Hello, friends.
There are now 34 days until Orioles Opening Day. The number 34 was most recently worn by Christian Walker, and most famously worn by Storm Davis, the last O's player to win a Cy Young award. (Don't mind how I somehow confused Storm Davis and Steve Stone.) It was also worn by Jake Arrieta from 2011-13, and as we know, he's also won a Cy Young, just not with the O's. Mixed omens, I'd say.
There are zero days until the Orioles Grapefruit League schedule begins. Today is the first game of spring training for the O's. It's true. It's a baseball game and it's here today, this very afternoon, at 1:05. The O's are traveling to the spring home of the Braves. The game will not be televised anywhere, and only on the radio if you get 1230 AM in Atlanta. It remains to be seen how many expected O's regulars will even make the trip. One of the veteran perks tends to be you don't have to hit the road in spring training.
The Orioles roster is at last settled, at least until the end of spring. Unless they decide to sign Austin Jackson or something. Or trade for Jay Bruce, which would be horrible. I guess you can't rule anything out, but I just don't see it. They brought back their guys they wanted back, waited out the market, and got what they got. Now it's time to see how much we like this year's guys.
Around the blogO'sphere
Orioles have few position battles with Grapefruit League games set to begin, but they are important - Baltimore Sun
In fact, the only real position battles on the entire roster at this point involve the corner outfield spots, and probably only one of those. Who's going to play right field, and is it really THAT important, headline writer?
School of Roch: Wrapping up the 11th day of workouts
Turns out Chris Tillman's described "core muscle" injury was actually something where they did an MRI to see if he had a sports hernia, and it's really a slight hip flexor issue. This is like the time they thought Kevin Gausman had a strained intercostal muscle and it was actually pneumonia.
Steve Melewski: More predictions of a poor season for the Orioles, plus other notes
You'll never believe this, but Steve Melewski still thinks the Orioles are better than the projections and power rankings say.
Mark Trumbo hopes he can be missing piece for Orioles | News & Observer
For what I assume are obvious reasons, I am 100% on Team Mark and also hoping he can be a missing piece for the Orioles. He's basically been an Orioles player for his whole career and now he's finally wearing the right uniform.
Details of a White Sox offer to Dexter Fowler offer emerge - South Side Sox
The Orioles were not the only spurned suitors for Dexter Fowler, it seems - although it also seems like the White Sox never actually got all that close to signing him, especially in light of the offer that the O's made to Fowler.
Birthdays and anniversaries
On this unfortunate day in 2009, the Orioles signed Adam Eaton, who started eight games and posted an 8.56 ERA before getting sent to the great DFA in the sky. Man, the O's were bad back then.
Several former Orioles have birthdays today, including Omar Daal (2003), Larry Brown (17 games in 1973 - and no relation), and the late Bert Hamric (eight games in 1958) and Howie Fox (1954 bullpen). Fox passed away in 1955.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Along with those former Orioles, your birthday buddies include: mathematician John Pell (1611), who appropriately enough gave us Pell's equation; Palace of Westminster architect Augustus Pugin (1812); big band leader and trombone player Glenn Miller (1904); longtime Cubs voice Harry Caray and Invisible Man author Ralph Ellison (1914); and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin (1922).
Among those who are still with us today, you've got: The Who dude Roger Daltrey (1944); movie dude Ron Howard (1954); basketballer Chris Webber (1973); Saved By The Bell actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar (1974); singer-songwriter - as soon as the courts let her be free - Kesha (1987); and singer/pop culture phenomenon Justin Bieber (1994).
You probably know Glenn Miller for the jazz classic In The Mood.
On this day in history...
In 1565, the city of Rio de Janeiro was founded in what is now Brazil.
In 1692, Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba were brought before magistrates in Salem, Massachusetts, where they were tried as witches.
In 1872, Yellowstone National Park was established as the first national park in the whole world.
In 1954, the United States conducted a hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. This 15-megaton bomb, known as Castle Bravo, is the worst radioactive contamination ever caused by the US.
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And that's the way it is in Birdland on March 1 - at least, unless something happens later. Have a safe Tuesday.