Thursday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles can finally stop thinking about the Yankees

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

How’s your day going so far? Pretty good? Well, I can guarantee you nobody woke up as happy this morning as the Orioles.

For the Orioles, today is a fresh start. A new beginning. Today they can look at their remaining 2019 schedule, grin from ear to ear, and breathe a sigh of relief that the New York Yankees are no longer on it.

The season series reached its merciful conclusion yesterday afternoon. It ended the same way it began, and the same way it continued for months and months: with an Orioles loss. You can relive the final ignominious defeat of the season, and the painful stats behind the Yankees’ season-long dominance, in my game recap. And now I will say no more about this unpleasantness.

The Orioles’ schedule does not immediately get much easier from here, as they’ll head to Boston for a three-game set after today’s off day. Still, at least the O’s are a respectable 5-8 against the Red Sox this year and not, you know, 2-17. (Sorry, I mentioned the unpleasantness again.) After that, it’s back to Camden Yards for a week’s worth of games against the Royals and Rays.

Links

Orioles happy to be finished with Yankees for 2019 after 16th straight loss - BaltimoreBaseball.com
Stevie Wilkerson insists the Orioles went into this series “looking forward to the challenge.” Counterpoint: were they, though?

As rotation continues to struggle, what will it look like next year? - Steve Melewski
The answer: probably still bad.

Orioles Shortstop Prospect Adam Hall's Path To Pro Ball Anything But Conventional - PressBoxOnline.com
Just your typical story about a guy born in Bermuda and raised in Canada who loves playing America's pastime. How cliched!

Orioles Claim Ryan Eades - MLB Trade Rumors
How long until Ryan Eades becomes the latest pitcher to get called up to the Orioles for two days, give up two or three home runs, and then get sent back down from whence he came? I give it a week, at most.

What’s next for Chandler Shepherd? - School of Roch
I think this is the question we were all asking.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You share your day with three ex-Orioles: 2002 outfielder Chris Singleton (47), 1986 third baseman Tom Dodd (61), and 1995-96 utility man Jeff Huson (55). For some reason I remember being a big Jeff Huson fan as a kid, but I don’t know exactly why. Who was your favorite random Oriole?

On this day in 1979, the Orioles won a walkoff against the White Sox when Eddie Murray stole home in the 12th inning. That’s noted speedster Eddie Murray to you.

And on this day in 2007, the Orioles blew a three-run lead in the ninth in the Bronx but then scored three off Mariano Rivera in the top of the 10th, capped by an Aubrey Huff two-run homer, to win the game anyway. A rare happy result for what was shaping up to be another Yankee Stadium meltdown.

The O’s allowed one home run in their Yankees series finale yesterday, giving them an even 250 homers allowed this year. They’re nine away from breaking the 2016 Reds’ all-time mark, and there could accomplish it in their upcoming three-game set at Fenway. Those Reds, at the 121-game mark, had allowed 56 fewer than the Orioles, and they got through game No. 121 without giving up a homer. Wait, that’s a thing that can be done?