Tuesday Bird Droppings: Where the ex-Orioles keep mocking us in the World Series

Hello, friends.

There are now 153 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day 2017. As the calendar turns into November, another way to think about it is that you only have to wait five months for there to be more real Orioles baseball.

Today could be the last MLB game of the year, and if not today, then tomorrow. Naturally, to twist the knife into O's fans even further, Game 6 will have the Cubs pitching Jake Arrieta once again. This is the world we're now living in. Arrieta will have made two World Series starts.

This postseason is really not kind to O's fans for reopening old wounds. There's Arrieta pitching, the ongoing performance of Dexter Fowler, and even the repeated unorthodox usage of elite relievers, including former Oriole Andrew Miller, who's basically helped pitch the Indians to a win away from a championship. It's crazy. It's great for fans of those teams... just really not so great for Orioles fans.

Don't eat all of your leftover Halloween candy today. At least save some for the rest of the week, OK? Now let's hit the links.

Around the blogO'sphere

Caleb Joseph's unthinkable season - and incredible attitude - BaltimoreBaseball.com
I'm glad Caleb can have a good attitude while having zero RBI, but that doesn't make me feel any differently about what kind of role he should have on next year's team.

Overlooked no more: Donnie Hart came up big in O's bullpen - Steve Melewski
With Hart having pitched in 22 big league games, I have a feeling he will continue to be overlooked after all, especially as long as he's in the same bullpen as Zach Britton. Still, I'm glad the Orioles found him.

Stewart selected to AFL Fall Stars Game - School of Roch
This is an exciting headline that might make you think that D.J. Stewart is doing well out in the Arizona Fall League. His batting line in 13 games with the Peoria Javelinas is .220/.361/.320.

2016 Orioles Roster Review: The Top Nine Orioles (Press Box)
Friend of the blog Paul Folkemer has been doing his own review series for Press Box. Here, he gets to the players who actually played well this year.

Unflappable Springville Orioles seek state return | The Gazette
As you may know, it is the editorial position of this blog to root for the success of all Orioles teams, everywhere. Tonight, the Orioles of the girls volleyball team at Springville High School in Springville, Iowa, will be playing for a spot in the state championship tournament. Go Orioles!

Poll: Re-sign Ian Desmond for 4/$64M? - Lone Star Ball
As we ponder what the Orioles should, or will, do with Matt Wieters, it's interesting to consider this case from the Rangers blog of a QO guy who may have actually earned a good next contract with his 2016 performance - Ian Desmond. Or at least, he managed to be a league average hitter.

Birthdays and anniversaries

On this day in 1960, Orioles shortstop Ron Hansen was named the AL Rookie of the Year, the first win in franchise history. He got 22 of 24 votes, with the other two votes going to fellow Orioles Chuck Estrada and Jim Gentile.

Also, in 1979, Edward Bennett Williams purchased the franchise from Jerold Hoffberger for $12.3 million. If the online calculator I've consulted is accurate, that's $40.9 million in today's money. The Orioles were valued at $1 billion by Forbes magazine earlier this year.

There are a few former Orioles with birthdays today. They are: Team Steve co-founder Steve Tolleson, 1993 rotation member Fernando Valenzuela, and the late Jim Pyburn of the 1955-57 Orioles.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Along with those former Orioles, your birthday buddies for today include: unfortunate Frankish king Louis the Stammerer (846), the 11th Dalai Lama (1838), pornography purveyor Larry Flynt (1942), and country artist Lyle Lovett (1957).

On this day in history...

In 1512, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, as painted by Michelangelo, was unveiled to the public for the first time.

In 1520, explorer Ferdinand Magellan, in the process of the first successful recorded circumnavigation of the Earth, discovered and passed through what's now known as the Strait of Magellan, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans south of South America.

In 1604, Shakespeare's tragedy Othello was first performed at Whitehall Palace in London. Exactly seven years later, the same place saw the debut performance of Shakespeare's The Tempest.

In 1765, the British Parliament levied the Stamp Act on the American colonies in order to pay for British military operations in North America. The colonists, history tells us, did not like this very much.

In 1870, the United States Weather Bureau, these days called the National Weather Service, issued its first ever meteorological forecast.

In 1922, with the abdication of its final sultan, Mehmed VI, the Ottoman Empire, which had been in existence since the year 1299, ceased to be.

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And that's the way it is in Birdland on November 1 - or at least, unless something changes later, which it probably won't, because what the heck is going to change on November 1? Have a safe Tuesday. Go Orioles!