Monday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles won’t be the worst team ever

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

That sound you hear is the 1962 Mets popping champagne corks. Their status as the worst team in modern baseball history is officially secure.

With the Orioles’ 8-4 win over the White Sox yesterday — which Ben Hansford recapped in all its glory — the Birds improved to 43-106 for the season. That means that even if they lose all 13 of their remaining games, they can’t catch the modern record of 120 losses set by the ‘62 Mets.

Mark it down, folks. The Orioles, for whatever else you might say about them, will not be the worst team ever. Their futility will still make the history books, mind you — just not at the very top of the list.

With one more win this season, the Orioles can assure they won’t be the second-worst team, either. (The 2003 Tigers lost 119 games.) Dare to dream, folks. Dare to dream. Perhaps they’ll pick one up in their three-game series with the Blue Jays that starts tonight at Camden Yards.

Links

Orioles avoid sweep and record-tying loss with 8-4 win (updated) - School of Roch
Buck Showalter chimes in with thoughts on yesterday’s game and an update on Chance Sisco, who had to leave the game with an injury. This has been a season to forget for poor Chance.

Orioles likely to resort to bullpen game against Toronto - BaltimoreBaseball.com
Who’s starting for the Orioles tonight? Nobody’s really sure, but it won’t be anyone who’s accustomed to starting games.

Fancred Sports : Inside Baseball: Which superstar will win the offseason? Execs predict
If you feel like getting annoyed by something today, Jon Heyman reports that the O’s missed out on a Manny Machado extension a few years ago because they were $1 to $2 million apart. He also reports that Manny’s free agent preference this winter is the Yankees. If you’ll excuse me, I'm going to be curled up in a ball in the corner.

Camden Depot: Adam Jones’ Potential Departure is the Greatest Loss Since Cal Ripken Jr.
The headline speaks for itself there. If this is indeed Adam’s swan song as an Oriole, I wish the O’s weren’t being so weird about his playing time down the stretch.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have only one Orioles birthday buddy: infielder Wayne Krenchicki (64), who played 58 games with the O’s over parts of three seasons from 1979-81. The most notable thing about Krenchicki is he was the guy who was sent to the minors when the O’s called up Cal Ripken Jr. to make his major league debut in August 1981.

Speaking of Cal, on this day in 1999, Orioles GM Frank Wren refused to hold the team plane when Ripken was running late, taking off without him. That incident spurred the Orioles to fire Wren after the season, as they stated in their official press release: “The Orioles management cannot and will not abide having a general manager operate in such an unreasonable, authoritarian manner and treat anyone in this way, especially someone such as Cal who has done so much for the Orioles and for baseball.”

One down. The O’s have officially cleared the ‘62 Mets, and they’ve assured no worse than a tie with the ‘03 Tigers. Still, though, they’re almost certain to finish as one of the five worst teams ever, unless they can somehow go 7-6 or better in their remaining games (10 of which are against the playoff-bound Red Sox, Yankees, and Astros).