Saturday’s Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles are getting whooped in Texas

Morning, Birdland!

This series against the Rangers is likely to become a regular scene for Orioles fans over the next two seasons or so. The O’s lost big yet again on Friday night. Ben recapped the 11-3 misery.

The Birds front office has made a decision to gut the major league team. That all but guarantees 100 losses for 2018 and possibly 2019 with hope for an upswing in 2020 and plans of fielding a competitive roster in 2021. Between now and 2021, the O’s are going to be blown out...a lot.

My advice to get through these dark times will be to look for the nuggets of hope. Rather than concerning yourself with another two-strikeout performance from Chris Davis, check out the impressive Orioles debut for Evan Phillips (two innings, no hits, no walks, three strikeouts). Sure Donnie Hart was bad, but how about Luis Ortiz getting promoted to Triple-A this week?

It’s probably going to get even worse before it gets better. That is the nature of things like this. But it doesn’t all have to be bad. There will always be something positive to take from the dreadful baseball being played by the guys in Orioles uniforms.

Links

Gausman bobblehead will still reign on Orioles’ ‘Game of Thrones’ night - Baltimore Sun
Well, this is awkward. I can speak as someone who had already bought this ticket package, I’m actually pretty excited to still get this bobblehead. Kevin Gausman was one of my favorite Orioles, and I was bummed to see him go and, in all likelihood, become a Cy Young contender with the Braves. It will be nice to see his plastic face on the back of a dragon in a couple of weeks.

Orioles’ Adam Jones contributes $8.5K to help tourney-bound Little League team - ESPN
It’s things like this that make Adam Jones the best. He does not have to do things like this. He wants to. He understands the role he has in Major League Baseball. Not only is he the face of the Orioles franchise, but he is also one of the most recognizable black athletes in the sport. That is a lot for one man’s shoulders, but Jones handles it all.

Can Victor Victor Mesa Gamble Himself into Big Money? - Camden Depot
The Orioles have gotten to a point where they have so much international money and so few players available to sign, that they need to be all in on Victor Victor Mesa. Not inking him to a deal would be a huge failure.

An Organizational Look at 2019 Baltimore Orioles Roster Possibilities - Baltimore Wire
If the O’s stay entirely in-house for 2019, which they should for the most part, here is a look at some of their options. It’s not the most exciting pool of talent, but they need to at least take a look at “their guys.”

Orioles birthdays and history

Is it your birthday? Happy Birthday!

It is the 40th birthday for one Oriole of which I have no recollection. Jon Knott turns 40 today. He had a seven-game cameo for the 2007 Birds as an outfielder and hit .214/.368/.429 in that weeks-worth of chances.

Knott is overshadowed on this day by Orioles Hall of Famer B.J. Surhoff, who celebrates his 54th birthday. Surhoff was the first overall pick in the 1982 draft by the Milwaukee Brewers, but he made his career in Baltimore as he slashed .291/.341/.451 over parts of eight seasons. In fact, he was named on our list of “Top 40 Orioles of All Time” from a couple of seasons. Happy birthday, B.J.!

Other notable birthdays: Barack Obama (1961), Roger Clemens (1962) and Meghan Markle (1981)

2005 - Lee Mazzilli is fired and replaced by Sam Perlozzo as Orioles manager. The O’s had lost 16 of their last 18 games and sat 10.5 games behind in the AL East after challenging for the division lead well into July.

2007 - Phoenix, a NASA spacecraft with a mission to explore the planet of Mars, is launched. It ended up landing on Mars on May 25, 2008 and ended its mission on November 2, 2008.