Hello, friends.
There are 150 days remaining until the next scheduled Orioles game. There are probably something like 110 days before we will actually know whether an Orioles game or any other game will be played on that day.
They won’t be playing a World Series game today. It’s an off day as the series travels from Milwaukee to Tampa, or more accurately St. Petersburg. Game 3 will be played tomorrow. If you were watching Game 2 last night, you certainly got your fill of the excitement from the get-go,
with the Rays taking a 4-0 lead in the first inning that they gradually squandered by the sixth inning. Former Oriole Tyler Wells was involved in the Rays falling behind in the seventh.
I had to put the Bird Droppings to bed before the game ended, so maybe there was even more excitement and the Rays came back and tied up the series, or maybe the Brewers held on to take a 2-0 lead. You probably already knew before looking in here. Either way, do you think that this series will end in Florida, or will it end up going back to Wisconsin?
One thing is certain: The World Series will be over within a week, and after that, there will be a race to the end of November before the lockout hits. Will teams be looking to strike early, thinking that it will be better to head into the lockout with more certainty, or will they generally think that it’s better to try to pounce in whatever chaotic period occurs between a new Collective Bargaining Agreement and the start of the 2027 season?
Up until last season, Mike Elias had been a “wait until later” kind of guy. He did some early strikes last offseason, including the trade for Taylor Ward and the signing of Ryan Helsley. Pete Alonso getting signed was also fairly early in the offseason, though since it was in December, that same date this year will be lockout central. The only thing that I feel confident in predicting about Elias is that he’s going to do something weird. This doesn’t always equate to failure.
The Orioles definitely have a shopping list to get through this offseason, but they’ve got some stuff to figure out internally too. One of the bigger projects that they are going to need to accomplish is going to be to get Gunnar Henderson looking like his MVP-caliber self from 2024 again. Pairing that level of player with Pete Alonso would be a huge! I don’t know whether new general manager Jared Banner is going to have any better ideas than anyone who was around last year did. As you’ll see below, Henderson still has his believers with the Orioles – not like they have much choice.
Orioles stuff you might have missed
We are into the time of year where there aren’t many new stories, so if you have been diligently reading Bird Droppings, you may have already seen these.
Infield coach Miguel Cairo on Gunnar Henderson: “I want to have 26 guys like that” (Baltimore Baseball)
The 17-year major league veteran on the Orioles coaching staff likes what he sees from Henderson.
Can Jared Banner fix the Orioles? Here’s what his mentors said. (The Baltimore Banner)
We’ve all been burned with similar-sounding praise for manager Craig Albernaz a year ago, so I get it if you don’t put much stock in this. People who would know are nonetheless quite positive about the new GM hire.
Rising prospect Ethan Anderson wrapped strong season with stellar homecoming (Orioles.com)
The catching prospect, who went to high school in Virginia Beach, played the final week of the season with Triple-A Norfolk. His results at Double-A offered a nice sign that maybe not everyone from the top of the Orioles 2024 draft class is cursed.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Nothing of particular import has happened to the Orioles on October 25. It is unlikely to change until some day that they actually make the World Series again.
There are a pair of former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 1983/1988 outfielder Tito Landrum, and 1960 three-gamer Bobby Thomson.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: composer Johann Strauss (1825), composer Georges Bizet (1838), baseball Hall of Famer Pedro Martínez (1971), author Zadie Smith (1975), singer-songwriter Katy Perry (1984), singer-songwriter Ciara (1985), and gold medal figure skater Victor Zhou (2000).
On this day in history…
In 1415, England’s Henry V scored a victory in the Battle of Agincourt during the Hundred Years’ War, utilizing his longbows to defeat a numerically superior French force. Shakespeare wrote a famous speech set before the battle.
In 1812, notable Marylander Stephen Decatur – born on the Eastern Shore – led the USS United States in capturing a British warship, HMS Macedonian. Decatur eventually returned the prize to American waters, the first time an American naval vessel had brought a British warship back to an American harbor.
In 1917, according to the Old Style calendar then used in Russia, today marked the start of the October Revolution, the coup that brought the Bolsheviks to power in the country.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on October 25. Have a safe Sunday.
