Hello, friends.
There are now 39 days until Orioles Opening Day. The number has been worn most recently by Kevin Gausman and for the longest time by Eddie Watt, who was on the team for eight seasons from 1966-1973, but don't ask me to tell you anything about him because I don't know.
So, things are happening at last. The physical for Yovani Gallardo has come and gone and he has a new deal. That's expected to go final later this morning, which means someone will be waking up today in Sarasota who will be sent to the great DFA in the sky by the end of the day. Another DFA awaits when Dexter Fowler signs. Baseball's kinda cruel like that.
But, unfortunate as it might be for the to-be-DFA'd, it should be for the best for the Orioles. Gallardo saves the rotation from starting out with the winner of a competition between Mike Wright, Tyler Wilson, and others in its ranks. Fowler's a leadoff hitter with good OBP skills and speed. You might not believe this coming from me, but I'm feeling positive about things right now.
On that bright note, the links!
Around the blogO'sphere
Peter Gammons: Gallardo, the Orioles, and what Showalter and Belichick have in common - GammonsDaily.com
A great - and also horrifying - tidbit in this column is that the Red Sox offered the most money to Darren O'Day this offseason, but they pulled the offer after trading for Craig Kimbrel. Their loss is our gain.
It’s Time to Talk About the Orioles and Their Physicals | FanGraphs Baseball
Any day Jeff Sullivan is writing about the Orioles is a good day. Sullivan is not among the media members who are crapping on the O's over physicals. He runs through all the people who failed O's physicals and then got hurt or sucked - which is everyone who failed an O's physical.
Fox Sports says Orioles, not Cubs, have 'most miserable' fan base in baseball - Baltimore Sun
Do you feel like the O's have the most miserable fanbase in baseball? I gotta say, I think Fox Sports is talking out of their butt in this instance.
Orioles first basemen Trey Mancini joins Sports Rehab " CBS Baltimore
If you've ever wanted to hear what O's prospect Trey Mancini has to say, here's your chance.
Computers Don't Like Orioles, Royals (Press Box)
Some humans don't like the Royals either.
Steve Melewski: A take on the Orioles' restructured deal with pitcher Yovani Gallardo
Melewski wants to make sure you know that the other half of the MASN duo, Roch Kubatko, broke both the Fowler signing and the Gallardo re-structuring. He says some other stuff too.
Birthdays and anniversaries
On this dark day one year ago, the Orioles signed waste of time, money, and space Everth Cabrera. It was also a dark day in 1975 when the O's traded Boog Powell to the Indians. Powell posted a .901 OPS that year, but it was the last good year of his career and he was done by 1977.
There are two former Orioles with birthdays today: Kevin Hickey (1989-91) and 1964 short-timer Dave Vineyard.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Along with those former Orioles, your birthday buddies for today include: airport name-bearer John Foster Dulles (1888), Marx brother Zeppo Marx (1901), The Beatles dude George Harrison (1943), wrestler Ric Flair (1949), ostensibly funny man Carrot Top (1965), actress Rashida Jones (1976), and basketballer Joakim Noah (1985).
On this day in history...
In 1797, a small attacking French force (led by an Irish-American) surrendered following what remains the Last Invasion of Britain.
In 1836, Samuel Colt was granted a patent for the Colt revolver, which still bears his name to this day.
In 1870, Hiram Rhodes Revels became the first African-American to sit in the US Congress as he was sworn into the Senate. Revels was a Republican from Mississippi.
In 1919, the state of Oregon placed a one cent tax on gasoline, which made it the first US state to levy such a tax.
In 1956, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev issued a speech, On the Cult of Personality and its Consequences, in which he denounced a cult of personality that had surrounded Joseph Stalin, dead for three years at that point. This also goes in the history books as "The Secret Speech."
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And that's the way it is in Birdland on February 25 - or at least, until something happens later. Have a safe Thursday, and watch out for that DFA.