The trade deadline is looming, the Orioles are trying to beat <.500 teams, and more in today’s Bird Droppings.
Happy Monday, Camden Chatters!
I think it’s safe to say that this weekend didn’t go the way the Orioles or their fans expected it to. After winning three out of four from the Rays, they kicked off a road trip against the last place team in the NL Central. It seemed the perfect opportunity to finally get more than a game above .500 on the season and continue their improbable run at a wild card spot.
Instead, they lost two out of three to a team that has been playing better than their overall record indicates and are now back to a .500 record on the season, three games behind the Rays for the last wild card spot with both the Guardians and the White Sox between them.
The Orioles continue their road trip tonight against another team below .500, the Texas Rangers. When last we saw the Rangers, the Orioles were sweeping them in games two, three, and four of their 10-game winning streak.
While the team is trying to fight its way into the wild card, the trade deadline is looming. By tomorrow at 6 p.m. we’ll know what, if anything, the Orioles are going to do. As of now we’re still waiting to see if Trey Mancini will stay in Baltimore, not to mention Anthony Santander and the bevy of impressive pitchers in the bullpen.
Links
Hyde’s Impact on Orioles Can’t be Hidden
Roch Kubatko writes about the impact Brandon Hyde has had on this team. I’m definitely in favor of keeping him around for awhile.
Q&A with Félix Bautista, the flamethrowing Orioles rookie known as ‘The Mountain’ – The Athletic
Félix Bautista says he’s 6’8″, 280 pounds, loves Chipotle, and other baseball related things in this Q&A with Dan Connolly.
Can the Orioles Make a Run at a Shohei Ohtani Deal? – Birds Watcher
Just including this for the lolz.
Birthdays and History
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have four Orioles birthday buddies, one of whom is a very good one! Today is the 37th birthday of Orioles legend Adam Jones. Yes, I said it. He’s a legend! If you don’t agree with me, I don’t even want to hear about it.
Jones was named the 11th best Oriole of all time by this very publication, and if you want a very nice read about him, I suggest Mark Brown’s Birdland Salute, written when Adam Jones signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks in March 2019.
Also born on this day are former Orioles Travis Driskill (51), Tony Muser (75) and George Bamberger (b. 1923, d. 2004).
On this day in 1993, Glenn Davis was hit by a line drive while sitting in the dugout and knocked unconscious. Davis was still recovering from when he suffered a broken jaw in a bar fight while on a minor league demotion on account of his .460 OPS. He never played another major league game after said demotion. Ah, Glenn Davis.
In 1994, Cal Ripken played in his 2,000th consecutive game.
In 2000, the Orioles defeated the Twins 10-0 behind Mike Mussina’s third career one-hitter. The only hit came in the seventh inning as Mussina struck out 15, getting a game score of 98. That’s like, good.
In 2005, Rafael Palmeiro was suspended for testing positive for steroids. Raffy has never admitted guilt.