Thursday Bird Droppings: It’s almost Memorial Day and no one knows anything

Hello, friends.

In the parallel universe where there was no coronavirus and there have been no rain postponements, the Orioles would have played in 49 games by now. On the schedule today was the start of a series in Toronto against the Blue Jays. Instead, well, you know.

We’re only a day removed from Memorial Day weekend here in the United States and there’s still no real sense of when there will be baseball. It’s not the biggest problem facing humanity or the country right now by any means, which I try to keep in mind when I get bummed about not being able to watch the Orioles.

Still, it’s tough. That’s part of my usual routine - without even getting into that it’s why my bank account gets money - and it’s not there. I’m trying to get by the same as everyone else is. The players should not have to play in unsafe conditions, or for unfair salaries, just to make people feel like life is a bit closer to normal. I’ll just be happy when they’re able to be playing again.

In the meantime, there are assorted imaginary versions of the Orioles simulating baseball action. The O’s of the Baseball Reference Out of the Park Baseball sim dropped a 6-2 game to the Twins yesterday, after some eighth inning bullpen chicanery initiated by Miguel Castro put them in a four run hole.

DJ Stewart and Austin Hays went back-to-back in the sixth to score the only O’s runs. Hays now has 12 homers in the sim season. These O’s are 18-31 and only one team has a worse record than they do.

The Camden Chat 2020 OOTP sim is now caught up to real time. Check back on the site later in the morning for an update on our collective “What would Mike Elias do?” sim. We’ve got a better record than the B-Ref sim does, for now, so go Camden Chat readers!

Around the blogO’sphere

Limited clarity to a proposed 2020 season (School of Roch)
You probably haven’t spent much time wondering what would happen with press box dining in a 2020 season, but it’s on Roch’s list of things to think about. It’s far down the list, to be fair.

Orioles Fan Survey, Part 1: Confidence in the team (The Athletic)
Fans are a lot more confident in Mike Elias’s plan than they are in the Angelos ownership of the team - go figure. They are the most confident of all of the Orioles still being in Baltimore in 2030.

The biggest losers in a seasonless season (Fangraphs)
The Orioles make an appearance on this list and you probably already know why: There not being much or any of a minor league season is a big bummer for a rebuilding team.

Could these players debut if the 2020 season is played? (Steve Melewski)
Steve is wondering about Ryan Mountcastle, Keegan Akin, and Dean Kremer. I’d be happy to see any of those guys playing for the Orioles in 2020.

Dream Bracket 2: 1970, 1983 O’s to compete (Orioles.com)
The best Orioles team of all time didn’t last too long in the last MLB-organized “Dream Bracket” - but perhaps one of their two most recent World Series-winning teams will get somewhere in a 64-team tournament starting today.

Every AL team’s best player not in the Hall of Fame - and should he get in? (ESPN)
Jay Jaffe pops up on ESPN to see who isn’t in from each team and who should be in. The greatest Oriole not in the Hall in his estimation is Bobby Grich, who he thinks should be in. Maybe some day.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

There are a handful of former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2016-19 outfielder Joey Rickard, 2009-16 catcher Matt Wieters, 2014 reliever Andrew Miller, 1999 five-gamer Tommy Davis, and 2006 nine-game catcher Chris Widger.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: painter Henri Rousseau (1844), Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox (1941), fool pitier Mr. T (1952), rapper The Notorious B.I.G. (1972), and cyclist Mark Cavendish (1985).

On this day in history...

In 1856, the town of Lawrence, Kansas, which had been founded by anti-slavery activists, was captured and burned by pro-slavery invaders.

In 1881, Clara Barton established the American Red Cross in Washington, DC.

In 1927, Charles Lindbergh completed the world’s first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean when he touched down in Paris, 33.5 hours after taking off from New York.

In 1932, Amelia Earhart, making the first solo flight across the Atlantic by a woman, landed in a pasture in Northern Ireland due to bad weather. Since she did cross the ocean, even if she didn’t mean to land in the field, it still counts.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on May 21. Have a safe Thursday.