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Happy Monday, Camden Chatters! I hope you had a nice weekend and got to watch all three wins that the Orioles secured against the Rays. After getting zero sweeps while playing a full season in 2019, the surprising Orioles only needed three series in 2020 to do so.
The Rays were expected to come into Baltimore and steamroll the opposition, but instead the Orioles got good pitching and timely hitting, and we even got to see the adorable spectacle of a socially distanced walk-off celebration. Things continue to be weird in both the baseball and real world in 2020, but this weekend of Orioles baseball was a refreshing break from reality.
Speaking of baseball weirdness, the Marlins are coming to town. They haven’t played a game in over a week due to their COVID outbreak, but they have been given the all clear and the Orioles will play four games against them in three days starting tomorrow. Here are some weird facts about that:
- The series will feature a doubleheader, but the day of said doubleheader has yet to be announced. And each game of the doubleheader will only be seven innings.
- None of the game start times have been announced, either. In fact, this series isn’t even listed on the Orioles schedule as of Sunday night.
- While all four games will be played at Camden Yards, two of them will be home games for the Marlins.
- The Orioles and Marlins will have to work around Hurricane Isaias, which is set to hit Maryland on Tuesday.
I keep thinking that baseball is going to have to hang it up for the season. Thankfully the Phillies didn’t seem to be affected by playing the Marlins as their outbreak was flaring up, but now there has also been an outbreak on the Cardinals. How much longer can this go on? I don’t know the answer, but I do hope that the Orioles keep winning for as long as it does. It’s a nice distraction in today’s world.
Links
Even if the Orioles keep winning, Mike Elias might keep trading - Baltimore Sun
This was written before the Orioles completed the sweep of the Rays yesterday, but Jon Meoli's point stands. I'll enjoy the winning in this abbreviated season for as long as it (the winning and the season) lasts. But I don't expect it to alter any of the long term plans.
A look at Tommy Milone's outing as O's sweep Tampa Bay - Steve Melewski
Uh, did you guys see how Tommy Milone pitched yesterday? It was certainly not what I expected. Steve Melewski has the breakdown on Milone's impressive performance.
Top 10 moments in Jim Palmer’s HOF career - MLB.com
Have you missed Jim Palmer on this year’s broadcasts? Me too! His brief pop ins via Zoom just aren’t the same. None of his top 10 moments are from his time as a broadcaster, but this is a fun read all the same.
Marlins forced to make roster moves during COVID-19 outbreak; here are the pitchers Miami has added - CBSSports.com
This isn’t really Orioles-specific, but i just find it kind of nuts that the Marlins had to trade for or claim on waivers four relief pitchers (including Richard Bleier) in the last week. 2020 is truly the weirdest year of them all.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have two Orioles birthday buddies. Dick Hyde had a six-year major league career that ended in 1961 when he appeared in 15 games for the Orioles. Today would have been his 92nd birthday, however he passed away on April 15th. And it’s the 37th birthday of Mark Reynolds, who hit 60 home runs for the Orioles from 2011-12.
On this day in baseball history, via Baseball Reference:
- In 1937, Yankee Lou Gerhig played in his 1900th consecutive game.
- In 1939, Joe Sprinz, who plays for the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League, attempted to set an altitude record by catching a ball dropped 800 feet from a blimp. As you might expect, this didn’t go so well. Sprinz broke his jaw and lost several teeth when the ball hit him in the face. Also, it was his birthday!
- In 1970, the Orioles defeated the Kansas City Royals for the 23rd straight time in two years. At the time that was a major league record, but I’m not sure if it still stands. I am sure that the Orioles have currently lost 18 straight games to the Yankees so they could pass that mark this year.