Hello, friends.

That was a weekend of Orioles baseball that happened, huh? They waited until I absconded to Ohio for a family member’s high school graduation to press the button that had been blinking for a while, dismissing Brandon Hyde ahead of Saturday’s game. Nor was that the last of it, with the O’s designating struggling veteran starter Kyle Gibson before Sunday’s game.

Did either one of these things make a darn bit of difference in arresting the team’s free fall into oblivion? No, they did not. Friday’s ninth inning disaster gave way into terrible starting pitching outings on both Saturday and Sunday, with the O’s ultimately being outscored by nine runs over a three-game series against their southern neighbors, the Nationals. That makes a season-high six-game losing streak, and counting, after these jokers have been swept two series in a row.

Through all of this, general manager Mike Elias has not yet faced the media to answer any questions about what has transpired and what he intends to have happen next. In ordinary circumstances, I’m not a “so-and-so has to face the media!” guy because this usually involves demands for a player to appear and mouth some platitudes that are not instructive in any way.

I make an exception to my typical outlook in this case because if you’re the GM and you just fired the manager and a coach in the midst of the team being in a disastrous stretch of baseball that has a lot to do with the choices you made over the previous offseason, you better show up and take a public slice of humble pie. A few sentences in the statement announcing the firing of the manager doesn’t cut it.

Elias doesn’t even have to mean it. Just appear in front of microphones and make something adjacent to the right noises. With the team having been at home yesterday and today, with crummy losses all weekend, Elias ought to have done this. He didn’t, and it’s not hard to add to the annoyance already being felt towards him because of this. Maybe he’ll surprise me and show his face in Milwaukee as the Orioles are on the road now. I would take a cynical view of that, as he’d likely get fewer members of the local media for the away game than were present the last two days. But it would still be something.

What does he think went wrong? Why did he make the poor decisions that he made? He doesn’t have to give away any trade secrets. It’s still sort of sensitive, of course, because crapping on the players who are still here who he signed would be, as they say, a bad look. One thing I’m sure of is that if Elias is as clever of a guy as he thinks he is, he’ll be able to come up with something. So far, however, he’s staying hidden, and I don’t think very much of him for that.

A 7:40 Eastern time game awaits the Orioles in Milwaukee tonight. Quinn Priester, who is not a lefty pitcher, awaits as the Brewers starter. Dean Kremer is set to pitch for the O’s. The bar is low to do better than Gibson and Zach Eflin did over the weekend. If I have learned anything from the first 45 games this year, clearing a low bar is still not easy for these guys.

Orioles stuff you may have missed

Colton Cowser talks about recovery from fractured thumb (School of Roch)
So much has happened since Cowser injured his thumb from sliding head-first into first base. His return isn’t going to change anything bad that’s happened, but having him play instead of Heston Kjerstad ought to be at least one positive. He might be starting a rehab assignment soon.

Tyler O’Neill heads to injured list for second time (The Baltimore Banner)
One can’t help but wonder what it was in O’Neill’s profile of performance and injury history that made the typically risk-averse Elias think, THIS is the guy who will get the first multi-year contract I’ve given out to anybody.

Familiar faces, veterans who could be in play as Orioles manager candidates (The Baltimore Sun)
The photo going along with this article is Ryan Flaherty.

Interim manager Mansolino has faith O’s ‘can get back in the hunt’ (Orioles.com)
Mansolino says if the team can get back to .500, they’re back in the hunt. I’d agree with him in that assessment, but I don’t have much faith in their capability to pull off the turnaround.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Today in 2006, the Orioles reached an agreement on a contract extension with fan favorite Melvin Mora, a three-year deal that guaranteed $25 million. Mora added another 4 bWAR over the three years.

There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 1998 three-game pitcher Chris Fussell, 1986-88 outfielder Ken Gerhart, 1985 infielder Fritzie Connally, and 1982-85 outfielder Dan Ford.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: university namesake Johns Hopkins (1795), Turkish revolutionary Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881), Vietnamese revolutionary Ho Chi Minh (1890), Cambodian revolutionary Pol Pot (1925), writer/director Nora Ephron (1941), The Who musician Pete Townshend (1945), basketball Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett (1976), and entertainment personality Jojo Siwa (2003).

On this day in history…

In 1643, during the Thirty Years’ War, French and Spanish armies numbering about 50,000 men clashed in the Battle of Rocroi in northern France. The French, despite being outnumbered, won the battle. It’s noted in retrospect as the mantle of continental dominance passing from Spain to France.

In 1883, the Buffalo Bill’s Wild West tour made its opening in Omaha, Nebraska.

In 1962, Marilyn Monroe famously sang “Happy Birthday” at a salute to President John F. Kennedy.

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on May 19. Have a safe Monday.