Friday Bird Droppings: Where there are only ten Orioles games left

Hello, friends.

After an unpleasant amount of dismal Orioles baseball, we are finally in the home stretch of the 2018 season. There are just ten Orioles games left. They must go 6-4 over those ten games in order to reach a meager win total of 50. It’s not happening. The Orioles will surely have 110+ losses - but hey, they won’t reach 120, so that’s something.

Most times as the season starts to wind down, I’m sad about the idea of baseball being over for the year. That was true even last year, which was a tremendously disappointing September for the Orioles, one where they collapsed completely. This year, though, the end of the season will feel like a relief. We won’t have to watch these losers again for a while.

With so many former Orioles all across the postseason landscape, it might just be a bit more interesting for O’s fans to watch the playoffs this year, too. They are everywhere you look. The Braves have the most, of course, and there are also the other teams they traded with in July: The Yankees, the Brewers, the Dodgers.

Along with those teams, these others are around the league: Steve Pearce is on the Red Sox, Pedro Strop is on the Cubs, Bud Norris is on the Cardinals, Andrew Miller is on the Indians. Even Oakland, without a former Oriole in sight, has a player named Khris Davis. The only team with no O’s connection at all is the Astros. There will be at least one familiar face for O’s fans to root for in every possible series for all of October.

That’s not as fun as rooting for the Orioles themselves, but it might be fun to pull for some ex-O’s to get a ring. It’s certainly more fun than sitting around wondering what’s going to happen to this team over an offseason that figures to have a lot of upheaval when it arrives. It’s six weeks before we have to start worrying about all of that. I can’t wait.

Around the blogO’sphere

How do the Orioles bounce back from 108 losses? (Forbes)
Oh, look, it’s “the national media noticed how bad the Orioles are” day.

The Orioles are even worse than you thought (New York Times)
The New York Times noticed, too. One thing that really stands out from this season for me is how I keep telling myself, “The Orioles can’t possibly be this bad.” Except, they are.

Tanner Scott, Orioles encouraged by reliever’s progress as he finds his way in major leagues (Baltimore Sun)
It does technically count as progress that Scott has “only” walked 24 batters in 48 MLB innings this year, but...

Leftovers for breakfast (School of Roch)
Roch’s leftovers in this edition include the tidbit that the Orioles had been debating whether to add DJ Stewart or Mike Yastrzemski when they made their last call-up.

Should the Orioles bring back Cal Ripken Jr.? (Baltimore Baseball)
Nope. Next!

AL East sleeper prospect results (Minor League Ball)
John Sickels picked Yefry Ramirez as a sleeper prospect. Although Ramirez did make it to the big leagues, I don’t know that we could say he “woke up,” exactly.

The gradual spread of the opener (Fangraphs)
Jeff Sullivan has a look at how the opener has spread. This doesn’t directly connect to what the Orioles are doing right now, but who knows what the future may hold?

Birthdays and anniversaries

In 1984, Jim Traber made his MLB debut for the Orioles. He also sang the national anthem before the game. What a talent! The Orioles lost to the Red Sox, 8-0, though.

In 2012, the Orioles beat the Red Sox, 4-2, with Matt Wieters driving in three runs and Jim Johnson setting a new club record with his 46th save. With the win, the Orioles remained just one game back of the Yankees for the AL East lead.

One lone former Oriole has a birthday today: 2011-12 lefty reliever Zach Phillips.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: author H.G. Wells (1866), composer Gustav Holst (1874), animator Chuck Jones (1912), movie man Jerry Bruckheimer (1943), author Stephen King (1947), actor Bill Murray (1950), singer-songwriter Faith Hill (1967), and violinist Lindsay Stirling (1986).

On this day in history...

In 1780, infamous American traitor Benedict Arnold gave the British plans to West Point.

In 1937, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien was first published.

In 1981, Sandra Day O’Connor received unanimous approval for her nomination to the Supreme Court from the Senate. She was the first woman to serve on the court.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on September 21 - or at least, until something happens later when the Orioles play the Yankees. Have a safe Friday. Go O’s!