Thursday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles were yelling in the dugout again

Hello, friends.

Unfortunately, it seems that the Orioles have done it again. The Chris Davis-Brandon Hyde dugout shouting is no longer an isolated incident. During Wednesday’s 8-4 loss to the Nationals, reliever Richard Bleier and third base coach Jose Flores were shouting at one another in view of MASN cameras. It’s not great.

In this case, the source of the beef appears to be Bleier’s frustration with how the infield was positioned over the course of an outing in which Bleier gave up three runs in just a third of an inning. Let’s hope that this is the last such brouhaha this season, although the fact that it’s now happened twice isn’t too encouraging. The other players in the video clip, especially injured reliever Shawn Armstrong, also looked to be displeased with whatever Flores said.

So, if you missed Wednesday’s 8-4 loss, that’s probably for the best. Make sure to check out Stacey’s recap of the game for the bad and the good. There was some good, including Davis homering. No, really!

Tuesday’s win gave the O’s their 44th win of the year. You may recall that they only won 47 games in the entirety of last year. There is about a month of baseball to reach that number and go beyond it. If the O’s continue on their current pace, they will end up with 54 wins. That would feel OK.

The Orioles have 29 games still to play. Only six of those 29 games will be against teams headed for the playoffs, with three against the Rays and three against the Dodgers, and only nine of the 29 are against teams above .500, adding in a season-ending three-game set against the Red Sox. The chance is there to bone up against some also-rans. We should probably keep in mind not to get too excited about anyone who suddenly has an amazing September against these bad teams.

Between now and Sunday, the Orioles will be figuring out who is going to join the roster for September callups. Maybe they already know and it just won’t be announced until the rosters officially expand. One thing we do know after yesterday is five of the O’s prospects who will be headed out to the Arizona Fall League: Pitchers Dean Kremer, Alex Wells, and David Lebron, and infielders Rylan Bannon and Mason McCoy. Hopefully they do well out there. That league begins play on September 18.

There have been 222 days since Mike Mussina was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Orioles have not yet announced any plans to retire his jersey number or add his statue to Camden Yards.

Around the blogO’sphere

The Orioles are having a great last place season (Fangraphs)
The Orioles were the first team mathematically eliminated this year, which means they’re the first team to get a Dan Szymborski elegy on Fangraphs. The noted former Baltimore County resident is pleased with early progress under Mike Elias.

Lawnmower celebration phased out for more explosive move (Baltimore Sun)
If you’ve been paying close attention, you may have noticed the lawnmower slowly morphing into the bazooka.

Hyde updates Means, and other notes (School of Roch)
He’s hoping that John Means will be back from the family medical emergency list on either Friday or Saturday. It would not surprise this blogger if they try to stretch it to Sunday when the rosters expand anyway.

More than a game: O’s prospect does it for dad (Orioles.com)
Wherever you are might get a little dusty as you’re reading this one about Shorebirds shortstop Adam Hall.

Inside the between-starts routine of prospect Drew Rom as he looks to learn from rare adversity (Baltimore Sun)
Rom has run into a bit of a rough patch since the start of July. Stories like this help make me feel like the new regime actually has an idea how to develop pitchers. And the fruits of the preparation described here are that Rom pitched five scoreless innings last night.

More on Mountcastle’s International League MVP (Steve Melewski)
Yeah, yeah, but is it enough to get him a September callup?

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

There are a handful of former Orioles who were born today. They are: 2002-06 reserve infielder Eddie Rogers, 1973-81 infielder Doug DeCinces, 1957-61 reserve catcher Frank Zupo, and 1960/62 outfielder Dave Nicholson. Today is Nicholson’s 80th birthday, so an extra happy birthday to him.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you as well! Your birthday buddies for today include: philosopher John Locke (1632), poet/physician Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (1809), actress Ingrid Bergman (1915), pop icon Michael Jackson (1958), and actress Lea Michele (1986).

On this day in history...

In 1526, an Ottoman army led by Suleiman I defeated the Hungarians in the Battle of Mohacs. The Hungarian king, Louis II, was killed in the battle, leading to the partition of Hungary between the Ottomans and the Habsburgs.

In 1786, some Massachusetts farmers led by Daniel Shays rebelled against the nascent American government, which under the Articles of Confederation was unable to raise troops to fight back. Within a year, the Constitutional Convention was convened due to concerns about those deficiencies.

In 1831, scientist Michael Faraday made his discovery of electromagnetic induction, a principle still seen today in things like transformers and generators.

In 1966, the Beatles performed in front of paying fans for the last time, a concert in San Francisco’s Candlestick Park.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina, then a Category 3 hurricane, made its second landfall over Louisiana and Mississippi. The National Hurricane Center put the death toll for the storm at 1,836 people, with over one million people being displaced from their homes by the storm.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on August 29 - or at least, unless something happens later on this Orioles off day. It probably won’t, but you never know. Have a safe Thursday.