Wednesday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles are lacking consistency

Good morning, Birdland!

Let’s admit it. Baseball can be boring sometimes. It’s true from both the fan’s perspective and the player’s. Things have to be done to break up the occasional moments of monotony. It seems that the Orioles’ preferred method of distraction is a pre-game round of hacky sack.

O’s pitching coach Doug Brocail can be seen in that video along with a group of players that, if my eyes serve me, are all pitchers. So, it’s possible this is being used as some sort of exercise related to hand eye coordination, but it really just looks like the guys are having some fun.

That’s cool! They should have fun. But please, don’t let David Hess get too into it. The last time the Orioles were in Tampa Bay and they did something other than play baseball, Hess had an accident:

KEEP THE HACKY SACK AWAY FROM HESS’S EYES!

Links & Notes

The Orioles and Nationals Are Suing Each Other. Again - FanGraphs
One line in here got Orioles Twitter pretty annoyed Tuesday afternoon. It’s the very last paragraph, where the writer indicates that there have been “whispers” that the O’s might move the franchise rather than lose this legal battle to the Nationals. As far as anyone knows, that is completely false. The Orioles aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. At the same time, the Angelos family isn’t going to roll over for the team in D.C.

One bad inning dooms Orioles in 4-2 loss (with quotes) - School of Roch
In which Dylan Bundy seems rather annoyed with himself, understandably so.

Magic could happen for the O’s this year; it has before - Baltimore Sun
True, it has happened before, but this year’s Orioles team has a lot more hurdles to get over than some of the previous iterations. However, that does not mean that individual games of “magic” are out of the question. The 2011 O’s displayed some magic in knocking the Red Sox out of the playoffs on the final day of the regular season. Something similar from this group would be pretty fun.

Grayson Rodriguez calls into O’s Xtra - masn Orioles on YouTube
Scouts have been impressed by Grayson Rodriguez’s two starts down in Delmarva this season. MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis said last week that Rodriguez has a chance to become a top-50 type of prospect if he continues to dominate. It’s interesting to start hearing directly from the exciting young hurler.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

Former Orioles third baseman Craig Worthington is 54. The 10th overall pick of the 1985 draft played in 335 games for the O’s between 1988 and 1991. During that time, he hit .233/.325/.352, 93 OPS+ and 2.6 bWAR. It is also the 62nd birthday of Dave Huppert, a catcher for two games in Baltimore during the 1983 season.

1993 - The Orioles lose 7-5 to the California Angels after suffering a pair of serious TOOTBLANs by two baserunners on one play. With the bases loaded, Mike Devereaux hits a fly ball to center field. However, the ball is not caught. Jeff Tackett, the base runner at third base to start the play, stops halfway home and returns to third. The ball is then tossed home to nab Tackett via force-out. Brady Anderson, the runner at second base to start the play, safely advances to third base. Chito Martinez, who started the play on first base, reaches second and then keeps on running to third base for some reason. California’s catcher runs to third base and tags Martinez to finish an inning-ending double play.