The Birds finally got off the schneid (again) on Wednesday, with some much-needed magic. Now they head off to Toronto to play a Blue Jays team that has demolished them all year, and that has demolished most everyone in front of them lately. Fun. Maybe they O’s can finally win some road games, but I’m not gonna hold my breath. I’ll be watching anyway though, and likely beating my head against the nearest wall.
Let’s get to some O’s links, which actually have some potential reasons for optimism today.
More than Iron Man – Cal’s Second Basemen Remember a Legend
Here in Baltimore, we remember Cal Ripken, Jr. the baseball player as an amazing player first, and as “the guy who broke the streak” second. It’s odd to think that it’s the opposite for folks in other cities, but it makes sense – they didn’t watch him play every day during said streak like we did, and Cal played in an era where it was a little harder to follow teams outside of your home market. Jesse Spector of Sporting News has a great column this week in which he spoke to four second basemen who played with Cal during his streak, and got some priceless stories. My favorite is the one about Cal calling pitches from shortstop. Check it out.
On Mychal Givens and the O’s 2016 Bullpen
One pleasant surprise in this year’s soul-crushing second half has been the pitching of Mychal Givens out of the bullpen. Matt Kremnitzer of Camden Depot looks ahead to the 2016 bullpen, where Givens could help offset the potential loss of Darren O’Day in what should once again be a strength of the team.
Mark Brown of Camden Chat gives us some reasons to keep watching the 2015 Orioles, and a few ways in which they could at least quell the flames of this raging dumpster fire over the last few weeks. A starting pitcher remembering how to pitch? Schoop keeps raking? Manny stays at short? All things that could happen, but all things that might not. I, for one, am on the edge of my seat.
Finding the Silver Linings in 2015
Good ol’ Claudecat finds his way back into today’s links for the first time in a while, with a list of players who haven’t been completely awful for the Birds this year. Unfortunately, he even had to break some of them into “X guy (1st half)” or “Y player (second half),” but there are at least a couple Orioles who were good-to-very-good all season. So, let’s celebrate them!
The Left Field Disaster of 2015
Ok, enough being positive. Let’s get back to the depressing reality of things. Randy Buchman of The Baltimore Wire breaks down just how pathetic the Orioles left fielders have been in 2015, and it’s worse than I even realized. From Alejandro De Aza to Travis Snider to Steve Pearce to David Lough to Nolan Reimold to Henry Urrutia to….ugh, to the bar! I don’t care how early it is, I need a drink.
Have a great holiday weekend, Birdland.
