Thursday Bird Droppings: Where the Americans are champions and the Orioles have the day off

Hello, friends.

There are now 11 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day. This number was last used by Robert Andino, who, coincidentally, was wearing that number when he destroyed the 2011 Red Sox. It was also worn in the past by Jeffrey Hammonds, Doug DeCinces, and Gus Triandos.

The Orioles have the day off today. With the World Baseball Classic ending in a victory for Team USA last night, that means there will be no Orioles baseball at all today. That's not very exciting. Maybe you can use today to catch up on your TV shows. I know you're behind on something. I'm behind on a whole lot of things.

The good news, such as it is, is that, after today, things will start to get frantic as far as preparing for the season to come. Regulars will be playing more of the games. Starting on Friday, everybody will finally be back from the WBC. Maybe even all of the non-Chris Tillman players will be healthy soon. Ryan Flaherty is supposedly going to play on Friday. We'll see about Seth Smith, who has not played in more than two weeks now.

If it was left up to you right now, who would be the Orioles fifth starter? How good are you feeling about the Orioles rotation, including your fifth choice?

Around the blogO'sphere

Q&A with Orioles prospect Cody Sedlock | MLB.com
Last year's first round pick, Cody Sedlock, will hopefully be in that Orioles rotation within a couple of years. For now, you may not know much about him, and this Q&A may be a chance to learn something.

Mark Trumbo on spring struggles and getting WBC players back - Steve Melewski
Trumbo has been very bad in spring training, so let's hope that starts to turn around over the course of the next week.

Wade Miley says he's ready for next start - School of Roch
Whether we're ready for Wade Miley's next start is another story, however.

Keeping Chance Sisco in camp a sign Orioles believe top prospect is close - Baltimore Sun
If you missed last night's O's spring training game, Sisco hit an opposite-field three-run home run to give the Orioles a 7-4 lead that held on for the remainder of the game. Let's hope the Orioles are right about Sisco.

Orioles' Seth Smith confident hamstring injury won't require season-opening DL stint - Baltimore Sun
It's good that he's confident and all, but time is getting short. If he's not back in the lineup on Friday, what then?

Who will be the breakout pitchers for 2017? (ESPN Insider)
Dylan Bundy makes the cut. I am a noted pessimist and I wish I could believe in Bundy like some of these people seem to believe in Bundy. I hope they're right too.

Birthdays and anniversaries

There are three former Orioles with birthdays today. They are: 1975-80 first baseman Lee May, 1968 swingman, the Salisbury-born Bruce Howard, and the late Sam Bowens of the 1963-67 Orioles. Today is Mr. Howard's 74th birthday.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Along with those former Orioles, your birthday buddies for today include: geologist William Smith (1769), sociologist Erich Fromm (1900), football player and talker Ron Jaworski (1951), actress Amanda Plummer (1957), basketballer Jason Kidd (1973), actress Keri Russell (1976), and Olympic gold medal distance runner Mo Farah (1983).

On this day in history...

In 1775, Patrick Henry delivered the "Give me liberty or give me death!" speech at an Episcopal church in Richmond, VIrginia.

In 1919, in Milan, Italy, future dictator Benito Mussolini formed the Fascist political movement.

In 1933, Germany's Reichstag passed the Enabling Act, which made Adolf Hitler the dictator of the country.

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan proposed the "Star Wars" system to develop technology to intercept enemy ballistic missiles.

In 2001, Russia's Mir space station, having orbited the Earth since 1986, reached the planned end of its service, breaking up in the atmosphere. Its pieces came to fall in the Pacific Ocean near Fiji.

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And that's the way it is in Birdland on March 23 - or at least, unless something happens later, which it probably won't since they have the day off. But hey, you never know. Have a safe Thursday.