Hello, friends.
The Orioles didn't play last night in an unfortunate non-rain rainout. The Twins chose to postpone the game and it never actually rained. Maybe this was their version of revenge for what happened with the Orioles on Opening Day. I don't know. But I wanted to watch baseball and I didn't get to and that sucks. The game being rescheduled for a previous off day on July 28 also sucks.
With the O's idle, the Red Sox kicked the crap out of the Athletics, pulling themselves into a tie for the AL East lead once again. Actually, the O's are ahead by percentage points - both teams are six games above .500 but the Red Sox have played two more games.
The Twins still await tonight... unless it rains again.
Around the blogO'sphere
Rainout provides relief to Orioles pitching dilemma - Baltimore Sun
Eduardo Encina at The Sun offers this positive spin on the rainout - it gives the Orioles an extra day of rest to get their starting rotation back in a better place after Saturday's doubleheader caused some problems. Hmm. I'll allow it - maybe.
Orioles saddled with fourth postponement (plus notes) - School of Roch
In standard MASN lede-burying, there are some cool tidbits in this article, including that Pedro Alvarez's home run on Sunday was measured at 434 feet. Or at least, that's what Roch says - ESPN's Hit Tracker lists the true distance as 413 feet. That's still a long way.
Twins, Orioles might have to become amphibious this week - StarTribune.com
Turns out there's still a ton more rain in the forecast up there. Weather is awfully inconvenient sometimes.
Minor league notes on Ryan Mountcastle, Corban Joseph, Chance Sisco and more - Steve Melewski
Surprisingly, Steve Melewski is feeling sunny about the state of the Orioles minor leagues at this point in time. You can check out who's doing well in the above link.
Top 10 MLB trade candidates right now, ranked - MLB Daily Dish
Elsewhere on SB Nation, Mike Bates has an admittedly too-early look at trade candidates, including former Oriole Nick Markakis. Well, the Braves do suck. But nobody expect a reunion between the O's and Markakis.
Birthdays and anniversaries
On this day in 2012, the Orioles became the first team in AL history to lead off a game with three consecutive home runs. Ryan Flaherty, J.J. Hardy, and Nick Markakis were the bomb-blasters, taking Rangers starter Colby Lewis deep. Lewis gave up five hits in the game - all home runs. The O's won, 6-5.
Of all the players to ever play for the Orioles, only one has a birthday today: Kam Mickolio, one of the non-Jones/Tillman players in the Erik Bedard trade, turns 32.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: explorer Robert Gray (1755), the first American to circumnavigate the globe, Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth (1838), Hollywood legend Fred Astaire (1899), U2's Bono (1960), Hugo Award-winning author John Scalzi (1969), and back in the day Nickelodeon and current Saturday Night Live funny man Kenan Thompson (1979).
On this day in history...
In 1773, the Parliament of Great Britain passed the Tea Act, which granted a monopoly on the tea trade to the East India Company. Some time later, some of that tea ended up in a harbor.
In 1869, the golden spike was nailed in at Promontory Point, Utah, completing the First Transcontinental Railroad and linking the eastern and western United States.
In 1893, the Supreme Court ruled in Nix v. Hedden that, under the Tariff Act of 1883, a tomato is a vegetable, not a fruit.
In 1924, J. Edgar Hoover was named the first director of the FBI - a post he would hold until his death in 1972. How was that even legal?
A variety of World War II-related events, including the great Nazi book burning (1933), Germany launched Fall Gelb, the invasion of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg (1940); on the same day, Winston Churchill was appointed Prime Minister of the UK after Neville Chamberlain resigned; and, in 1941, Nazi politician Rudolf Hess parachuted into Scotland to try to negotiate a peace deal between Germany and the UK.
In 1969, the Battle of Dong Ap Bia in the Vietnam War began with an invasion of Hill 937 - which went on to be called Hamburger Hill. You can watch an underrated movie of the same name, Hamburger Hill. This battle is seen now as part of a chain of events in that time that turned the tide of American public opinion against the war.
**
And that's the way it is in Birdland on May 10 - or at least, until something happens later. Have a safe Tuesday. Go Orioles!