Tuesday Bird Droppings: Where the Oriole Bird will see his shadow, or not

Hello, friends.

There are now 62 days until Orioles Opening Day. The number 62 was most recently worn by Radhames Liz in the 2008 and 2009 seasons. Liz, you may be surprised to know, actually pitched some big league innings in 2015 for the Pirates, which is something that I knew as it happened and still find quite perplexing. Baseball really doesn't make any sense sometimes. Either way, this number decidedly does not portend any success for the 2016 O's, so let's move right along.

It's also Groundhog Day today. Where does that movie rank on the list of greatest movies ever made? It doesn't rank in the AFI Top 100, which says more about them than it does about the movie. Anyway, Bill Murray is a treasure. Here's hoping the 2016 O's rotation doesn't make us feel like we're stuck in Groundhog Day in a bad way, endless horrible starting pitching performances over and over again, stuff so bad it makes us want to grab a rodent and drive off of a cliff.

Forget about all that, though. Let's talk about the Orioles. Well, that would be a good thing to do if there was anything much new to talk about, which there isn't. The Orioles of right now are probably the Orioles of this year. That isn't a very exciting realization, even if it's the truth. And of course you never know when Dan Duquette might sneak something in at the wire. There are some players left out there who could be bargains still.

Around the blogO'sphere

How important is it if Orioles take a fifth starter? | CSN Mid-Atlantic
I'm not linking to this article because I agree with it, and that's all that I'm going to say about it. You may have some thoughts that you can feel free to share.

Steve Melewski: Notes on Pedro Alvarez, position rankings and prospect rankings
On the same idea of articles that get linked even though I don't agree with them, here's Steve Melewski offering his typical level of insight and analysis on the opposite side of the fence from my article yesterday on the woeful lack of top prospects on the O's farm.

Hot Stove Digest: The Orioles could look at Andrew Cashner | Big League Stew - Yahoo Sports
One throwaway sentence in a Roch Kubatko article turned into an Orioles rumor yesterday. I may have some more thoughts about this one on the front page later today, depending on how motivated I feel after finishing this post.

Texas Rangers rumors: Dexter Fowler on the radar - Lone Star Ball
The Orioles have been seen as a possible destination for Fowler, but so too are the Rangers. Texas would give up the 20th pick and the pick for Fowler would be created after the O's compensation pick for Wei-Yin Chen - so that spot would move up one to #28. Got that?

Coastal Journal | More on painted buntings and Baltimore orioles | Wildlife & Nature | pilotonline.com
People in southeastern Virginia are spotting actual Baltimore oriole birds. What does it all mean? I have no idea. Yes, I already told you there's nothing to talk about.

Birthdays and anniversaries

There are six former Orioles with birthdays today. They are: recently-minted Oriole Travis Snider, #15 greatest Oriole Melvin Mora, the curmudgeon Scott Erickson, Paul Kilgus (38 games in 1991), Pat Clements (23 games in 1992), and #28 greatest Oriole Don Buford.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Along with those former Orioles, your birthday buddies for today include: ... well, it's not a very exciting assortment, actually. But you do have author James Joyce (1882), Howard Johnson's founder Howard Johnson (1897), baseball Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst (1923), actress Farrah Fawcett (1947), Star Trek: The Next Generation actor Brent Spiner (1949), singer-songwriter and hips truth-teller Shakira (1977), and rapper Gucci Mane (1980).

On this day in history...

In 1461, three suns dawned in England (parhelion) and the York and Lancaster forces fought in the Battle of Mortimer's Cross. The York forces were victorious on the day and later cut off the head of the captured Sir Owen Tudor, whose grandson later became king.

In 1653, New Amsterdam was incorporated. You know this place now as the city of New York. Why they changed it, I can't say. People just liked it better that way.

In 1922, Ulysses by aforementioned birthday boy James Joyce was first published.

In 1964, the Mattel toy company launched G.I. Joe. Now you know - and knowing is half the battle!

In 1972, two days after the Bloody Sunday massacre in Northern Ireland, the British embassy in Dublin, Ireland was burned to the ground.

**

And that's the way it is in Birdland on February 2 - or at least, unless something happens later. Have a safe Tuesday, and make sure you don't live this day over and over ten thousand times.