Monday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles have lost eight straight games, again

Hello, friends.

Another day has dawned with the Orioles in last place in the American League East. They now trail the division-leading Red Sox by 52.5 games, only avoiding worse because the Red Sox were also swept this weekend. The Orioles now trail even the fourth place Blue Jays by 23.5 games.

There are 31 games left to play. The Orioles are not far off from being mathematically eliminated from finishing in any place other than last. Oh, and their next series is against those same Blue Jays, so the O’s have potential to fall even farther into the cellar.

If you didn’t stay up to watch the Orioles on ESPN last night, that’s probably better for you. The broadcast was not great and the game was worse. The Orioles lost, 5-3, their eighth straight loss. Dylan Bundy struggled again. Check out Alex Church’s recap of the game for the not-so-lovely totals.

In their 131st game in the 1988 season, the Orioles beat the then-California Angels, 5-2. Future Hall of Famer Eddie Murray homered in the game, as did Joe Orsulak. Future front office man Brady Anderson had a 2-3 game and stole a base. This raised their record to 46-85. That’s now nine games better than the 2018 Orioles through the same number of games.

The 2018 Orioles are now on pace to win just 46 games, if you round to the nearest whole number! That is eight fewer than the 1988 team managed to win. Good grief, this team is so bad. But they’re probably not bad enough that they’ll be worse than the 40-120 record of the 1962 Mets.

The quest to avoid the worst record in MLB took a strong turn against the Orioles over the weekend. The good news is that the quest to get the #1 pick next year turned in their favor. The Royals actually won some games and, at 40-91, are now three games ahead of the O’s for the worst record in MLB. The other 28 teams in the league all have at least 50 wins.

Around the blogO’sphere

Cedric Mullins dealing with minor hip injury (Orioles.com)
For now, they say that Mullins is day-to-day with a hip thing. We’ll see how many days that turns into. It’ll be a bummer if we are deprived of one of the few possibly exciting things about this team in September.

Roster expansion and Showalter expanding on rebuild (School of Roch)
If you want to know what Buck thinks about what’s going on right now - or at least what he’s saying about it to reporters - here’s Roch quoting Buck at length from yesterday’s pre-game scrum.

Orioles will need to be patient and aggressive in international foray (Baltimore Baseball)
Rich Dubroff points out that if the O’s do invest internationally and if it does work out, it probably won’t bear serious fruit until at least 2023. It’s important, but the help will not be immediate.

Renato Núñez says pregame work is starting to pay off (Steve Melewski)
In which there are those who want us to believe in Renato Núñez’s improved defense. Hopefully they’re right!

Orioles top 20 prospects for 2018: Mid-season review (Minor League Ball)
Over at Minor League Ball, John Sickels checks in on how the top 20 prospects from before the season have been doing. Next year’s versions of top Orioles prospects lists will be very different.

Minor league report: Orioles first rounder Grayson Rodriguez showing his stuff in rookie ball (Baltimore Sun)
Success in rookie ball doesn’t mean a whole lot. Still, it’s better than, you know, NOT seeing success there.

Birthdays and anniversaries

In 2011, a scheduled doubleheader against the Yankees was cancelled due to Hurricane Irene. The Yankees whined about it.

Of all of the players to ever play for the Orioles, just one has a birthday today: 2012 late-season addition and 2018 baseball Hall of Fame inductee Jim Thome. Mash a tater to celebrate today, or at least give somebody a hearty handshake.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: colonial Baltimore ruler Charles Calvert, son of Anne Arundell (1637), novelist Theodore Dreiser (1871), 36th president Lyndon B. Johnson (1908), rapper Mase (1975), and actor Aaron Paul (1979).

On this day in history...

In 1776, facing a surprise flanking attack from the British in the Battle of Long Island, a regiment of Marylanders outnumbered nearly 10-1 heroically counterattacked to cover the retreat of the rest of the Continental Army. The Americans lost the battle, but Washington and the bulk of the army escaped. In part because of this battle, Maryland acquired its nickname: The Old Line State.

In 1832, Sauk tribal leader Black Hawk surrendered to the US Army, ending the Black Hawk War. In the aftermath of the war, American leaders accelerated attempts to force the Native American populations west of the Mississippi River.

In 1883, a series of massive eruptions of Krakatoa in modern-day Indonesia led to 70% of its island sinking underwater, spawning tsunamis that killed over 35,000 people. The smoke from the eruption is credited with five years of chaotic weather. Observing the smoke’s dispersal, scientists of the day discovered what we know today as the jet stream.

In 1979, royal relative and last viceroy of India Lord Mountbatten was killed by a bomb set off by the Provisional Irish Republican Army.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on August 27 - or at least, until something happens later when the Orioles play the Blue Jays. Have a safe Monday. Go O’s!