Tuesday Bird Droppings: The Orioles are still allowed to win games

Hello, friends.

Another day has dawned with the Orioles tied for last place in the American League East. They remain knotted with the Blue Jays, eight games behind the division-leading Red Sox. Are we having fun yet?

Hey, at least last night was fun. The Orioles snapped the losing streak that they had been building since the end of the All-Star break with a 3-1 victory over the Rangers. That probably won't stop the careening towards the Orioles being sellers. But wins are wins and that's better than losing. Make sure to check out Donovan's recap of the game and vote in the MBP poll.

There are 13 days left until the trade deadline arrives. There will be lots of back and forth coming between then. If the O's go on a little winning streak, the "Buy, sell, or let it ride" debate might spark again. If it's clearly going down the selling path, it'll be more like, "Should the Orioles trade a few guys or trade damn near everybody?"

Whatever happens, it probably won't happen for at least a week, so it's probably going to be a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing until then. But we're all going to be very interested in what happens, so of course there's going to be a lot to say about it. This is huge stuff for the future of our favorite baseball team here, after all.

Around the blogO'sphere

Zach Britton on trade rumors - Steve Melewski
One thing to remember as we head into trade rumor season: These guys are people with feelings and most of them don't want to get traded away from an organization where they've had success.

Harvey set to join GCL team on Wednesday - School of Roch
News about Hunter Harvey? Yes, it's true! Here's hoping his first action in something resembling an organized game goes well.

Plenty of questions about the Orioles' broken rotation, but there are no obvious fixes (Baltimore Baseball)

One starter didn't give up a ton of runs last night, but let's not forget that the structural issues still remain and seem unlikely to be fixed this season.

Orioles' TV ratings rank among highest in MLB despite 17 percent decrease (Baltimore Business Journal)

This is a subscriber-only article that I'm including in the links solely because of the headline.

Orioles press deadline to sign draft pick Cameron Bishop (Washington Post)

Part one of today's edition of "The Orioles do stuff that's weird that no other team does."

Giants to sign unsigned draft pick Jack Conlon (MLB Trade Rumors)

Part two of today's edition of "The Orioles do stuff that's weird that no other team does." Conlon had been a fourth round pick of the O's before they didn't sign him. This non-signing sort of enabled the post-deadline signing of Bishop. It's all weird.

Birthdays and anniversaries

On this day in 2001, there was a derailment of a train carrying toxic substances in a tunnel underneath Baltimore. This ended up causing a postponement of the nightcap of a doubleheader between the Orioles and Rangers, perhaps because there were exploding manhole covers.

In 2002, in a loss to the Blue Jays, Melvin Mora tied an MLB record by being hit by a pitch three times in the same game.

One lone former Oriole has a birthday today: 1976-77 starter Rudy May, acquired in the same trade that brought Rick Dempsey and Scott McGregor to Baltimore and later traded to Montreal in a deal that brought Gary Roenicke and "Full Pack" Stanhouse to the O's. Today is his 73rd birthday. Happy birthday to him.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: RMS Titanic survivor The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1867), prohibition-era gangster Machine Gun Kelly (1895), Marine Corps aviator and astronaut John Glenn (1921), gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson (1937), golfer Nick Faldo (1957), tough guy and actor Vin Diesel (1967), rapper M.I.A. (1975), and actress Kristen Bell (1980).

On this day in history...

In 390 BC, during the Roman-Gaullish Wars, a force of Romans were defeated in the Battle of Allia by some raiding Gauls. This later led to a sack of Rome. Speaking of Rome, in 64 AD, the Great Fire of Rome began, which at the end of six days would destroy half of the city.

In 1290, King Edward I of England issued the Edict of Expulsion, which called for the banishing of all Jews - believed to be about 16,000 - from England.

In 1942, Germans performed the first test flight of the Messerschmitt Me 262, the world's first-ever jet-powered fighter aircraft.

In 1976, gymnast Nadia Comaneci became the first person in Olympic Games history to score a perfect 10.

**

And that's the way it is in Birdland on July 18 - or at least, until something happens later, which it surely will, because there's a game later tonight, and who knows what else might happen? Have a safe Tuesday. Go Orioles!