Wednesday Bird Droppings: The craziest day of playoff baseball ever

Good morning Birdland,

Well, the playoffs started yesterday and they were, from a neutral’s perspective, kinda lame. The only game that ever actually felt close was the opener between the Twins and Astros, but even that was sullied by a lethargic Twins offense.

Luckily for all of us, there will be plenty of opportunities for exciting baseball today. Why? Well, because for the first time in MLB history, there will be eight (count ‘em EIGHT) playoff games in a single day. From noon until well after midnight there will be postseason action available on your TV or preferred streaming device.

Now, there is the possibility of lightning striking twice here. If the Astros, White Sox, Rays and Yankees all lose on Wednesday, then we will have another day of eight playoff games on Thursday! So, please, root for chaos.

We can all root for that chaos together in our open thread for the games, which will be posted later today. Keep your eyes peeled.

Links & Notes

Five things we learned from the O’s pandemic-shortened 2020 season - Baltimore Sun
There is a good tidbit in here about the Orioles moving on from “rebuild players” when a suitable replacement is ready. It will be interesting to see where on the diamond that occurs next. Somewhere on the infield feels the most susceptible, but obvious usurpers aren’t apparent just yet.

Giving Orioles the business now that season ended - School of Roch
How busy will the Orioles be this offseason? My guess would be very, but not with major moves. Waiver claims will abound, and you may see a trade of a guy like Renato Nunez or perhaps Alex Cobb. But for the most part the O’s could be in a holding pattern on big transactions due to a lack of big league assets worth unloading.

Orioles show progress in second year of rebuild under Elias - Yahoo! Sports
This was a good season for the Orioles. A playoff run would have been neat, but ultimately unhelpful to the longterm goals of the organization. Mike Elias was able to strike a balance between competent baseball and staying the course.

Orioles 2020 Recap - Eutaw Street Report
The retrospectives of these Orioles continues. They won’t go down as one of the club’s best teams or even a version of “loveable losers.” But they were fun to watch, and it marks the season that glimpses of a brighter future began to emerge.

Orioles birthday

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

Seth Smith turns 38. The outfielder wrapped up his 11-season MLB career with a 2017 spent in Baltimore. Over 111 games, Smith hit .258/.340/.433 with 13 home runs and a 108 OPS+, a strong finish to what was a steady stint in the bigs.

Curtis Goodwin is turning 48. He began his career with the 1995 O’s, slashing .263/.301/.332 with one home run, 22 stolen bases and a 64 OPS+ over 87 games. The centerfielder was more valuable on defense, where he had a 0.6 dWAR that season.

Yorkis Perez is 53 years old today. The southpaw appeared in 23 games for the 2002 O’s, tossing 27.1 innings while allowing 10 earned runs and striking out 25 batters.

John DeSilva is also celebrating his 53rd birthday. He spent just two games with the Orioles, both in 1995, when he gave up seven runs in 8.2 innings of work.

Finally, it is the birthday of late Hall of Famer Robin Roberts (b. 1926, d. 2010). The right-handed pitcher is best known for his years spent with the Philles at the start of his career. But, he posted an impressive 3.09 ERA over 761.1 total innings to go with a 115 ERA+ and 1.145 WHIP while with the Orioles from 1962 through 1965.

Orioles history

1989 - The playoff dreams of the “Why Not” Orioles come to an end as they lose 4-3 to the AL East rival Blue Jays in the second-to-last game of the season.

2012 - The Orioles clinch a spot in the playoffs. This will be their first trip to the postseason since 1997.