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The World Series continues, looking ahead to the offseason, and more in today’s Bird Droppings.
Happy Tuesday, Camden Chatters! Thanks to last night’s rain, we just had two straight nights without baseball and, frankly, I’m starting to come around to the idea of giving every stadium a roof.
The rain was also in the Baltimore area, putting a damper on the Halloween plans of many people, myself included. We did get some trick-or-treating in but it was much shorter than usual, and we had fewer cute costumed kids stop by the house. So now we have a big pile of candy that we definitely don’t need. But my daughter was an adorable pumpkin and had a good night, so that’s all that matters.
Today is November 1st and there are at least three baseball games remaining, maybe five. Part of that is rainouts, part is the lockout, and part is the added round of playoffs, but five November baseball games is too many for me. I enjoy watching postseason baseball but the fatigue is starting to set in.
Of course, part of the issue is also that I have been hyped ever since Mike Elias uttered the word “liftoff” and I just can’t wait to see what happens. I’m excited to see what free agents the team goes after and I’m nervous at the idea of players I have grown fond of being traded.
After many years of slow offseasons, watching sadly while other teams make moves and my team does nothing, I am ready for a change. Especially when the change is taken on by a front office that I have some level of confidence in.
I’ll probably be disappointed.
Links
Orioles getting ready for more moves on 40-man roster – BaltimoreBaseball.com
Rich Dubroff takes a look at which minor leaguers could be added to the 40-man roster ahead of the rule 5 draft this year.
Former MLB All-Star Matt Wieters joins Georgia Tech baseball coaching staff – Yahoo Sports
Matt Wieters is becoming a coach! He’s also planning on finishing his degree. I wish him all the best.
There are plenty of defensive metrics, making sense of them is the problem – MASN
Steve Melewski thinks these defensive numbers are a bunch of mumbo jumbo, Give him the eye test any day. But also Jorge Mateo is like, really good.
Rumor Points Toward A Surprise Jacob deGrom Suitor – The Cold Wire
One guy who covers the Mets tweeted out that the Orioles might be interested in deGrom. Does this mean anything? No. But this story only has me excited for what could come.
Birthdays and History
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have four Orioles birthday buddies, including Jim Pyburn (b. 1932, d. 2011). Pyburn played three seasons in the majors, all with the Orioles. From 1955-57, Pyburn appeared in 158 games with the Orioles as an outfielder and third baseman.
Also born on this day are three one-and-done Orioles, though all played with at least one other team. Eric Hanhold (29), Steven Tolleson (39), and the legendary Fernando Valenzuela (62) are also celebrating today.
On this day in 1960, Orioles shortstop Ron Hansen won the A.L. Rookie of the Year award, getting 22 of 24 first-place votes. The other two votes went to Hansen’s teammates Chuck Estrada and Jim Gentile.
In 1979, Edward Bennett Williams acquired the Orioles from Jerold Hoffberger for the cool price of $12.3 million.
In 1999, the Chicago Cubs hired former Oriole Don Baylor, who managed the team for 2.5 seasons. Baylor had previously managed the Colorado Rockies.
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