Wednesday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles are out of meaningful games

Good morning, Birdland!

Has anyone been watching the weekly MLB games that have shown on YouTube this season? They are totally free apart from needing an internet connection, and the production value of them was equal to a normal TV broadcast. I have to say that I have been impressed.

Last night I saw the start to the Dodgers/Rays game. It began with some pregame studio action from MLB Network before shifting to the game coverage, which included color commentary from B.J. Upton and Nomar Garciaparra. Sure, it was a little less polished than you would see at ESPN or FOX, but it went pretty well for an experiment.

Baseball is clearly doing what they can to reach a younger audience. In addition to the game, they also intertwined YouTube creators Rhett and Link, who threw out the first pitch and spent time in the commentary booth during the game.

Now if they could just let us easily stream games on MASN without going to a dicey, legally-ambiguous streaming site.

Links & Notes

Tigers, Orioles Give Meaning to Meaningless September Baseball - SI.com
As far as many of us at this site are concerned, baseball is a lot like pizza. Even when its bad, it’s still pretty good baseball. The same holds true here. A 100-loss Orioles team is better than no Orioles team at all.

Two O’s are Baseball America classification All-Stars - Steve Melewski
It was a nice season for the Orioles minor league system, especially in the pitching department. Zac Lowther and Grayson Rodriguez kept the good vibes going by being named an All-Star by Baseball America. Get hype!

Hyde continues to experiment with Oriole starters; Hanhold waits until ’20; Britton joins club - Baltimore Baseball
I’m sure this isn’t the first time the Orioles have cycled minor league coaches up to the big leagues down the final stretch, but the news that they had Norfolk manager Gary Kendall up for a few weeks and will now be doing the same with Bowie skipper Buck Britton struck me as pretty neat. The players aren’t the only ones being groomed for the next level.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

Just one former Oriole has a birthday on this day. Harvey Haddix (b. 1925, d. 1994) was a left-handed pitcher on the 1964 and ‘65 teams. During those seasons, the hurler went 8-7 with a 2.63 ERA and 111 strikeouts in 123.1 innings of work.

1976 - Cleveland Indians player-manager Frank Robinson, in his last major league at-bat, registers a pinch hit single against the Orioles.

2012 - Taylor Teagarden comes up clutch with an 18th inning single, giving the Orioles a 4-2 win over the Seattle Mariners. The victory puts the O’s into first place in the AL East