Thanksgiving Day Bird Droppings: An Orioles roster move in time for the holiday

Hello, friends.

There are now 127 days remaining until the currently scheduled Orioles Opening Day 2021. We can all hope that is able to happen as scheduled. Three months and one day from today, the O’s are scheduled to play their first exhibition game of the spring training season.

For most of us, the year 2020 is not going to go down as the greatest year ever, or anywhere near the top. The lucky ones among us have spent the year in a state of heightened anxiety over the health of family and friends, who prudence dictated we should see less or not at all. Many people wondered when the pandemic’s economic disruption would come for their job, or if it did come for their job, what could they do about it.

Millions have gotten sick, a quarter of a million have died, and that’s just in this country so far. More will be coming as fall turns to winter and as the calendar turns over to 2021.

It is not a year that has offered much to be thankful for, which is all the more reason to be thankful for what we are fortunate enough to still have. So I’d like to say thank you to all of the Camden Chat readers who stuck with us through the pandemic’s baseball hiatus and the shortened season and all of the craziness.

I spent a lot of the spring wondering if the bigwigs at SB Nation would just pull the plug on sites like this, and all the people who kept reading here (and our sister sites) helped make sure all of us can keep on doing this thing. So, really: Thank you. And here’s hoping that 2021 brings better things for the world, and after it’s taken care of that, if it wants to bring some better things for our favorite baseball team, the Orioles, well, I sure wouldn’t object to that.

Around the blogO’sphere

The Orioles did sneak in a little bit of roster business on Wednesday afternoon after you may have already checked out for holiday weekend mode. The team announced that first baseman Chris Shaw was claimed on waivers from the Giants. In the same move, the Orioles designated Thomas Eshelman for assignment. The O’s also announced that Renato Nunez cleared waivers and has been released.

Shaw, a former late first round pick in 2015, has batted .153/.244/.222 in 82 plate appearances at the MLB level. Not too exciting, but the lefty batter did hit 28 homers in 128 minor league games in 2019. If he shows something in spring training, he might hang around. Or he might not even make it to the start of spring training on the roster.

Talking O’s farm with Jonathan Mayo (Steve Melewski)
This one is from Monday, but Thanksgiving seemed like a good day to re-read an analyst who thinks Adley Rutschman could be in Baltimore by the All-Star Break.

Newest members of Orioles roster see growth in 2020 despite lost minor league season (Baltimore Sun)
Positive quotes don’t mean much until we get a chance to see results, but for now at least, it’s encouraging that the team’s prospects themselves feel like they had an opportunity to grow in the strange circumstances of 2020.

Projecting Richie Martin’s role on the 2021 Orioles (Baltimore Baseball)
My projection is that Martin will be in Norfolk unless Jose Iglesias gets hurt or is traded.

O’s prospects Bannon, Lowther have history (Orioles.com)
Rylan Bannon and Zac Lowther were college teammates at Xavier, then became Orioles minor league teammates after Bannon was acquired in the Manny Machado trade. It’ll be fun if they’re both around on the Orioles for several years.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

There are a pair of former Orioles who will be celebrating birthdays on this Thanksgiving Day. They are: 2000-07 pitcher John Parrish, and 1993 second baseman Harold Reynolds.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: college namesake John Harvard (1607), air conditioning inventor Willis Carrier (1876), McDonald’s co-founder Maurice McDonald (1902), Peanuts creator Charles Schulz (1922), novelist Marilynne Robinson (1943), and rapper DJ Khaled (1975).

On this day in history...

In 1476, Vlad the Impaler defeated the army of Basarab Laiota, with the help of a couple of guys named Stephen, to become the ruler of Wallachia for the third time.

In 1789, the United States celebrated a Thanksgiving Day, following a proclamation made by President George Washington at the request of Congress.

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that Thanksgiving should be celebrated annually on the final Thursday in November; since 1942, this has been modified to be the fourth Thursday in November.

In 1917, the National Hockey League was formed. Its five initial teams included three in Quebec. All were Canada-based.

In 1942, Casablanca premiered in New York City.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on November 26. Have a safe Thanskgiving.