Monday Bird Droppings: A half-season MLB plan emerges

Hello, friends.

In the parallel universe where everything is like this one except that there is no coronavirus and there were no rain postponements, the Orioles would have played 40 games by now. Today would be the start of a three-game home series against the Indians. Instead, well, you know.

The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported over the weekend that a plan for 2020 MLB action has taken shape enough that it will probably be presented to ownership today, and then to the players on Tuesday. That’s a much more concrete step than any of the previous wild scenarios that were thrown around.

The one that’s now headed for the negotiating table, according to Rosenthal, would involve about half of a typical regular season’s worth of games, with a peculiar schedule in order to limit teams travel. Teams will only play their own division and opponents in the same division in the other league.

The Orioles would get the AL East and NL East. It’s likely the games would be played in their usual home stadiums, just that the stadiums would be empty. There would be seven postseason teams per league in this structure. I’m sure every projection system will still give the Orioles a 0.0% chance of making the playoffs.

It can’t be a guarantee that the players will just accept this proposal, since Rosenthal’s reporting indicates that ownership will be asking players to take a pay cut beyond what they’re already doing from the previous agreement to accept prorated 2020 salaries based on games played. I’d tell the owners to pound sand, but as I’m not in any danger of being offered an MLB contract, my opinion on the topic doesn’t matter much.

Around the blogO’sphere

Orioles players see silver lining in Mother’s Day at home during coronavirus shutdown (Baltimore Sun)
The typical baseball season for the typical player doesn’t provide for close proximity to mom on Mother’s Day. Some players are making the most of that unexpected situation.

Mom’s influence on Hays: Run fast and ditch gloves (Orioles.com)
Among the “players and their moms” content yesterday was the tidbit that Austin Hays’s mom pushed him to go for the no-gloves batting stance.

Few positive virus tests among MLB employees (ESPN)
Antibody tests for COVID-19 are one of the things on people’s minds right now. MLB team employees were at the center of a recent Stanford study that found a 0.7% rate for antibodies.

Long staying connected to his hitters during shutdown (School of Roch)
What’s a hitting coach to do during a pandemic? Check in with some guys sometimes. No, he doesn’t say who. I’ll go ahead and guess not Chris Davis.

Baseball’s a friend that never leaves you (Baltimore Baseball)
Over the weekend, Baltimore Baseball’s essay series featured a check-in from Chris Dachille, the recent WBAL TV sports producer who is recovering from Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Remembering no. 500 for Eddie Murray (Steve Melewski)
There’s no bad occasion to remember Murray doing something awesome in an Orioles uniform, even if it’s May and this particular awesome thing happened in September.

A little bit more bonus Mother’s Day-related content:

You can find a few more of these, including with top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez and his mom, on the Orioles Player Development’s Twitter account.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

There are several former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2003 reliever Kerry Ligtenberg, 2000 reserve outfielder Trent Hubbard, 1989 short-timer Mark Huismann, and 1957-65 pitcher Milt Pappas. The O’s traded Pappas to the Reds in the deal that brought Frank Robinson to Baltimore.

Is today your birthday? Your birthday buddies for today include: songwriter Irving Berlin (1888), baseball Hall of Famer Charlie Gehringer (1903), artist Salvador Dali (1904), and footballer Cam Newton (1989).

On this day in history...

In 1846, President James K. Polk delivered a message to Congress stating that “Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory, and shed American blood on American soil.” Congress declared war officially two days later, beginning the Mexican-American War.

In 1960, Nazi SS officer Adolf Eichmann was apprehended by Mossad agents in Argentina.

In 1973, charges against Daniel Ellsberg, who was responsible for disseminating the Pentagon Papers about the Vietnam War to the New York Times, were dismissed.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on May 11. Have a safe Monday.