Tuesday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles are missing out on fun stuff

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

Have you heard? There isn’t any baseball going on right now. Weird, right?

It’s now been 12 days since spring training was canceled and the 2020 MLB season was put on indefinite hiatus. Opening Day, which was to commence two days from now, is on hold, unlikely to occur until June at the earliest.

Having no regular season baseball is bad enough, but the Orioles also missed out on a wonderful event by having the remainder of their spring training schedule scrapped. This afternoon, the O’s were supposed to take on the New York Mets in an exhibition at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, with the crowd consisting mainly of Midshipmen and select members of the U.S. Navy. The game was to be preceded by O’s players and staff taking a tour of the Naval Academy facilities.

Suffice to say that would’ve been a memorable opportunity, both for the Orioles and the Midshipmen. Alas, like everything else, the event was scuttled by the coronavirus pandemic. The exhibition was a great idea, though, and one that hopefully the Orioles will get a chance to try again next year.

Links

Where O’s could look with the No. 2 pick in the draft - Steve Melewski
Melewski provides bios of five draft candidates who have separated themselves from the rest of the pack. One of these five players will likely be the Orioles’ pick, if and when the 2020 draft ever actually happens.

Reviewing the Orioles’ 40-man roster and upcoming decisions - School of Roch
O’s beat writers are thirsting for roster moves, which have been few and far between now that the team isn’t actually, you know, playing baseball. Roch Kubatko gives a reminder of what the current roster looks like and which spots still need to be decided.

Hot take: 5 best catchers in O’s history - Orioles.com
Joe Trezza ranks the best catchers in Orioles history, and you’ll see all the names you expect to see. Unless you’re expecting to see, like, Geronimo Gil.

Beltway March Madness: Crowning a champion athlete from our local pro teams – The Athletic
Dan Connolly has put together a March Madness-style bracket of the best players from Baltimore and D.C. pro sports history. And yet still no Geronimo Gil!

I am a Gold Glove, Silver Slugging , All-Star Professional Baseball, 5 *TOOL* Player – Adam L. Jones aka (アダムジョーンズ) – Show me what ya' got Reddit, AMA!!! : IAmA
Apparently I’m old now, because I cannot for the life of me figure out how to read a Reddit thread. But an Adam Jones Q&A is always a must read, and it doesn’t take long for his first use of the word “slapdick.”

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Two O’s pitchers from the earliest years of the franchise were born on this day: 1954 lefty Dick Kryhoski (b. 1925, d. 2007) and 1955 righty Saul Rogovin (b. 1922, d. 1995).

On this day in 2014, the O’s swung a trade at the end of spring training to acquire a utility man with local ties, Steve Lombardozzi, who attended Atholton High School in Columbia. Lombardozzi played 20 games for the Birds, posting a .626 OPS.