Sunday Bird Droppings: It’s been one week since the last Orioles win

Hello, friends.

There are now 25 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day. The number is currently in use by Anthony Santander. He’s got a couple more years to go to be the longest-tenured #25 in Orioles history, as Rich Dauer wore it from 1978 to 1985. (Dauer wore #44 in his first two seasons.) I hope Santander is in for a good season. He’s soon to be headed to play for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. Their first game, as well as that of the American team with Cedric Mullins, is on Saturday.

Between now and then, there are another 24 spring training games to be played. It’s a good thing that nothing counts yet because the last Orioles victory was a week ago. They lost again yesterday, a 3-2 game played against Atlanta. The O’s have scored more than three runs just once in the last six game stretch. It doesn’t matter yet, but we aren’t too far off from when it does matter. Tyler Wells gave up all three runs in his expected two innings of work. Prospect Cade Povich added two scoreless innings later on.

Today’s 1:05 contest against the Rays will be on the radio in Baltimore, but MASN is not bothering to televise it. The game will be played at the Trop due to hurricane damaged suffered by the usual Rays spring training site. The expected Orioles pitchers in today’s game are Kyle Bradish, Mike Baumann, Andrew Politi, Wandisson Charles, and Nolan Hoffman.

The first Orioles TV broadcast - and one of only three with O’s broadcasters - is set for tomorrow. It is really too bad that they chose a weekday afternoon when a lot of people won’t be able to watch because they’re working. You really can’t say enough negative about the MASN decisionmaking for spring training. Shame on whoever made that decision, and shame on John Angelos for his attempts to justify it. As Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper showed, the Orioles are one of only four teams to televise fewer than five spring games. This sucks.

Around the blogO’sphere

Observations on a good game to watch (if you could), plus Tyler Wells on the clock, and more (The Baltimore Sun)
I’m absolutely here for the Orioles beat writers taking licks at the team for its pathetic spring training broadcast schedule. Yes, it WOULD be fun to watch Coby Mayo and Jackson Holliday on the field at the same time that Povich is pitching, wouldn’t it? Tomorrow, you’re only a day away.

Here’s a little bit of Holliday in action via the Orioles Player Development Twitter account:

It’s a happy Orioles camp for Brandon Hyde (Baltimore Baseball)
“A largely uneventful spring training” counts as a positive for the Orioles, since it means no drama or injuries. One minor one did crop up yesterday though, as Terrin Vavra is day-to-day with shoulder soreness.

Heston Kjerstad studies Ken Griffey Jr. in comeback for Orioles (Orioles.com)
There are certainly many worse guys to emulate than Hall of Fame players.

Joey Krehbiel didn’t need a wakeup call, but in push for Orioles bullpen, he’s gotten four (The Baltimore Banner)
That’s a nicer way of saying that Krehbiel has really sucked through two spring outings. As with all of these guys, there’s time to turn it around before it counts.

Shortstop Frederick Bencosme heads up next group of Orioles international prospects (Steve Melewski)
Melewski is in the process of unveiling a top 20 Orioles international prospects list. This post contains 2-10, with Bencosme, maybe the most interesting O’s prospect you haven’t heard of yet, coming in at the #2 spot.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: DC-born 2012-13 three-gamer L.J. Hoes, 2002-07 pitcher Erik Bedard, 1993-98 outfielder Jeffrey Hammonds, and 2000-01 pitcher Jose Mercedes.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: cartographer Gerardus Mercator (1512), magician Penn Jillette (1955), actor Matt Lucas (1974), and actress Eva Mendes (1974).

On this day in history...

In 1616, the Catholic Church placed Copernicus’s book, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, onto the Index of Forbidden Books. The book, published 73 years prior to this decision, is recognized as helping to usher in the shift from a geocentric view of the solar system (the Sun orbits the Earth) to the correct, heliocentric view (Earth orbits the Sun). It remained on this banned list until 1835.

In 1770, British soldiers fired into a crowd of protesters, killing five people in what we now know as the Boston Massacre. The first person shot, Crispus Attucks, is recognized as the first American to be killed in the Revolutionary War.

In 1953, Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin died, ending a reign of nearly thirty years in charge of the country.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on March 5. Have a safe Sunday.