A win tonight over Boston, and the Baltimore Orioles win the AL East pennant. And they’ll have done it the right way. By building from the bottom up.
Remember when they traded Manny Machado and others in 2018? That event was the beginning. Today has the potential to bookend as the end of the process.
In truth however, the end of the process was awhile ago. But capturing the division pennant would be symbolic in nature of the road traversed. And folks, it’s only baseball that can make us think in those terms. Remember that.
A moment and a day such as this one remind us of where we’ve come from in a given span of time. And everyone has their stories that run parallel to whatever happened with the Orioles. Speaking for myself, I became an Uncle to the most awesome little boy in the world in 2021, after almost losing my Dad to COVID. Then almost bit it myself last year due to diabetes. But that’s under control and I live a very normal life, my Dad’s okay, and my nephew’s still amazing.
That aside, this team is incredibly embedded into the lives of the people who follow it. Baltimore and the Orioles are a community unlike any other, perhaps in professional sports. And part of that is because baseball reminds us of our past, and where we come from. Why we started following it in the first place. We all had the moments as kids at cookouts with the ballgame on in the background. Or at the beach, listening on the radio. Or whenever.
And tonight all of those thoughts and memories come juxtaposed with the immediacy of potentially winning the division pennant. With the B & O Warehouse as the backdrop. So for the Orioles and the fans, now with the path to destiny closer than ever, there’s only one thing left to do: WIN THE WHOLE THING.
Birdland Crush 