Saturday Bird Droppings: With Christmas past, a new year approaches

Hello, friends.

There are now 97 days remaining until the next scheduled Orioles game, which is Orioles Opening Day 2021. In two months and one day, the O’s are scheduled to begin their Grapefruit League schedule. Some time between then and now we’ll have a clearer idea of whether baseball following its traditional timetable for a season will work out differently in 2021 than it did in 2020.

One fun thing for a baseball fan is that once Christmas is in the rear view mirror, you’re not far off from a new year, and once it’s a new year, you’re not that far off from the start of spring training and baseball being back.

It’s hard to summon this same feeling as 2020 heads towards 2021 since everything has felt so different. Many of the usual markers of the passage of time did not occur or had to occur in significantly different forms. It never felt like Christmas could be almost here because there was not the usual Thanksgiving, and when it was Thanksgiving it didn’t feel like that time because my family didn’t get to have a big group November birthday dinner.

Hopefully nothing happens to keep the Orioles from returning when they are currently expected to return. If the start of spring training ends up being delayed until vaccines are available for players, the start of the season would probably end up being delayed as well. There is no point in worrying about this for the time being because it’s a long way off and there’s nothing any of us can do about it, but it is something to keep in mind.

There probably will not be many changes to the Orioles roster between now and whenever all of that happens. They will presumably bring in a shortstop at some point. Maybe there are more minor league signings to come. It’s good to have depth in case somebody gets hurt, or multiple somebodies get hurt.

Around the blogO’sphere

Christmas list of reasons to be happy (School of Roch)
Roch’s got a lot he likes about the Orioles right now, but he wants to make sure absolutely no one gets their hopes up about the Orioles signing George Springer.

Mansolino joins O’s as 3B coach (Orioles.com)
The one remaining vacancy on the Orioles coaching staff has been filled, according to reports.

Holiday wishes for the Orioles and their fans (Baltimore Baseball)
This list is a lot more thorough than I expected, with even Bruce Zimmermann getting a little mention.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

The Orioles pulled off a trade on this day in 1995, swapping outfielder Curtis Goodwin for pitcher David Wells.

There are a few former Orioles who were born today. They are: 1982-86/92 pitcher Storm Davis, 1984-89 reserve Jim Traber, 1955-57 reserve infielder Wayne Causey, and 1963-67 pitcher Stu Miller.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: engineer Charles Babbage (1791), author Henry Miller (1891), TV host John Walsh (1945), baseball Hall of Famers Carlton Fisk (1947) and Ozzie Smith (1954), and Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich (1963).

On this day in history...

In 1776, following George Washington’s famed crossing of the Delaware, the Continental Army defeated the Hessian defenders in the Battle of Trenton.

In 1919, Babe Ruth was sold by the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees. This was thought to mark the beginning of the Curse of the Bambino.

In 1944, the US Third Army, under the command of General Patton, broke through the encirclement of Bastogne, Belgium.

In 1963, The Beatles singles “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and “I Saw Her Standing There” were released in the United States.

In 1991, the Soviet Union was formally dissolved, marking an end to the Cold War.

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