101-61
That was the final record for our Baltimore Orioles this 2023 regular season. It was a surreal, captivating, inspiring-- simply a fun ride from late March to today. The Rays surged out early, looking like the class of the MLB for the first few months, while our O's just quietly plugged away.
In early July, despite a worse record and a visibly inferior on-field product, the Yankees still had better odds to win the AL East. But the Orioles weren't playing for recognition by the sportsbooks, they were just a young team trying to have a good time out on the diamond and win some ball games. Which is exactly what continued to happen.
By mid-August, the Rays had to dismiss their star shortstop from the team while authorities investigated the extent of his pedophilia. Right around that time, Baltimore had finally surpassed them for the divisional lead. While it felt too early to say then, you could just feel that it was locked up. Tampa was slowly burning out, with injuries and distractions dousing the remaining flames, while Brandon Hyde's crew remained steady. Some days, nothing more or less.
It was a year that spoiled a fan like myself. The O's never got swept, the down spells were over after no more than three games. When a few players would get cold, a few others would step up. When we needed a spark, Norfolk was teeming with youthful options to tinker the lineup with. It was truly a machine.
Things culminated Wednesday night, against a familiar foe in the Boston Red Sox. Good Dean showed up, knowing the gravity surrounding the evening, and dominated through his 5.1 of work. Two hits, one walk and eight strikeouts to outduel Chris Sale. Anthony Santander homered early and Heston Kjerstad, one of those aforementioned spark plugs, added an insurance run on an RBI double late to build up a 2-0 lead.
Then Tyler Wells came in to slam the door, sending Camden Yards into a frenzy. The job is far from over, but the rebuild can officially be declared a success. This fan base, some more patient then others, went through hell to get to this point. But here we are. A moment to soak in.
Not as deserved as it was for some of these players, however-- Austin, Tony, Mounty, Cedric. We felt like a laughingstock as fans, and all we were doing was watching a game. They were the ones getting booed, publicly humiliated and nationally mocked on a nightly basis. For them to get to not only stick around for this, but thrive and contribute toward it, is special.
Suck on that Buster.
Truly, we need to be grateful at the speed of such a turnaround. From 100 losses to 100 wins in two seasons is unheard of. A masterclass by Mike Elias-- trusted his process through and through, never acting with impulse or reckless abandon, and the result has come along just as meticulously. The rare kind of GM who warrants the blank check treatment.
Now this core of players enters uncharted territory. They're no longer the pesky underdogs, but the #1 seed after a dominant season wire to wire. The target's on their back and it's now time to put up their hands (or wings?) and get ready to swing. Do or die, gentlemen.
A little salty that our ALDS draw is either going to be against Tampa or Texas, rather then Toronto or Minnesota, but we knew we'd have to beat some good teams to get to the promise land. Personally, of the two, I'd rather play Tampa, but not afraid of either!
What we really needed was this five day break. Impeccable timing after playing on 23 of the final 24 days to wrap up the season, which absolutely drained the bullpen. You could even see it starting to wear on the skill players toward the end, despite Hyde's constant shuffling of the lineups. Supreme credit to the team for going 13-10 in that stretch, especially with the magnitude surrounding some of those games. Whoever takes that series is going to have to deal with a fresh and motivated bunch.
I'd imagine we'll be seeing Kyle Bradish on the mound to start things off game one, versus whoever wins between the Rays and Rangers. Grayson should follow him, then either John Means or Dean Kremer. I don't want Gibson to be anymore than a long reliever, while Flaherty can continue to come in as a relief arm. Their additions to the bullpen definitely will help maneuver some pesky situations.
College football will be irrelevant for a few hours this Saturday for game one of this divisional round, as Birdland locks in for what looks to be a compelling postseason run. The beer will be cold, that I assure.
Shoutout Norfolk for their first AAA Championship. They defeated Buffalo in two out of three games before knocking out the Oklahoma City Dodgers in a 1-game AAA finale, by a score of 7-6. Colton Cowser was down to two strikes in the top of the seventh before a big grand slam blew things open.
Connor Norby hit two run dinger two innings later that ended up being essential, as the Norfolk pen gave up four runs in the bottom of the final frame, making things far too interesting late. It was a fantastic and deserved finish to one of the more dominant AAA rosters you'll ever come across. The future's quite possibly brighter than the present.
See y'all after the first series for some playoff talk, keep a look out.
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@Choppinglines
*I own no rights to any images found in this blog
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