Tuesday Bird Droppings: The Orioles’ new uniforms are sparking debate

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

You couldn’t have asked for a more perfect start to the Orioles’ six-game, intra-division road trip, with the O’s sweeping the Blue Jays into last place over the weekend. The final leg of the trip begins tonight in the Bronx, where the second-place Orioles will try to put some distance between themselves and the third-place Yankees.

This feels like it’s going to be a game of Whack-A-Mole all year. Every time the Orioles push down one division foe, another one pops up. All five AL East teams are still above .500, so there’s no relief. If only the O’s could play in, say, the AL Central, they’d have a comfortable six-game division lead right now.

In the meantime, there was some off day fodder to capture the interest of Orioles fans — for better or for worse — as the club unveiled its new City Connect jerseys. And let me tell you: people have opinions. As of this writing we were at 130 comments and counting in Mark’s Camden Chat post about the uniforms, not to mention all the hot takes on Birdland Twitter.

I suppose I’ll chime in. Aesthetically, the uniforms seem fine. If they were just introduced as a generic alternate jersey, nobody would bat an eye. But for something that’s marketed as part of the special, heavily hyped City Connect series, I guess I’m...not really seeing the actual connection to the city? Sure, there are a few touches, like the “You Can’t Clip These Wings” slogan from Baltimore poet Kondwani Fidel that adorns the jerseys. But the explanations of the color scheme seem a bit generic: “In art, black doesn’t exist without color. You can’t see what you’re not looking for.” What? I didn’t come here for riddles! I’m a simple man; just give me some stuff that’s identifiably Baltimorean. Slap a crab or something on those bad boys!

Again, they’re not eyesores or anything. I’m sure we’ll get used to them whenever the O’s work them into their uniform rotation, starting this Friday night when they begin a six-game homestand. But if you’re feeling just a bit underwhelmed, you’re not the only one.

Links

Orioles unveil City Connect uniforms, with colorful interior reflecting Baltimore’s neighborhoods - The Baltimore Sun
Therein lies one of the problems. If all the color of the jerseys is in the interior, where nobody is going to see it, then does it really exist? It’s like a tree falling in the woods when nobody’s around. (Sorry, there I go with the riddles again.)

Orioles series sweep in Toronto seems like statement - Roch Kubatko
Roch compares the Orioles’ improbable wins in Toronto to that chaotic 17-inning win in Boston in 2012 that proved the O’s were contenders. That might be true, but who would be this year’s equivalent of Chris Davis pitching two scoreless innings? Ryan O’Hearn?

Minor Monday: McDermott key in Bowie's combined no-hitter; Armbruester getting recognition - BaltimoreBaseball.com
Rich Dubroff talks to Justin Armbruester, one of the Orioles’ less heralded but most effective pitching prospects. I feel like any pitcher whose name begins with “Arm” is destined to be successful.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Two former Orioles have birthdays today: Mike Gonzalez (45) and Logan Allen (26). Logan Allen is a left-handed pitcher who played three games for the O’s last year after they acquired him from Cleveland, but he is unrelated to the other left-handed pitcher named Logan Allen who currently pitches for Cleveland. Got all that?

On this day in 1999, Brady Anderson set an American League record by being hit by a pitch twice in one inning. He was drilled to lead off the game by Rangers starter Mike Morgan, and after the O’s batted around, Anderson came up again and was plunked by Morgan once more, ending the pitcher’s day. The Orioles scored 10 runs in the first inning en route to a 15-6 win at Camden Yards.

Random Orioles game of the day

On May 23, 1983, the Orioles got torched by the Twins, 12-4, at Memorial Stadium. Each of the four O’s pitchers — Storm Davis, Don Welchel, Dan Morogiello, and Tim Stoddard — gave up multiple runs, and in Welchel’s case he didn’t record an out. The Twins pounded five home runs, including two apiece by corner outfielders Tom Brunansky and Gary Ward, to support a complete game victory by lefty Frank Viola. Cal Ripken and Gary Roenicke homered in the losing effort for the Orioles.

With that loss, the Birds dropped out of sole possession of first place for the first time in nearly two weeks, falling into a virtual tie with Toronto and Boston in the AL East. It was their fourth straight of what would become a seven-game losing streak. Don’t worry — things turned out pretty well that year.