Tuesday Bird Droppings: Where the Orioles have the best record in baseball

Hello, friends.

Today, the Orioles wake up with the best record in all of Major League Baseball. This was true yesterday as well. The Orioles have only played 11 games out of a 162 game season, so it is a bit premature to do any celebrating, as Pulp Fiction's The Wolf might remind us in a bit more colorful of a fashion. Still, it's great they've won this much so far, right?

Condolences to those Orioles fans who are also Capitals fans who spent their off night from baseball watching another agonizing overtime loss. I don't do much hockey but just on general principle I hope that the Capitals are able to stick it to Toronto before the series ends rather than do the usual DC sports playoffs thing.

The O's now find themselves in Cincinnati, where they will do battle with the Reds for three nights. The Reds are another surprising division leader in MLB. They were supposed to be horrible and they're leading the NL Central with an 8-5 record. Will that record survive contact with a dinger-hitting Orioles team, or will it be the Orioles who find themselves tumbling in the standings as a result of some unexpected defeats?

That's to be decided starting tonight. For now, let's roll through all the Birdland news that's fit to discuss for the day.

Around the blogO'sphere

Tillman throws 42 pitches in 2 2/3 innings at Bowie (with quotes) - School of Roch
You might have heard that Chris Tillman was making his first rehab start with Bowie yesterday. Since it was like a first spring training start, don't panic about it being less than three innings. Save the panic for later.

Cedric Mullins is Eastern League Player of Week (plus other notes) - Steve Melewski
Speaking of Bowie, Camden Chat's new favorite Orioles prospect, Cedric Mullins, was named the Eastern League Player of the Week following a blistering hot week. Congratulations to him! By the way, you can read an interview with Mullins on this site tomorrow.

Orioles payments to stadium authority exceed original cost of Camden Yards - Baltimore Sun
After 25 years of paying rent, the Orioles have paid the Maryland Stadium Authority more than the original cost of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. As the payment of bonds mean that the total cost paid will be twice the original cost, they aren't even quite yet - though this article notes that at least the bonds will be paid off in 2019.

Consistent starting pitching was key to Orioles' success in Toronto. Will it continue in Cincinnati? - Baltimore Sun
In uncommon cases, the headline of one link is a question that is answered by the headline of another link.

Jimenez looks to right the ship vs. Reds | MLB.com
The good news is that it's going to be hard for him to be much worse, although I keep saying that and he keeps finding ways to get worse.

Where are they now? Taking a look at the 2016 Orioles who have flown the nest - BaltimoreBaseball.com
This is a slide show, but don't hold that against Friend of the Blog Paul Folkemer. Also, if Matt Wieters keeps hitting like this for an entire season, I'm going to take it personally that he never did that here.

Birthdays and anniversaries

There are a couple of former Orioles with birthdays today. They are 1987-88 reserve Pete Stanicek and 1986 reliever Rich Bordi. Today is Bordi's 58th birthday.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: long-ago papal daughter Lucrezia Borgia (1480), Scopes monkey trial lawyer Clarence Darrow (1857), Baseball Hall of Famer Sam Crawford (1880), CliffNotes founder Clifton Hillegass (1918), choreographer/director Kenny Ortega (1950), funny man Conan O'Brien (1963), Tenth Doctor David Tennant (1971), and actress Melissa Joan Hart (1976).

It's also the birthday of former Kansas City Royal Billy Butler, who, owing to an ancient grudge, we do not wish a happy birthday.

On this day in history...

In 1775, Paul Revere went on his midnight ride to warn that the British were coming.

In 1906, San Francisco, California was hit by an earthquake. The earthquake caused a fire and between these two things, much of the city was destroyed.

In 1912, the RMS Carpathia arrived in New York City with 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic.

In 1942, American aviators carried out The Doolittle Raid, a symbolic first strike by air against mainland Japan. You can watch a dramatized version of this raid in the movie Pearl Harbor, although you probably shouldn't because that movie sucked. Also, in 1943, other American aviators attacked a flight containing Japanese Admiral Yamamoto, who directed the Pearl Harbor attack, killing him in the simply-named Operation Vengeance.

In 1983, the United States embassy in Beirut, Lebanon was attacked by a suicide bomber, resulting in 63 fatalities.

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And that's the way it is in Birdland on April 18 - or at least, until something happens later, which it surely will unless the Orioles and Reds don't actually play a baseball game tonight. Have a safe Tuesday. Go Orioles!