Friday Bird Droppings: Waiting for labor talks to resume

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

It’s been a relatively busy week for baseball, what with Tuesday’s controversial Hall of Fame announcement — in which only David Ortiz was voted in, while all-time greats Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens fell off the ballot for good — and a flurry of activity in MLB labor talks. MLB and the MLBPA held face-to-face negotiations both Monday and Tuesday that saw a bit of movement toward common ground and, hopefully, a path to a new collective bargaining agreement sooner rather than later.

There have been no publicly reported discussions between the two sides since then, though the sides reportedly will talk again sometime next week. At this point it seems extremely likely there will be a delayed start to spring training, as pitchers and catchers are supposed to report to camp in just over two weeks. Whether a delayed start to spring training will become a delayed start to the regular season is a question yet to be answered.

While we play the waiting game, what do you say you kill a few minutes of your time by taking today’s Camden Chat Sporcle quiz? Can you name the select group of guys who have both played for and coached (or managed) the Orioles? There are 25 in all, including some obvious ones and some much more obscure. Good luck!

Links

O’s 2022 rotation candidate: lefty Zac Lowther - Steve Melewski
“Candidate”? Heck, with the Orioles’ rotation as thin as it is, Lowther could be their #2 starter.

This, that and the other - School of Roch

Orioles’ minor league hires have interesting backgrounds - BaltimoreBaseball.com
Both Roch Kubatko and Rich Dubroff pore through some interesting tidbits about the Orioles’ recently announced minor league coaches, including one who was hired from the high school ranks, one who was a member of the “Why Not?” Orioles, two who are former O’s farmhands, and one who has a degree in Actuarial Science. It’s a diverse group.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Only one Oriole in history was born on this date, and he appeared in just two games with the Birds: 2015 left-hander Wesley Wright (37).

On this day in 1982, the Orioles made a trade they’d probably like to have back, sending Doug DeCinces to the Angels for “Disco” Dan Ford. DeCinces, an Orioles Hall of Famer, had capably replaced legend Brooks Robinson as a reliable third baseman for years, but was deemed expendable with Cal Ripken Jr. seemingly ready to take the mantle. But Cal shifted to shortstop soon after, and the O’s cycled through a revolving door of third basemen while DeCinces put up an MVP-caliber year in ’82 and an All-Star campaign in ’83 for the Angels.