Christmas Bird Droppings: Where we could use a better pitching staff from Santa

Hello, friends. Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!

Christmas is not a day known for breaking news in Birdland, even during years where the team was good and wanted to believe it would be good again the next year. 2021 was not such a year, and on top of that, with an ongoing MLB owner lockout, the very slim, theoretically existent chance of some kind of move practically vanishes. This is good news for anyone whose job it is to write about the team. I can relax!

My own Christmas plans were thrown into disarray yesterday morning when I found out there are some sick family members, so it’s looking like Christmas will involve a bit less in person time with family than I’d hoped. Camden Chat colleague Paul is dealing with a mild case of COVID and reduced personnel for Christmas. I’m sure we’re not the only families out there with one more holiday disrupted before we get this pandemic fully in the rear view mirror.

If you’re out there today experiencing this same sort of circumstance, I hope you can make the most of it. COVID has taken a lot from a lot of people and it’s determined to knock one more Christmas out of whack. There won’t be much in the way of thanks to any of you for trying to do the right thing, just like there’s been scarce thanks for that over the last 21 months (good grief) but let me offer my meager appreciation all the same: Thank you, and Merry Christmas once again.

Around the blogO’sphere

There’s nothing new to talk about right now, okay? Come back on Monday and we can find out together what the last couple of days and the next couple of days brought for vaguely Orioles-related stories.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

There are a few former Orioles who were born on Christmas. They are: 1985-86 reserve infielder Tom O’Malley, 1956-58 pitcher Charlie Beamon, and 1954 reliever Mike Blyzka.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your Christmas birthday buddies include: science pioneer Sir Isaac Newton (1642), American Red Cross founder Clara Barton (1821), Chevrolet co-founder Louis Chevrolet (1878), actor Humphrey Bogart (1899), jazz man Cab Calloway (1907), musician Jimmy Buffett (1946), and baseball Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson (1958).

On this day in history...

In 336, the earliest documented Christmas celebration in Rome took place.

A variety of kings and emperors chose to have their coronations, including Charlemagne (800), William of Normandy (1066), and Roger of Sicily (1130).

In 1758, astronomer Johann Georg Palitzsch caught sight of a comet. The comet’s arrival had been predicted by Edmund Halley, who died in 1742 and did not see its return. This was the first predicted comet arrival in history. Halley’s Comet will be back in 2061.

In 1776, George Washington led the Continental Army across the Delaware River, leading to the following day’s Battle of Trenton, a critical early American victory in the Revolutionary War.

In 1968, the astronauts of Apollo 8 performed the Trans-Earth Injection maneuver, using the lunar orbit to launch back towards Earth. Theirs was the first mission to require a TEI and they accomplished it for a successful return home.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on Christmas Day. Enjoy it safely!