Tuesday Bird Droppings: The Orioles’ postseason conquerors continue to roll

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

If you can stomach watching postseason baseball after the Orioles’ untimely elimination — and nobody would blame you if you can’t — the two League Championship Series delivered a couple of tense, hard-fought games last night. That included the opener of the NLCS in Philadelphia, in which the Phillies continued to mash dingers in a 5-3 win over the Diamondbacks.

In the ALCS, meanwhile, the apparently unstoppable Texas Rangers continue to dominate all comers, winning in Houston for the second straight night to take a 2-0 series lead home to Arlington. The Rangers are looking like a team of destiny right now, or at least a club that got scalding hot at exactly the right time. They’re now a perfect 7-0 in these playoffs, tied for the second-longest win streak to open a postseason in MLB history.

I will say that I’m not feeling quite as salty about the Orioles’ hasty exit after seeing how the Rangers have similarly trounced their other competitors. They swept the 99-win Rays in two games, swept the 101-win Orioles in three, and now have a commanding lead on the defending champion Astros, who are playing in their seventh straight ALCS. If the Rangers advance to the World Series, they most certainly will have earned it. Good for them, I suppose. I’m not exactly rooting for them, but I hold no particular ill will toward them, either. Except that they love listening to Creed, which is simply unacceptable.

As the Orioles-less postseason rolls on, do you have a particular favorite, Camden Chatters?

Links

Because You Asked - High Voltage - School of Roch
Roch Kubatko addresses questions on everything from the Orioles’ payroll to the Orlando Arcia controversy to the correct usage of “a” or “an” before “historic.” I’m on team “a historic.”

DL Hall got his fastball back midsummer and later had the results to prove it - Steve Melewski
Gonna be honest — when the O’s jettisoned DL Hall to the Florida Complex League in the middle of the year, I was starting to give up on him ever becoming a useful major league player. It took him only a few weeks to prove me utterly wrong.

Mullins focuses on rebounding from injury-plagued 2023; Ciolek leaves Orioles for Nationals - BaltimoreBaseball.com
Cedric Mullins’ offensive decline was one of the few disappointments of the Orioles’ 2023 season. Hopefully his struggles can just be chalked up to his nagging injuries and he’ll come back strong in 2024.

5 Baltimore Orioles prospects who should debut in 2024 - Birds Watcher
If you thought this year’s rookie class for the Orioles was impressive, just wait until you see who’s coming next year.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Four ex-Orioles were born on this day: infielder Hanser Alberto (31), right-hander Ken Dixon (63), catcher Jim Hutto (76), and the late infielder Kelly Paris (b. 1957, d. 2019).

October 17 is the latest calendar date on which the Orioles have ever played a game. It’s happened twice, in 1971 and 1979. Both were Game 7 of the World Series. Both were against the Pirates. And frankly I’d rather not say anything more about them. I’m sure you understand.