Thursday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles will play two games in two places

Hello, friends.

There are now 32 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day. This number was worn most recently by Matt Wieters and has also been worn by Luis Matos and Mark Williamson, who pitched in the last Orioles no-hitter on July 13, 1991. Throw a no-hitter today! Or at least one inning of one. The rest is up to your teammates.

One noteworthy thing about today is that the Orioles will be playing their only split-squad game of the spring today. There will be two different Orioles games played in two different places at two different times. Both will be broadcast, so hooray for that! The 1:05 game will be at home in Sarasota and on Baltimore radio. Later, at 6:35, some other Orioles will travel to the Yankees spring training game. This will be broadcast on MLB Network.

That's twice the potential for excitement, right? Or something like that. If nothing else, it'll be a chance for some minor leaguers to get some action in the road game. Both D.J. Stewart and Austin Hays are expected to make the trip to Tampa to play the Yankees team, at least in the later innings. It'll be nice to get an actual look at the funky Stewart stance - not that spring results are worth all that much, of course.

There's nothing split about this squad of links.

Around the blogO'sphere

Dickerson taking another swing at the majors - School of Roch
For some reason I haven't been able to discern, basically every Orioles outlet decided to write about Chris Dickerson yesterday as if he has any chance of making the MLB team.

Notes on Jayson Aquino, the WBC and the passing of Dave Rosenfield - Steve Melewski
One player whose stock is up so far in spring training is said to be lefty Jayson Aquino. You know what spring stats are worth.

This might be the year the Orioles won't be able to keep either of their Rule 5 draftees - Baltimore Sun
Most people who have paid attention to the past behavior of Dan Duquette and the current status of the Orioles roster would never believe anything like this.

Orioles' Hunter Harvey making solid progress | MLB.com
In audio played during yesterday's game, Buck Showalter said he hopes to be having the same conversations about Harvey's health next spring that he's having about Dylan Bundy's health this spring.

Orioles' Adam Jones joins 'Camden Crazies' for a night at Duke vs. Florida State - Baltimore Sun
Don't hold it against him, Terps fans.

Orioles notes: Chris Tillman on schedule, not ahead of it - Baltimore Sun
If you've been following this space, you know I'm skeptical about Tillman's health, but as long as indications are that he's staying on the schedule, that's OK.

Birthdays and anniversaries

There are a few former Orioles with birthdays today. They are: 2014 playoff victor Bud Norris, 2001-07 nominal slugger Jay Gibbons, 1990-95 third baseman Leo Gomez, and the late 1958-59 outfielder Joe Taylor and 1954-55 outfielder Cal Abrams.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Along with those former Orioles, your birthday buddies for today include: children's book author Dr. Seuss (1904), baseball Hall of Famer Mel Ott (1909), I Love Lucy's Ricky Ricardo, Desi Arnaz (1917), music's Jon Bon Jovi (1962), James Bond actor Daniel Craig (1968), Coldplay's Chris Martin (1977), and funny lady Rebel Wilson (1980).

On this day in history...

In 1807, the US Congress passed the Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves, after which the only slaves in the country were those born here.

In 1836, the Republic of Texas declared independence from Mexico.

In 1859, the largest ever US slave auction -  The Great Slave Auction - began in Savannah, Georgia. A total of 436 slaves were sold to cover gambling debts.

In 1949, US Air Force Captain James Gallagher landed the B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II in Fort Worth, after having completed the first-ever around-the-world circumnavigation in an airplane. The flight, which took 94 hours and one minute, involved four mid-air refueling sessions.

In 1962, Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a game against the New York Knicks.

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And that's the way it is in Birdland on March 2 - or at least, until something happens later, which it definitely will, because hey, two games in one day! Have a safe Thursday.