You can’t help but say this was a great weekend for the Baltimore Orioles. The results speak for themselves – a series sweep. And if attendance means anything, fans are starting to take notice. The Orioles are beating teams they should beat, and holding their own against good competition.
This weekend’s series commemorated the 1983 World Series Championship team, with ceremonies held before Saturday night’s game. Now on a side note, nobody in sports does nostalgia like the Orioles. They’ve always honored the past better than any other team, perhaps in sports. And the fans have always shone out.
The other “backdrop” of this series was of course former Orioles’ manager Buck Showalter being back at Camden Yards. Showalter of course looked on from the third base dugout, where he was managing the New York Mets. The New York Mets, who find themselves mired in a season much like that of the 2018 Orioles – under Buck Showalter.
Showalter’s said many times that when you think you have it all figured out, the “baseball Gods” remind you that you don’t. Ask the Toronto Blue Jays, who fell victim to Tippy Martinez’s three pickoffs in the same inning back in 1983 (popular story told over the weekend). The 2018 Orioles and the 2023 Mets fall into that category. Should have contended; but they didn’t. And unfortunately both efforts were overseen by what I think is one of the best managers in the game.
However you know who is contending? The 2023 Orioles. Alone in first place in the AL East. Who saw that during the nadir of the past few seasons? However this weekend at Oriole Park at Camden Yards seemed to be a junction point. A rare moment in time where past, present, and future all merged into one.
So keep an eye on the first weekend of August, 2023. If the 2023 O’s, led by Brandon Hyde, go on and do special things, maybe think back to this weekend. And while I’m not going to specify, when I say “special things” I’m talking a parade down Pratt Street. There’s some sort of strange energy that grips the current Orioles, and it has something to do with the return of the 1983 team, and of Buck Showalter.
For his part; I’m sure Showalter doesn’t view things through the same romanticized lense. However he was quoted as saying he was happy for the fans. And he speaks glowingly of his time in Baltimore, and of the fans. Make no mistake, once the postseason begins, Buck will be rooting for the O’s.
And if there’s a parade on Pratt Street in 2023, he should be invited. Because he started something in Baltimore that simply was reshuffled and retooled. Make no mistake that if this team ever wins a title in the next couple of years, the price of admission will have been ONE BUCK.
The Orioles open up a series with Houston tomorrow at Camden Yards. Grayson Rodriguez gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Houston’s Frambler Valdez. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.
Birdland Crush 
Are you going to write something regarding the Kevin Brown story? Only John Angelos can turn the O’s,what has been a great season, into the laughingstock of MLB. I saw the clip in question and I’m still trying to understand what Kevin did wrong. We would love to have him in DC.
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It’s not a controversy I’m looking to delve into. I don’t see it as relevant to the games on the field, although I can’t imagine that Brown’s going to look to continue his employment with the team past his contract – and I’m not sure when that ends. And I can’t blame him if that’s what he opts to do given that he’s being done so wrong. Ironically if he goes onto have a great career with another team and/or nationally he’ll indirectly have John Angelos to thank for it.
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With due respect I beg to differ. Distractions off the field has an impact on any sports team. MLB fans were talking about how the O’s have a great young team that could dominate the AL East for the next decade. Now they are talking about what a jerk John Angelos is. The O’s fans and players read and see this stuff. This is not an insignificant local story. It has gone nationally. This is a PR disaster for the O’s!
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Yes but it doesn’t affect anyone in the clubhouse. Coaches, players – anyone. Guys aren’t going up to bay thinking “oh gosh the play by play guy is gone. Their job remains the same. It’s a PR nightmare for sure, but it would be different if say someone (on the active roster) got arrested. Heck Chris Davis getter popped for PED’s in 2014 – that was something that could have unraveled things because it affected a (major) player in the dugout. This is a controversy that the players and coaches should be able to tune out and let people talk above and around them.
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Now…one thing I wi say besides the fact that Brown’s a good announcer, a good guy, and that he’s being done wrong is that isn’t the main story. Or it shouldn’t be, at least. It almost feels like a bait-and-switch. I try to keep what I wrote based on the games (with a few exceptions). But the bigger story than Kevin Brown SHOULD be the Orioles’ lease. I can’t imagine that they could move, because Montreal’s the only city that has the semblance of a park that would be big league ready next year. And I really don’t see that happening. But still, why no lease? Even if you have to sign a one-year extension of the current lease to buy time, fact is you have to do something. The fact is that the Governor seems invested, so he at least feels like Angelos is negotiating in good faith. But if he got a lease done at least he goes from being a threat to uproot civilization as we know it, to just another thin-skinned rich guy.
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