Almost four years removed from The Wire‘s finale, Charm City is still shoehorning its way onto HBO. In last night’s excellent episode of “24/7: Flyers vs. Rangers,” injured star Claude Giroux* met with trainer Jim McCrossin in his office. Trained eyes spotted a different (read: better) shade of orange lurking in the background than that nasty Flyers day-glo: Orioles orange!

A perusal of McCrossin’s bio doesn’t hint at any immediate connection to the O’s, but for what it’s worth there’s also a Boston Red Sox cap on his shelf. Uni-philes like myself will recognize the American League 100th anniversary patch, so we know it’s a jersey from 2001. Looking at the ’01 roster, it’s unclear as to who this may have been a gift from. Maybe McCrossin is just a big Ripken fan, but perhaps this was a gift from Lancaster, PA native and O’s reliever John Parrish (the only PA native listed)? Any enterprising readers with the answer should let us know in the comments.

*By the way, Claude Giroux looks like a Canadian version of Nick Backstrom. It’s all starting to make sense.

In another strange HBO/Baltimore related development, I was watching the trailer for the upcoming HBO series “Angry Boys” when I noticed a familiar face. Yep, that’s WJZ’s own Denise Koch. And yes, she is doing a story about a gay skateboarding sensation. Fans of Chris Lilley’s brilliant earlier work (“Summer Heights High”) will not be surprised at this particular story arc.

Anyway, Lilley’s work, including “Angry Boys,” has always been more or less 100% Australian, produced and shot down under and shown on T.V. there before it comes out on HBO (“Angry Boys” premiers on New Year’s Day in the states). How the heck did the woman who has read the news for 25 years in our home town get on the series (which is her only IMDb credit)? I have no idea.

Never fear, I’ve emailed Denise and I’m sure addressing this wonderful juxtaposition has moved to the top of her holiday to-do list.

UPDATE: An email from Denise Koch explains:

A friend of mine is a cousin of the casting woman for this. She’s in Australia but asked if I’d tape a little scene for them so I agreed. Didn’t actually believe it would ever come state-side but…shows what I know. I am not familiar with the other work although I clicked through it from time to time. Funny you should recognize me!

Thus concludes this thrilling saga. Consider my curiosity indulged. Thanks Denise!