Monday Bird Droppings: Where we have the day off from the Orioles

Hello, friends.

Another day has dawned with the Orioles in last place in the American League East. After being swept for a remarkably horrible sixteenth time this season, the O’s enter this off day with a 41-102 record in the 2018 season. The only piece of good news there is to say about this disaster of a season is that in 19 more games, it will be over.

The O’s being off today is a blessing for those of us who have been enduring their performance. They went 1-8 on the road trip that just concluded. They are 4-14 over their past 18 games. Unless they lose the rest of the way, they can’t do worse than the 4-32 finish from 2002, but whatever they do, we know it’s going to be pretty bad.

Paul Folkemer’s recap of the 8-3 loss that sealed the latest Orioles sweep is in poem form. Don’t miss the 2018 O’s version of Casey at the Bat if you haven’t seen it already.

The Orioles are now 6.5 games behind the Royals in the race to avoid the worst record in MLB. It’s pretty much put to bed. So is the Orioles finishing with a worse record than they did in 1988, when they were 54-107. The 2018 team is now on pace to win just 46 games. They are bad. They are just so very bad.

Even in the middle of this whole disaster, the O’s still find ways to be puzzling. If you weren’t watching over the weekend, you might not know that the Orioles did not play Adam Jones the whole weekend. He is healthy. They just did not play him. Supposedly, they wanted to get looks at other players. This would seem more reasonable if the other players who were playing instead were people younger than Joey Rickard and John Andreoli.

Whatever impulse leads the Orioles to sit Jones for several games at a time does not seem to apply to Chris Davis, who continues to play forever and ever, not getting pinch hit for even in late-inning close situations with men on base and a left-handed pitcher on the mound. They do not make any sense.

Nothing matters any more, of course, but it would be nice to feel like the Orioles at least have some sort of plan. They do not appear to have a plan, or, if they do have a plan, it appears to be a very, very bad one. You don’t end up 41-102 by accident. A lot of things had to fail to get to this point and we are reminded of this every game.

How are you going to spend your day off from the Orioles? Hopefully you’ve got something more fun planned than watching this O’s team, like a root canal, waiting in line at the MVA, or listening to music by the band you hate most out of all bands that ever existed.

Around the blogO’sphere

Jones says he understands why he’s not playing (Baltimore Baseball)
Jones understands, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good reason.

Cobb, Cashner, Bundy expected to start in A’s series (Baltimore Sun)
There were some rotation adjustments due to Cobb developing a blister and being unable to start in the Rays series. He’s now expected to quickly be back in action.

What now for Dylan Bundy? (Steve Melewski)
How bad are things for Dylan Bundy right now? Even O’s beat writers are suggesting that he should be shut down for the season.

Buck on the impact of losing and mistakes (School of Roch)
The Orioles are not good, and continuing to watch this play out has got to be frustrating for Buck Showalter.

Akin looks to build on career year in minors (Orioles.com)
The Orioles are going to need some prospects to start working out if they ever want to actually do this rebuilding thing. Maybe Keegan Akin can be one of them.

Birthdays and anniversaries

There are a pair of former Orioles with birthdays today. They are: 2011 outfielder Matt Angle, and 2007-09 reliever Danys Baez.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: golfer Arnold Palmer (1929), Game Boy inventor Gunpei Yokoi (1941), author Alison Bechdel (1960), actor Colin Firth (1960), and ballerina Misty Copeland (1982).

On this day in history...

In 1547, English and Scottish forces waged the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, a victory for the English. This was the last time the two sides fought a major conflict.

In 1813, the American navy, led by Oliver Hazard Perry, defeated the British in the Battle of Lake Erie. Perry captured all six British vessels in the battle, sending this famous message to his superiors: “We have met the enemy and they are ours.” The victory gave the Americans control of Lake Erie for the remainder of the War of 1812.

In 1977, convicted torturer/murderer Hamida Djandoubi was executed in France. This is a noteworthy occurrence because Djandoubi was executed by guillotine, the last person in France to meet that fate.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on September 10 - or at least, unless something happens later, which it probably won’t since the Orioles have the day off. That’s merciful for us. Have a safe Monday.