Baltimore Orioles Opening Day: Best Day of the Year

The Baltimore Orioles open the 2016 season on what is the best day of the calendar for true baseball fans.

And opening days have been very happy days indeed for the fans of the O’s. The Birds are currently building on a six-year opening day win streak, having won a total of 12 in the past 15 years. That is impressive. Orioles fans have a tendency to perhaps only talk about the past four successful years, but opening days have been filled with a lot of joy for a long time, even during the dark years.

The first day of baseball is the embodiment of hope and renewal, accompanied also by the return of warmer days and longer nights. At once, it also looks back to memories of seasons past, perhaps extending also to fond memories of opening days in little league baseball, Pony League, high school, etc.

Here are the openers over the past 15 years …

Chris Tillman gets the call again as the starting pitcher. Though last year was not a great campaign for him, in the bigger picture we can see where he has had successes. He looks plenty healthy this time around, and perhaps today will be the beginning of a personal revival.

Here are the starting day Orioles pitchers of the past decade, noting their previous season’s win/loss record and ERA …

Tillman only gave up one run in 6.2 innings against Tampa Bay last year in the season opener. But then, facing the Blue Jays in three of his next six starts, he was thrice destroyed in giving up a total of 19 runs in 13.2 innings of work.

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Speaking of destruction, that is what the Minnesota Twins did to the Orioles in 2015. In terms of opponents, this may have been the foe who most put the nails in the coffin for playoff aspirations. The Twins were a perfect 7-0 in sweeping the Birds last year. The O’s were outscored in those games 43 to 18.

The Orioles’ record was 62-57 on August 20^th when the Twins came into town. On that day, Minnesota spanked the O’s 15-2, swept the four-game series, putting the Birds into a losing skid of 12 of the next 13 games. Baltimore never really recovered from this.

Tillman lost his only start against the Twins last year, giving up three runs in 6.2 innings. For his career, he is 0-4 in six games against Minnesota, with a 4.82 ERA.  However, against the current lineup, the statistics are rather scant and pictures very little.

Next: What will opening day look like for Kim?

Game time is 3:05, weather permitting.