Monday Bird Droppings: Where Trey Mancini is back! And got a hit!

Happy Monday, Camden Chatters! Spring training baseball is here! The Orioles played their first game yesterday, a 6-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The big news of the game was, of course, the return of Trey Mancini. You can check the link below to see video of his first at bat.

After missing the entire 2020 season while being treated for colon cancer, Mancini is by all accounts healthy and ready to go. We all know the Orioles will be terrible this year, but if I get to watch a full season of Trey Mancini being healthy and productive, that will be enough for me.

The spring training Orioles are back in action today on the road against the Phillies. While MASN has not announced any televised spring games, if you have mlb.tv you will be able to see the team play via the Phillies feed, or you could choose to listen to the Phillies’ radio feed. To find a full list of when and where you can see or listen to the Orioles this spring, check out Mark’s story from yesterday.

The starting pitcher for today’s game against the Phillies is Jorge Lopez, and you can also expect to see Shawn Armstrong, Evan Phillips, Zac Lowther, Max Sceroler, and Tyler Wells.

Links

Mancini: Ovation ‘meant the world to me’ - MLB.com
Trey Mancini got a standing ovation from both dugouts and the small crowd, then followed it with a single in his first at-bat in a year. Click through to see of both the hit and Trey’s postgame interview. It makes me really happy.

Five things to watch as Orioles begin spring training games - Baltimore Sun
This published before yesterday's first spring training game, but Jon Meoli's things to watch still apply. I look forward to the day when we don't have to read about Chris Davis anymore.

Vi Ripken, matriarch of Orioles family, dies at age 82 - Baltimore Sun
Sad news in Birdland as the mother of Billy and Cal Ripken, Vi Ripken, has passed away. The Sun has a remembrance of her life.

Wrapping up Orioles' 6-4 loss in exhibition opener - School of Roch
Roch has the game details if you want them, including a beauty of a homer from Yusniel Díaz, seen below.

Birthdays and History

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have four Orioles birthday buddies, none of whom spent more than one season with the team.

Omar Daal (49) had an 11-season major league career, finishing with 19 games for the 2003 Orioles. Larry Brown (81) played in a total of 1129 MLB games, but just 17 came with the 1973 Orioles. Bert Hamric (b. 1928, d. 1984), went 1-for-8 in eight games for the Orioles in 1958. And Howie Fox (b. 1921, d. 1955) pitched 38 games in relief for the Orioles in 1954.

Howie Fox was just 33 years old when he played for the Orioles, and just one year later he met an untimely end. He spent 1955 as a player-coach with the San Antonio Missions, at the time a double-A team for the Orioles. In the fall of 1955 he opened a bar in San Antonio. When dealing with some troublemaking patrons, Fox was stabbed three times and died. You can read Howie Fox’s full story at SABR.org.