Monday Bird Droppings: Where we’ve got a sympathy blister

Hello, friends.

This time one week from now, the 2018 Orioles season will finally be over. It will be a relief, probably for them too.

Until then, there are still some more baseball games to be played, although none of them are really going to matter for the standings all that much. The Red Sox and the Astros are already settled where they’re going to be. The Orioles are already locked in to the #1 draft pick.

The only thing that can happen is somebody getting hurt. That happened to both the Orioles and the Yankees in the series that was just concluded, with the O’s Breyvic Valera getting hurt on a slide into home on Sunday after Yankee Didi Gregorius got hurt sliding into home on Saturday. Don’t slide head first into home!

There was also Alex Cobb and his blister. He threw just four pitches before coming out of Sunday’s game. He probably won’t pitch again this year. If you weren’t watching Sunday’s game, where they avoided getting swept with a 6-3 victory, check out Tyler Young’s recap for the lovely totals, and don’t forget to vote in the Most Birdland Player poll.

Around the blogO’sphere

‘Real tough walking off the mound after four pitches’: Cobb leaves start with blister after four pitches (Baltimore Sun)
It really is a marvel to me that the Orioles can’t even do a little thing like this right in the waning days of this year. Just figure out if he can pitch, and if he can’t, shut him down. Why is it so hard to figure out?

Exactly how bad are the Baltimore Orioles? Very, very bad (Washington Post)
Media outside of Baltimore has spent the past few days noticing how bad the Orioles are. Guys, I think we already knew.

Buck Showalter impressed by DJ Stewart (Orioles.com)
...but not impressed enough to just put him in the starting lineup every day?

Latest on Dan Duquette, Buck Showalter (MLB Trade Rumors)
The people who talk to people who claim to know things sure seem to think that Duquette is sticking around and Showalter will not.

Adam Jones keeping base runners honest in adjustment to right field (Baltimore Sun)
Somehow, The Sun can still find something positive to say about the 2018 Orioles at this late juncture.

DL Hall moves into top 100 (Steve Melewski)
The Orioles now have four prospects in the top 100, according to Baseball America. That’s not awful!

Orioles hoping for a healthy Hunter Harvey in 2019 (Baltimore Baseball)
In the words of Eomer from The Two Towers: “Do not trust to hope. It has forsaken these lands.”

Birthdays and anniversaries

In 1971, the Orioles clinched the American League East title with a 9-2 win over the Indians. This was the first game of a doubleheader, with Mike Cuellar recording his 20th win of the season. In the second game, the O’s were also victorious, with Pat Dobson winning his 20th game of the season as well with a 7-0 shutout.

In 1997, the Orioles also clinched the American League East title, beating the Blue Jays, 9-3. The Jays fired manager Cito Gaston before the game. Those O’s, you may recall, went wire-to-wire atop the AL East.

A number of former Orioles have birthdays today. They are: 2013 six-gamer Travis Ishikawa, 1999-2000 reserve Jesse Garcia, late 2000s Orioles Magic rebooter Kevin Millar, 500 home run/3000 hit club member Rafael Palmeiro, and 1967-71/73-74 outfielder Curt Motton.

Is today your birthday? Your birthday buddies for today include: influential early American jurist John Marshall (1755), neon lighting inventor Georges Claude (1870), Mars candy company founder Franklin Clarence Mars (1883), novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896), puppeteer Jim Henson (1936), actor Phil Hartman (1948), and wrestling personality Stephanie McMahon (1976).

On this day in history...

In 1789, Congress passed the Judiciary Act, which established the office of Attorney General as well as the federal judiciary system.

In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Devils Tower, in Wyoming, to be the first National Monument.

In 1929, Jimmy Doolittle, later famous for his World War II raid on Tokyo, became the first pilot to ever perform a full flight with no window. This proved that instrument flying was possible from takeoff all the way to landing.

In 1957, President Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division sent to Little Rock, Arkansas in order to enforce desegregation.

**

And that’s the way it is in Birdland on September 24 - or at least, until something happens later when the Orioles play the Red Sox. Have a safe Monday. Go O’s!