Wednesday Bird Droppings: Where no one knows when the season will start

Good morning, Birdland!

Did you all see the bit of drama on “Baseball Twitter” yesterday? Hoo boy!

Let’s start with the non-Orioles stuff. Former Twins slugger, and current member of Jomboy Media, Trevor Plouffe said on Twitter that he is hearing that MLB is planning to re-start spring training on June 10th and then get the season underway on July 1st.

Keith Law, a seasoned baseball reporter with likely hundreds of contacts within the game provided what he knows about the situation, which is that Plouffe’s report is untrue.

And that is where it could have stopped. Plouffe tweeted something that he possibly thought to be true, and a reporter followed up to say “Nah, that’s not happening.” But of course, that isn’t how social media works. Someone always needs to go one step further.

In this case, we won’t mention who that person is because he doesn’t deserve the pub. Let’s just say that all of the Orioles beat reporters, both current and former, don’t care for this person due to a track record of plagiarizing and lying.

Anyway, this person chimed in to basically say that Law was in the wrong for saying Plouffe’s claim was false, which is, of course, ridiculous. Law may not be a typical beat reporter, but it is still his job to pipe up when something big like the return of the currently postponed baseball season is up for debate. You could argue that his tone is a bit dismissive, but that is Law’s style. If you don’t know that by now then you aren’t paying attention.

The guy has since deleted his tweet, but not befor The Athletic’s Britt Ghiroli, who used to serve as the Orioles reporter for MLB.com, decided to bury the guy.

Without Orioles baseball to watch this certainly kept me entertained for an evening.

Links & Notes

From player to coach: Collin Woody makes transition on O’s farm - Steve Melewski
It is not out of the ordinary to see former professional players make the transition to coaching. In fact, it’s almost expected. However, it is interesting to see a player going from trying to make a team in an organization to immediately to being asked if he would consider coaching in that same organization.

More questions that linger during the shutdown - School of Roch
Roch knows a lot about the inner workings of the Orioles, but even he has no clue about when MLB games will be back in our lives. And once the games are back, what will the structure of the big leagues and the minor leagues look like? So is life in the time of a pandemic.

Mancini has furry workout buddy amid recovery - MLB.com
Most Orioles fans love two things: Trey Mancini and puppies. Well, you get both here! I also did not know Mancini was dating former MASN sideline reporter Sara Perlman, so that’s kinda neat. Also, Mancini is wearing a Dunder Mifflin shirt. Can this guy be any more likeable?

Jim Callis projects Orioles’ options for 2020 draft - Baltimore Baseball
Reading draft news is like a breath of fresh air these days. It’s an aspect of the game that I still don’t know much about, and the Orioles recent revamp has put a reinforced emphasis on the process of getting top talent.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

It is the 33rd birthday of outfielder Gerardo Parra, who spent 55 disastrous games with the 2015 Orioles. The O’s acquired Parra from the Milwaukee Brewers at the trade deadline in exchange for pitching prospect Zach Davies. Parra batted .237/.268/.357 and posted a -0.7 bWAR as an Orioles while Davies has gone on to be a serviceable starter worth 8.1 wins in parts of five big league seasons.

Mike Kinkade is 47. The outfielder/first baseman was part of the package, along with Melvin Mora and others, that the O’s received from the New York Mets in exchange for shortstop Mike Bordick at the 2000 trade deadline. Kinkade would play in 64 unremarkable games for the Orioles between 2000 and 2001 before being released.

Former left-handed pitcher Tom Bolton turns 58 today. The longtime Boston Red Sox hurler wrapped up his eight-year big league career with a 22-game stop in Baltimore during the 1994 campaign.

Finally, happy 86th birthday to Hagerstown, Maryland’s own Leo Burke. The utility-man started his career with two cups of coffee with the Orioles: seven games in 1958 and five games in 1959. He would go on to bounce around four different organizations before his run in the majors ended in 1965.

1974 - The Orioles beat the Athletics 6-3 as A’s pitcher Paul Lindbald ends his major league record of 385 straight games without committing an error.

2012 - One of the most iconic games in recent Orioles history. The O’s and Red Sox play 17 innings and each have to turn to position players on the mound. Chris Davis, originally that day’s DH, tosses two scoreless innings and strikes out Adrian Gonzalez. Adam Jones homers off of outfielder Darnell McDonald and the Orioles win 9-6. This game marks the first time that both teams used a position player to pitch since October 4, 1925.