Hello, friends.
It was awfully nice of Major League Baseball to give the Orioles off for Memorial Day, wasn't it? Wait... what? They did play a game? Oh... oh no. That's not good. If you missed it, you're lucky. Check out my recap of the not-so-lovely totals for what you missed.
It's not getting any easier from here. I mean, I don't know. Maybe it will get easier, actually, if a particular difficulty of the Orioles was hitting the knuckleball of Steven Wright. They could do better now that they won't face him any more. Right? They had sure better improve because the next three games are against the Red Sox. A disaster of a series will really put a damper on their hopes of contending for the division title.
Brace yourselves for an attack of The Narrative, as tonight's game will feature starting pitchers Kevin Gausman and Eduardo Rodriguez. Perhaps in a different universe they are members of the same starting rotation... but they aren't, and Andrew Miller was here for two months and now is in pinstripes. No, I don't want to talk about it.
I do want to roll through some links.
Around the blogO'sphere
Orioles' Caleb Joseph suffers injury to groin | orioles.com
Ordinarily, a catcher taking a foul ball to the groin results in some uncomfortable chuckling on the television broadcast and maybe some hilarious or horrible or both joking about the subject. But Caleb actually had to get checked out at the hospital. Hope he's OK.
Peter Schmuck's Orioles grades for May 30 - Baltimore Sun
If you were out there just dying to get a slide show to find out how Sun columnist Peter Schmuck is grading the Orioles this week, boy, do I have a link for you.
Notes on Jimenez and challenge of hitting knuckleball (O's lose 7-2) - School of Roch
Those who watched the game yesterday know about the challenge of hitting the knuckleball. Another challenge is that Ubaldo Jimenez is going to start Thursday's game, no matter how much you don't want him to.
A few notes and a look at the Orioles-Red Sox series - Steve Melewski
Melewski had some typically Melewskian stats to share in advance of the Red Sox series. As 75% of the series remains, maybe some of those numbers will continue to be relevant.
Suspect armed with knife wearing Orioles hat steals shampoo, body wash products from Md. store | WTTG
Not the best time to encounter an Orioles hat in the wild, honestly. You may find it weird that the guy stole shampoo and body wash but I once watched a guy attempt to clean out a grocery store's entire stock of deodorant. He did not pull a knife on me, thankfully.
We also had an old lady who liked to steal Brita filters. I felt bad for her when she got banned from the store.
Birthdays and anniversaries
There are two former Orioles with birthdays today: Joe Orsulak (1988-92 Orioles) and Tippy Martinez (1976-86). Martinez came to the O's in the same trade that brought Rick Dempsey and Scott McGregor to Baltimore. Good trade.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Along with those former Orioles, you share this birthday with: Celsius thermometer inventor Jean-Pierre Christin (1683), poet Walt Whitman (1819), chair debater and movie man Clint Eastwood (1930), Led Zeppelin's John Bonham (1948), The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan (1967), The Good Wife actress Archie Panjabi (1972), and movie man Colin Farrell (1976).
On this day in history...
In 1279 BC, Ramesses II (the Great) became pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. He's believed to have reigned for about 66 years - England's Queen Elizabeth II needs another year and a half to two years before she passes him.
In 1859 AD, the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament in London - you know it as Big Ben - began counting time. Big Ben did not need major maintenance until 2007 and it's believed to be set for another two centuries.
In 1889, a failed dam resulted in the Johnstown Flood, which killed over 2,200 people.
In 1916, the British and German navies waged the Battle of Jutland, the largest naval battle of World War I. Though the British fleet lost more ships and twice as many sailors, it's credited with a strategic victory: They kept the German navy from breaking out into the Atlantic.
In 2005, Vanity Fair revealed the identity of Deep Throat: W. Mark Felt, who at the time of the Watergate investigation was the Associate Director of the FBI.
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And that's the way it is in Birdland on May 31 - or at least, until something happens later. Have a safe Thursday. Go Orioles!