Monday Bird Droppings: The last 3+ MLB game day of the season

Hello, friends.

There are still more than five and a half months to go until the next scheduled Orioles game that counts in the standings. Not much happening in Birdland right now, unless you count yesterday’s promotion for 2022 season ticket holders who’d paid for their plans by the end of September: Swing For Your Seats.

The gimmick, if you had not heard, was that fans got three pitches to try to get a home run, and if anyone hit a home run, their tickets would be free for next year. Did anyone hit a home run? Well, no. It turns out it’s very hard to hit a baseball, especially for people who aren’t professional baseball players.

Camden Chat was well represented, however, as my predecessor Stacey made contact on her first swing to get a solid ground ball down the line. This did not win any prizes, but it was more than respectable, considering how long I sat in the crowd watching more than a hundred people take some swings, most of whom just swung and missed at three pitches. My fiancee, who’s been a ticket holder way longer than me, also got the bat on a ball. I am proud of both of them.

At the time we left, there had been eleven prize winners, most of whom won a basket of past giveaway items. Everyone who took swings seemed to have fun. The Orioles should probably come up with more occasions where fans can get to pose in the dugout or even on the field.

For the rest of the baseball world, the postseason rolls on today. This is a day to be savored in the sense that it is the final day of the year in which three or more MLB games will be played.

Much to my dismay, the Red Sox stand on the precipice of advancing to the ALCS after walking off the Rays in 13 innings last night. The White Sox managed to stave off elimination last night, but are still at risk today with a loss to the Astros. In the National League, the two series are tied at a game a piece, so either Brewers-Braves or Giants-Dodgers will come away with a 2-1 lead. Games are staggered through the day, with the AL start times at 3:37 and 7:07 and NL starts at 1:07 and 9:37.

Enjoy as much of the day of baseball as you can, especially if you’ve got the federal holiday off, because the baseball-less winter will be upon us before we know it. My one prediction is that I will not be awake for the end of Giants-Dodgers.

Around the blogO’sphere

This is “The postseason is happening so it’s not even really the time for offseason news yet” time, which means that the MASN duo are the only people writing about the Orioles at all in the last few days.

This, that, and the other (School of Roch)
The Orioles had both the worst rotation ERA and the worst bullpen ERA in MLB. Talk about bad combinations.

Colton Cowser posted a .982 OPS in his first pro season (Steve Melewski)
I’m trying to keep myself from getting too excited about the Orioles top pick in the 2021 draft, but it’ll sure be fun if he plays well enough next year to go from Aberdeen to Bowie.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Today in 1971, the Orioles beat the Pirates in Game 2 of the World Series. The 11-3 win featured Brooks Robinson setting a World Series record by reaching base in five consecutive plate appearances.

In 2012, the Orioles played the longest game in their postseason history, taking 13 innings before beating the Yankees, 2-1, with J.J. Hardy’s double that drove in Manny Machado making the difference to send the series to a fifth and final game.

There are a few former Orioles with birthdays today. They are: 2009-10 infielder Ty Wigginton, 1988-93 closer Gregg Olson, 1968 reserve Mike Fiore, and 1956-60 catcher Joe Ginsberg.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: Russian general Grigory Potemkin (1739), Heinz founder Henry J. Heinz (1844), novelist Elmore Leonard (1925), actress Joan Cusack (1962), and rapper Cardi B (1992).

On this day in history...

In 1767, the surveying was completed for the Mason-Dixon line, which marked (and still marks) the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania.

In 1910, President Theodore Roosevelt went flying on a plane, making him the first US president to do this, though he wasn’t in office at the time, with his final term having closed out in 1909. He was flown around a St. Louis airfield by pilot Arch Hoxsey, a flight of about three miles in about three minutes.

In 1976, an act of Congress gave the posthumous promotion of George Washington to the rank of General of the Armies of the United States. By the same act, this rank has precedence over any other rank that has ever existed in the US Army.

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