Wednesday Bird Droppings: Where it’s been 11 years since 30-3

Hello, friends.

Another day has dawned with the Orioles in last place in the American League East. The Orioles remain 50.5 games behind the division-leading Red Sox, who also lost on Tuesday. they now trail the fourth place Blue Jays by 20 games. Not only are the O’s mathematically eliminated from the division and wild card race on August 22, they’re not so far off from being guaranteed a last place finish.

If you spared yourself the agony of watching the Orioles on Tuesday night, that’s probably better off for you. Check out my recap of the game for the not-so-lovely totals of an 8-2 loss - although it did feature Cedric Mullins hitting another home run.

The race to avoid the worst record in MLB, or the race to get the #1 pick next year, stayed the same on Tuesday. Just like the Orioles, the Royals were losers. They were beaten, 4-1, by the Rays. The Royals sit at 38-88, while the O’s are 37-89.

In their 126th game of the 1988 season, the Orioles beat the Mariners, 4-3. This was the second game of a doubleheader - both 4-3 wins, both walkoffs. The nightcap took 12 innings before Joe Orsulak ended the game with a sacrifice fly. Future Hall of Famer Eddie Murray tied the game in the ninth inning with his 24th home run of the season.

This boosted the ‘88 squad to a record of 44-82, now an unfathomable seven games better than the 2018 team through the same number of games. How do you end up seven games worse than a team that started out 0-21? By being very, very bad! This year’s team is now on pace to win just 48 games, if you round to the nearest whole number - six games fewer than the 1988 team. However, they’re not likely to touch the 40-120 record of the 1962 Mets.

A 12:30 afternoon game awaits the O’s, and us, today, as they try their very best to avoid going 0-9 in Canada this season. The Blue Jays, at 57-69, are obviously not even that good, yet the Orioles are still utterly incapable of beating them on the road. Come on, guys, not even one win? Maybe David Hess has the magic today. Probably not.

Around the blogO’sphere

Hunter Harvey’s rehab from shoulder injury shut down due to elbow discomfort (Camden Chat)
You may have missed this update on the one-time top O’s pitching prospect from yesterday. If you haven’t written Harvey off yet, now may be the time to do it.

Dylan Bundy struggling to find his old self amid late season slump (Baltimore Sun)
This one is from Tuesday morning. Bundy did not find his old self on Tuesday night.

For Orioles broadcaster Joe Angel, not many ‘in the win column’ this season (Baltimore Baseball)
O’s fans are lucky to get to have Joe Angel calling games on the radio.

Miguel Castro on meeting his baseball hero (Steve Melewski)
I think we’d all be happy about getting to meet Pedro Martinez. Castro, as a Dominican Republic native, surely must have been extra thrilled to get the chance to do it.

Orioles agree to terms with 16-year-old Bellony (ESPN)
The Orioles are actually signing an international player here and there, though it’ll be several years before we know whether any of them matter. For now, numbers are numbers.

Birthdays and anniversaries

In 1966, Andy Etchebarren saved Frank Robinson from drowning in a swimming pool.

In 2007, immediately after interim manager Dave Trembley was made the regular manager, the Orioles were on the wrong end of the 30-3 game against the Rangers. In case you’ve blocked it out of your memory, this was the first game of a doubleheader. The Orioles also lost the second game.

There are a few former Orioles with birthdays today. They are: 2012 late-season addition Randy Wolf, 2005 reliever Steve Kline, and the late 1955 eight-gamer Angelo Dagres.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: pianist/composer Claude Debussy (1862), science fiction author Ray Bradbury (1920), baseball Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski (1939), The Sopranos creator David Chase (1945), Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid (1958), singer-songwriter Tori Amos (1963), famous chef Giada de Laurentiis (1970), and actress/screenwriter/comedian Kristen Wiig (1973).

On this day in history...

In 1485, the Lancastrians and Yorkists waged the final battle of the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Bosworth Field. Henry Tudor’s army defeated Richard III, who was killed in the battle and was the last king of both the House of York and the Plantagenet dynasty. Henry was crowned as Henry VII after the battle.

In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt became the first president to make a public appearance in an automobile.

In 1978, Congress passed the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment, which would have given DC full representation in Congress, in the electoral college, and in ratification of any subsequent amendments. However, only 16 states ratified the amendment before it expired. Maryland was the eighth of the 16 states that voted to ratify. Shame on the rest.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on August 22 - or at least, until something happens later when the Orioles play the Blue Jays. Have a safe Wednesday. Go O’s!