Orioles were also losers. They were beaten by the Rangers, 8-5. Eddie Murray hitting a two-run home run in the first inning just wasn’t enough to make it happen. Their record dropped to 26-59, which is now two games better than the 2018 Orioles record. The 2018 O’s are on pace to win eight games fewer than did the 1988 squad.

The Orioles continue to have the worst record in MLB, although they are only a half-game better than the Royals, who also lost on Wednesday and are now 25-61. These two teams are a class below the rest of the league, with every other team in MLB having at least 30 wins.

Around the blogO’sphere

Making Rasmus Plan A was foolish from the beginning (Baltimore Baseball)
It is uncommon to see an Orioles beat writer really go in on the team for doing something stupid. Dan Connolly is not amused by the whole Colby Rasmus scenario.

Cedric Mullins ‘starting to show himself well’ at Norfolk (Baltimore Sun)
The Orioles outfield prospect has played in 30 games for the Tides and is batting .267/.338/.458. Not a huge sample size. If Adam Jones gets traded, I hope it makes room for Mullins.

Machado on trade talk: “I just don’t really know what will happen” (Steve Melewski)
In which Manny Machado claims that the only reason he even knew that it is July now is because his birthday is tomorrow.

Showalter: Yefry Ramirez ‘has got my eye’ after another strong showing (Baltimore Sun)
Yefry has impressed the manager with his two starts so far. Remember, his name is pronounced Jeffrey!

Because you asked - Back to the minors (School of Roch)
Among the questions tackled here, Roch Kubatko doesn’t think that anybody is going to get fired before the end of the season. Accountability? What’s that?

The MLB landscape of negative WAR (Fangraphs)
Turns out that the Orioles have had some of the most total negative value players in MLB and have given one of the biggest percentages of playing time to those players. It’s almost like this was a fatally flawed roster from the get-go.

Birthdays and anniversaries

One current Orioles minor leaguer - and hopefully an Oriole again soon - has a birthday today: Austin Hays, who turns 23. Happy birthday to him.

There are also a few former Orioles with birthdays today: 2000 short-timer Jay Spurgeon, 2008-10 reliever Alberto Castillo, 2000 five-gamer Tim Worrell, late 1965-68 outfielder Curt Blefary, and late 1958-60 pitcher Arnie Portocarrero.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: Connecticut founder Thomas Hooker (1586), Civil War-era admiral David Farragut (1801), circus founder P.T. Barnum (1810), singer-songwriter Huey Lewis (1950), baseball Hall of Famer Goose Gossage (1951), screenwriter Jenji Kohan (1969), rapper RZA (1970), and soccer champion Megan Rapinoe (1985).

On this day in history...

In 1687, Isaac Newton published his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, in which he laid out his three laws of motion as well as his law of universal gravitation, among other things.

In 1915, the Liberty Bell left Philadelphia on a train bound for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. This was the last permitted trip outside of Philly for the bell.

In 1954, Elvis Presley recorded “That’s All Right,” his first single, in Memphis, Tennessee.

In 1975, Arthur Ashe became the first black man to win a singles title at Wimbledon.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on July 5 - or at least, until something happens later when the Orioles play the Twins. Have a safe Thursday. Go O’s!