Tuesday Bird Droppings: Where the 1988 Orioles have company

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

I’ll start with the good news. As I noted yesterday, the Orioles won’t end up with the worst record in baseball history.

Now for the bad news: barring a miracle, they will end up with the worst record in Orioles history.

The O’s lost their 107th game last night, getting shut out for the 15th time this year in a dismal 5-0 defeat. Stacey’s recap has the details, if you’re into that sort of thing.

With that, the Birds matched the club record set by the 1988 Orioles, who went 54-107. And with 12 games left to play, it’s only a matter of time before the 2018 Orioles suffer one more loss and officially become the worst team in franchise history.

We are all witnesses. This truly is a breathtaking time.

Links

‘It’s shameful, really’: As the Orioles tie a loss record, catcher Caleb Joseph says widespread change is needed - The Athletic
Caleb Joseph has some choice words about the lack of accountability in the Orioles’ organization. Among the money quotes: “Every single locker in here should be thinking, ‘You know, I should be fired because I sucked. Period.’”

Dan Duquette talks Victor Victor Mesa, Cedric Mullins talks about his big game - Steve Melewski
Dan Duquette gives his usual vague Duquette-speak when asked about the Orioles' interest in Victor Victor Mesa. Dan needs to go to the Caleb Joseph School of Speaking Directly.

Stats All, Folks: What wRC+ says about Chris Davis’ nightmarish season - BaltimoreBaseball.com
Just how bad has Chris Davis’ season been? We’ll let wRC+ be our guide. This story also explains the only correct way to pronounce wRC+.

Orioles are worse than the ‘88 team - Baltimore Post-Examiner
This isn’t breaking news, of course. But it’s still astounding that the 2018 Orioles are going to end up with a worse record -- maybe significantly worse -- than a team that lost its first 21 games of the season.

Here are the Orioles’ most embarrassing statistics this season - Baltimore Sun
Presented without further comment.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your only Orioles birthday buddy is the late lefty Harvey Haddix, who finished his big league career with the O’s in 1964-65, Haddix, who died in 1994, would have been 93 today.

Sept. 18 was a big day in history for three Orioles Legends. In 1976, Frank Robinson — then a player/manager for the Indians — played his final major league game. It came, fittingly, against the Orioles. He got a pinch-hit RBI single against Rudy May in the eighth, ending Frank’s career with 2,943 hits and 1,812 RBIs.

On this day in 1991, Cal Ripken became the first shortstop in major league history to hit 30 homers and 40 doubles in a season, smacking his 30th homer against the Red Sox.

And perhaps most memorably, the Orioles celebrated “Thanks, Brooks” Day at Memorial Stadium on this date in 1977. Brooks, who had wrapped up his 23-year Orioles career a month earlier, was honored with an hour-long ceremony in which he was driven around the warning track, received gifts that included a new car and a Hawaiian vacation, and made a goodbye speech to the Baltimore faithful.

A little bit of movement here since yesterday. The 43-107 Orioles are now on pace for 116 losses, which would be the fourth-most all time. They still need one win to assure they won’t match the ‘03 Tigers’ 119 losses, and three wins to clear the 1916 A’s. I’m not so sure they’ll accomplish the latter.