Thursday Bird Droppings: Where we wish we were worth $1 billion

Hello, friends.

There are now 11 days until Orioles Opening Day. That is Robert Andino days until the first Orioles game of the year, or, as you probably prefer, Doug DeCinces days, Luis Aparicio days, or Gus Triandos days until Opening Day. Soon we will be down to the single digits and not so long after that there will be real baseball that counts and is hopefully awesome.

In the meantime, there are still some fake baseball games to be played. This afternoon's between the Orioles and the Tigers will be on the MLB Network, and also on Detroit radio, if you are an MLB GameDay Audio subscriber.

A survey of the landscape of Birdland for your Thursday perusal...

Nolan Reimold could be a pleasant surprise for Orioles - Baltimore Sun
Alright, here's the deal. Any time there's positive Nolan Reimold coverage involving the Orioles, I'm all over it. Nolan is the best, if only he could stop getting hurt. Can they find a way to get him on the team this year? That's a tough one. But I'm rooting for him as much as any non-Reimold family member.

Orioles' value soars, reaches $1 billion - Baltimore Business Journal
The results are in, at least according to Forbes magazine, and the Baltimore Orioles are worth ... (Dr. Evil voice) ONE BILLION DOLLARS.

Five bold predictions for the 2015 Baltimore Orioles | MLB | Sporting News
North Side Church of McFly adherent Jesse Spector weighs in with some bold predictions for the Orioles this season. He tweeted the link for this article along with a picture of a bag of horse manure, so be aware that he's in on the joke.

Orioles are that rare spring team with too much pitching; so what to do? - CBSSports.com
No less than Jon Heyman took stock of the Orioles' pitching situation and speculated as to how they should handle this glut of quality. Is it even a glut of quality? We can dream. Hopefully they keep the right people.

Notre Dame's Star on Offense, Defense, and the Mound - NYTimes.com
You may have heard that an Orioles minor leaguer has also been making a splash in the NCAA men's basketball tournament over the last week. That's Pat Connaughton, and if he doesn't go pro in basketball, he'll be back in the O's minor league system once he graduates.

I added an Oxford comma to the above article title. Deal with it, New York Times.

Several former Orioles have birthdays today, though I do not recall any one of them. Happy 44th to Jesus Tavarez, who popped in to 8 games for the 1998 team; happy 48th to Jarvis Brown (no relation) who appeared in 18 games in 1995; happy 54th to Mickey Weston, who pitched in 16 games in 1989-90; and happy 60th to Dan Morogiello, whose entire MLB career consisted of 22 games pitched for the 1983 Orioles. I guess if you're going to go out, you might as well go out a champion. He finished with a career 2.39 ERA.

And that's the way it is in Birdland on March 26 - at least, until something happens later. Have a safe Thursday.