Monday Bird Droppings: Kyle Gibson is 36 today

Happy Monday, Camden Chatters. I hope you had a nice fall weekend. Once the rain cleared up here in central Maryland, it was lovely weather.

The League Championships had some exciting moments over the weekend and they are still going. On Friday night, both the Phillies and Rangers blew leads late to lose their respective games. Jose Altuve hit a three-run home run in the ninth inning to lead the Astros to victory over the Rangers.

With their backs to the wall, the Rangers came up big last night with a 9-2 win that included five ninth-inning runs. That means tonight is game seven with the winner going to the World Series.

For the Phillies, closer Craig Kimbrel continued to struggle. He gave up three runs to the Diamondbacks on Friday to allow the D-Backs to even the series at two games apiece. But the Phillies bounced back for a big win on Saturday that featured more home runs from Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber and Harper stole home, the most exciting play in baseball. That’s where the series stands now with game six in Philadelphia tonight and the Phillies holding a 3-2 series lead.

There is nothing going on with the Orioles, of course. Until the World Series is over, all we can do is stew on what happened and ruminate on what will come. We’ll have to continue to wait, and in the meantime, you can check out our minor league and major league player reviews here on CC. Up today will be Justin Armbruester and Shintaro Fujinami.

Links

Reviewing some of the rights and wrongs in 2023 - MASN Sports
Because there is really nothing else to talk about, Roch Kubatko revisits some of his pre-season thoughts and what he got right (and wrong).

Commentary: Camden Yards lease agreement casts aside decades of good work - The Baltimore Banner
The former chairperson of the Maryland Stadium Authority has some thoughts on what is happening with the new stadium deal. The source isn’t unbiased, but it doesn’t sound great.

Orioles’ John Means looking forward to ‘normal’ offseason, spring training after return from Tommy John surgery
This one is a few days old but it'll be nice to have John Means back for a full season next year.

Birthdays and History

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have two Orioles birthday buddies, including 2023 starting pitcher Kyle Gibson. Gibson, who made 33 starts for the team this year, is turning 36. He is still technically a current Oriole, but that should end shortly after the World Series ends.

Also born on this day is Vern Stephens (b. 1920, d. 1968), who played in 101 games for the inaugural 1954 Orioles and three games for them in 1955 before he was released in mid-April. Stephens was an infielder who had a 15-season career with eight All-Star appearances.