Baltimore Orioles: Celebrate! It’s Hard to Win
Sep 16, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles clinch the AL East championship after a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Orioles defeated the Jays 8-2. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports
The Baltimore Orioles are the American League East Division Champions. After thousands of articles written about the Baltimore Orioles over a period of years, I am finally able to write that glorious sentence!
The O’s took it to the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night by defeating them 8-2, making Ubaldo Jimenez the unlikely winner of the clinching game in a season filled with unlikely heroes.
Yes, “the parade of the unlikely” continued at Oriole Park, with the indomitable Steve Pearce giving the Birds the lead with a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning. Jimmy Paredes – having played most of the year in the Royals’ farm system – added another run with an opposite-field solo shot. And the revived White Sox castoff Alejandro De Aza tripled home three runs in the seventh inning to drive a stake through the heart of the Jays and the AL East.
When the Orioles win, as fans, we all share in it in some fractional way. Like me, I am sure that most of you are known in your families, communities, workplaces and associations as O’s fans. You wear the gear; there is no doubt that it is a value to you. So when the team wins, you win.
This website – The Baltimore Wire – is part of the FanSided Network. We write from the passionate perspective of the fans of our teams. So yes, when our team wins, we have a big part in the joy of the experience.
It is right to celebrate, because it is very hard to win big things. As a much older-than-average Orioles blogger, let me give you a personal perspective.
I like almost all sports, but I fell in love with baseball as a little boy in the 60s. By good luck, I was able to be in the stands for the fourth and final game of the 1966 World Series. It was an awesome experience for an 11-year-old.
In my high school years, the Baltimore Orioles were the dominant team in baseball, winning the American League in 69, 70, and 71 … along with the Series in 1970. I thought it would always be this way forever – the Orioles were clearly a dynasty.
In my college years, the Orioles won a pair of AL East titles. But it was beginning to slip a bit. And then while I was in grad school in Texas, it was painful to watch the Pirates in 1979 beat them in the World Series.
While I was busy building my first house and trying to get it done before winter, I took some time away to see the games in 1983 as they won their most recent Series.
And then came the gaps… 14 years until 1997 – the most recent AL East championship … and then the long 14 losing seasons until the wild card team of 2012. A full generation and more of Orioles fans have had little reason to be cheerful. For many of us, our children had no memory of a championship outfit.
But a few years ago, I saw some young players who were intriguing; I liked what I was seeing, started a blog to write about it to anyone who would read it, later joined this network, and watched and wrote about more developments with the team. Adam Jones became the face of the organization with Nick Markakis as the foundation. The Orioles got a real manager who was a true baseball guy. Quality pieces were added from all over the world. The atmosphere had changed.
Yes, here we are. We are a part of it. Celebrate in these days, for it is difficult to win. You cannot assume it will surely happen again soon.
There is more work to do yet this year. The Orioles are one of 10 teams with a shot to win it all; it will be difficult. But it can be done. We’ll think about all of that later.
Right now FanSided Orioles followers, celebrate.