Saturday’s Bird Droppings: Where it’s Boog Powell’s birthday!

Good morning, Birdland!

Do you all remember July? You know, the month where the Orioles somehow managed to win just as many games as they lost and, for a short time, they looked like a competent major league team? That sure was fun, wasn’t it?

Well, we are halfway through August now, and it’s safe to say that they will not have a similar experience this month. So far, the O’s are 3-12 with 14 games left to play before September. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that the Orioles will not play .500 this month. Place your bets, people!

Links

Outrighted: Yacabonis, Mantiply, Lail - MLB Trade Rumors
In case you missed it, Jimmy Yacabonis was DFA’ed earlier this week. But don’t fret, he has remained in the Orioles organization as no other team was willing to put in a claim on Yac and his slider.

Hyde on roster, Stewart’s return and more - School of Roch
Let’s see if DJ Stewart can actually stay healthy for more than a few days this time. The guy has one snakebitten major league season. I still think he has a viable major league bat. Perhaps not as an everyday type of outfielder, but he should be able to produce once he gets an extended run in the team.

What If Gleyber Torres Played Only the Orioles? - The Ringer
If it were any other team that had been dunking on the Orioles all season, would it be getting this much space on respective blogs across the internet? Like, I get it. The Orioles are bad, and the Yankees are good. This is kinda what happens when those two kinds of teams meet.

A look at the top contenders for the Jim Palmer Award - Steve Melewski
This is a good season to focus on the minor leagues in the season’s final month. The O’s affiliates will be wrapping up their schedule soon, so you are running out of time to see a few of the talented youngsters before they make it to Baltimore.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

It is the birthday of two former Orioles that have had slightly different impacts on franchise history. Chris Waters, a left-handed pitcher with the O’s for 16 games between 2008 and 2009 turns 39 today. And Boog Powell, an Orioles Hall of Famer who spent 14 seasons with the team between 1961 and 1974 and won the AL MVP award in 1970, is 78 years old.

It is also the birthday of two late members of the Orioles family. John Buzhardt (b. 1936, d. 2008) was an 11-year MLB vet who only played seven games for the Birds. And Vern Bickford (b. 1920, d. 1960) appeared in just one game for the O’s in 1954.

1963 - Orioles reliever Dick Hall tosses a perfect inning against the Athletics, extending his streak of consecutive batters retired to 28 in-a-row since July 24.

1989 - Cal Ripken Jr. plays in his 1,208th straight game to move past Steve Garvey for third place on the all-time list.

2000 - Chicago White Sox pitcher James Baldwin ties an AL record by plunking four Orioles hitters in one game. The O’s beat the ChiSox 5-3.

2009 - The Orioles trade first baseman Aubrey Huff to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for minor league outfielder Brett Jacobson.