Tuesday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles aren’t worth staying up for

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

In recent, more exciting seasons of Orioles baseball, there was a time when O’s games on the West Coast presented a legitimate dilemma for East Coast viewers. Should you stay up until the wee hours of the morning to watch the Birds play, knowing that every game could be important to a pennant race? Or should you watch just part of the game (or none at all) so you can get to bed at a reasonable hour, and check the score the next morning? Decisions, decisions.

This year, the Orioles have made it a pretty easy choice. Their games mean absolutely nothing. They were officially eliminated from the playoffs in August, and unofficially eliminated in, like, April. They’re not particularly entertaining to watch, muddling through a transition period where their best veterans were traded away but their best youngsters are still toiling in the minors. So if ever there were a time when O’s fans could feel free to ignore the team and get some shut-eye, this series in Seattle is it.

If you’re one of those people, we here at Camden Chat will make sure to keep you posted on what happens, because we’re gluttons for punishment that way. As you might have predicted, the Orioles lost last night, falling to 40-98. Ben Hansford’s recap has all the details.

Links

Orioles add to expanded roster, summon Chance Sisco and Jimmy Yacabonis to Seattle - Baltimore Sun
Reinforcements are on the way for the Orioles. Well, maybe not “reinforcements” so much as “warm bodies.”

Notes on Araujo, tonight's game and bad start to trip - School of Roch
Pedro Araujo’s year is over, and the O’s would have to keep him on the roster for the first 17 days next season to fulfill his Rule 5 requirements. At this point, why not? They’re not going to be contending next year, so they can afford to stash a young arm in the bullpen for two weeks.

By getting swept in Kansas City, the Orioles might have done themselves a favor - BaltimoreBaseball.com
This thoughtful and wise writer breaks down how much more valuable the No. 1 overall pick has been than the No. 2 pick over the years. So it’s probably a good thing the O’s all but sealed the league’s worst record over the weekend.

Pitching At Camden Yards Would Be 'Highlight' For Orioles Prospect Bruce Zimmermann - PressBoxOnline
Here’s a nice profile of lefty prospect and Maryland native Bruce Zimmermann, who could be on his way to the Orioles in the next year or two.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have three Orioles birthday buddies, including righty Doyle Alexander (68), who was involved in two of the most significant trades in O’s history. The Birds acquired him and three others when they traded Frank Robinson to the Dodgers in 1971. After four and a half seasons, the O’s included Alexander in a 10-player trade with the Yankees in 1976 that netted them Scott McGregor, Tippy Martinez, Rick Dempsey, and others.

Your other two O’s birthday buddies are 2002-04 infielder Luis Lopez (48) and the late Eddie Waitkus, who played for the inaugural 1954 Orioles. Waitkus, who survived a shooting in 1949, was the inspiration for the novel The Natural. He died in 1972 at age 53.

On this day in 2012, the Orioles and Blue Jays had a rain delay at Rogers Centre. Yes, the Rogers Centre that has a retractable roof. It wasn’t closed in time to avoid a passing shower. The O’s ended up winning, 12-0, thanks to seven extra-base hits and Zach Britton’s seven shutout innings, pulling them into a tie for first place in the AL East. It was the first time since 1997 they’d been in first place in September.

Race for the 2019 No. 1 pick

Ordinarily, this is where I would track the race for last place between the Orioles and Royals. But after the Royals decisively dominated the Birds, sweeping the three-game series over the weekend to pull 5.5 games better than Baltimore, I’m retiring this feature unless the race gets remotely close again.

At this point, with the Orioles destined for baseball’s worst record in 2018, the only thing to track is whether they’ll end up as one of the five losingest teams in modern baseball history. Currently, they’re on pace for 115 losses, which would tie for the fourth-most.

This handy chart shows how many more wins they’d need to get in their remaining games to avoid being as bad as each team. It’s going to take 10 victories in their final 24 games to prevent being one of the five worst teams in history. Call me crazy, but I’m not confident they can do that.