Monday Bird Droppings: Where everyone will be wearing number 42

Hello, friends.

The Orioles have made history. During yesterday’s 4-0 loss to the Red Sox, reliever Josh Lucas gave up a home run in the eighth inning. This marked the 16th straight game to begin the season in which the O’s had allowed a home run. They have tied the MLB record that was set by the 2009 Phillies, with a chance to break it today in a game that’s scheduled to begin at 11:05am. Oh, yes. It’s Patriot’s Day in Massachusetts and the Orioles get that game. Again.

If you missed Sunday’s game, you didn’t miss much offense, since the Orioles only got five hits. Check out Stacey Folkemer’s recap for the not-so-lovely totals.

With the loss, the Orioles find themselves with a 6-10 record after about 10% of their season. It’s not an exciting record, but if the O’s go 6-10 over every 16 game stretch of the season, they’ll be 60-100 with two games left to play. That’s bad baseball. It’s also baseball that’s a lot less bad than what we saw last year, and if it turns out to be baseball with more exciting prospects by August, that’s a plus as well.

For now, the O’s aren’t even in last place in the division, with the 5-11 Blue Jays below them. At 6-10, they’re tied with the Red Sox for third. Counting the Jays, there are seven teams who have fewer wins than the O’s right now. Only the Rays are better than .500 in the East.

Some of these teams are ones from whom better was expected (Cubs) but others are about as bad as they were thought to be (Marlins, Royals). The race for the 2020 #1 pick may be a bit more crowded than the race for this year’s #1 pick was last year. We’ll see who separates themselves in a bad way over the next 10% of the season. If Orioles starters keep an ERA over 5 while O’s relievers keep an ERA over 7, they could be headed for worse than 6-10.

Mike Mussina was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame 83 days ago. The Orioles have not announced any plans to retire his jersey or erect his statue at Camden Yards.

Around the blogO’sphere

Orioles, Davis move on from hitless streak in a better place than when it started (Baltimore Sun)
The big news over the weekend was Davis snapping the hitless streak. The Sun’s Jon Meoli notes that this year’s teammates seem to be a lot more supportive than last year’s were.

How Chris Davis snapped, embraced baseball’s most epic oh-fer (ESPN)
“Tough times don’t last, but tough people do,” said Rio Ruiz. “That’s all you need to know about Chris Davis.”

Mike Elias says Orioles are ‘absolutely’ committed to keeping Chris Davis as he ends historic slump (The Athletic)
It’s not just the clubhouse that’s giving votes of confidence to Davis. Elias sounds like he’s totally in Chris Davis’s corner right now.

Brandon Hyde has been using Orioles bullpen in unusual ways (Baltimore Baseball)
The fact that the Orioles have four saves and Mychal Givens has none of them is certainly unexpected. Hyde explains the method to some of his decisions here.

Cobb eyeing weekend return to action for O’s (Orioles.com)
Alex Cobb won’t be ready to come off the injured list on day 11 of his 10 day minimum stay, but from what they’re saying now, he won’t be more than a few days beyond that.

Orioles waste Means start and rallies in 4-0 loss (School of Roch)
Hear from Brandon Hyde, John Means, and Cedric Mullins about yesterday’s loss.

Sunday Notes: Chris Davis’s Peanuts moment (Fangraphs)
Also in the weekly Fangraphs notes column is an item about Richie Martin’s vision.

New Orioles radio guy Kevin Brown brings a fresh face and a steady voice to Baltimore (Baltimore Sun)
If you’ve listened to the Orioles on the radio so far this season, you might have gotten a chance to hear Kevin Brown, who is no relation to me. You will learn a thing or two about how he came to be here if you read this.

Birthdays and anniversaries

Today in 1947, Jackie Robinson made his debut for the Dodgers and broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball. In honor of this achievement, MLB started having all players wear the number 42 on games on this day in 2009. They continue to do so today.

In 1954, the newly-moved Orioles played the first game at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. They beat the White Sox, 3-1, with Oriole Clint Courtney hitting the first home run in stadium history.

In 2000, Cal Ripken Jr. collected the 3,000th hit of his career, making him the 24th player to reach the milestone and just the seventh to do so while also hitting at least 400 home runs.

There are a pair of former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2009-18 pitcher Chris Tillman, and 2009 first baseman Michael Aubrey.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: artist Leonardo da Vinci (1452), beverage magnate Joseph E. Seagram (1841), actress Emma Thompson (1959), funny man Seth Rogen (1982), and actress Maisie Williams (1997).

On this day in history...

In 1450, during the Hundred Years War, the French routed the English in the Battle of Formigny. This defeat effectively ended English control of the Normandy region in France.

In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln died from the wounds he suffered the previous evening when he was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in Washington, DC. If you go to that theater tonight, you can see Into The Woods.

In 1912, the RMS Titanic sank into the Atlantic after hitting an iceberg late the last night. There were only 710 survivors out of 2,227 people aboard.

In 1955, the fast food restaurant chain McDonald’s was founded, according to McDonald’s lore. The company had been founded in 1940, but this date in 1955 saw the opening of its first franchised restaurant in Illinois.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on April 15 - or at least, until something happens later today when the Orioles play an 11:05am game (weather permitting) in Boston. Have a safe Monday. Go O’s!