MIKE BURKE
Allegany Communications Sports
From 1969 to 1973, the Baltimore Orioles won the first 10 American League playoffs games they ever played. Since 2014, the Baltimore Orioles have lost the last 10 American League playoffs games they’ve played.
That’s fine. No need to panic. The Orioles, who were swept at home in two games in the AL wild-card series by the Kansas City Royals, won 91 games this year. They won 101 last year, not to mention the AL East Division title.
In this case, the breaks went the Royals’ way; but the Royals, a fine young ballclub as well, made those breaks. The game does not lie. Kansas City deserved to win – they beat the Orioles in Game 1, 1-0; and then again in the clincher, 2-1.
In Game 1, Orioles starter Corbin Burnes, one of the best pitchers in baseball, delivered a gem, getting into the ninth inning before walking off the field to a rousing ovation from the Baltimore fans after giving up just one run. But the Orioles offense, as it has too many times this season, decided there were no runs to be had.
If Game 1 was, in fact, the free-agent Burnes’ last game as an Oriole, it was a fitting farewell to Baltimore as a member of the home team, not only in how good he is, but in the overall picture that it just wasn’t meant to be.
It was time. It was just time for the Orioles season to end. Through the fault of no one, there was just too much stuff.
We saw it in the first week of the season, all the way back in late March and early April, that this was an Orioles offense that was going to be mighty or be meek. It could, and did from time to time, put up huge numbers in a game, but for the most part, particularly in the second half of the season, struggled to even score.
Certainly all of the injuries the Orioles incurred played a major part in that, but even prior to that the Orioles offense was just too inconsistent.
Without the injuries, there is no question the Orioles are the best team in the American League East, but that’s not how the game works most of the time.
With or without the injuries, the Orioles were besieged by inconsistency, particularly on offense. The pitching carried the Orioles to 91 wins, despite incurring even more damning injuries than the offense did. The pitching was not dominant, but it was very good for the most of the season. The offense was not very good, and it cost the Orioles, particularly with runners in scoring position.
With the bases loaded and no out in the fifth inning of Wednesday’s 1-1 game that ended up being the last game of the year for the Orioles, the 3-4-5 hitters – Anthony Santander, Colton Cowser and Adley Rutschman – failed to get a ball out of the infield. But that’s manager Brandon Hyde’s fault?
Orioles fans need to get off of social media for everyone’s sake (who doesn’t?). Brandon Hyde is a damn fine manager who has the respect of the entire organization, beginning with the clubhouse.
The Orioles lost over half of their Opening Day roster to injuries, including an entire rotation and infield, for most, if not the entire season, yet still won 91 games and made the playoffs.
Of course, Brandon Hyde gets no credit for that, right?
Look, this Orioles franchise, which lost over 100 games three times in the last seven years has won 275 in the past three seasons and has made the postseason two straight years, including an AL East title.
Relax. The Orioles are so close, yet, like every team in baseball but one each season, still so far.
Work will be done. Free agents, such as Burnes and Santander, may or may not leave; free agents will arrive. It all depends on what general manager Mike Elias and the new ownership group of David Rubenstein decides to do and what to spend and what not to spend.
What many overzealous fans, younger fans with a phone in their pocket in particular, don’t understand is, the Orioles are in a very good place. It just didn’t end happily ever after this season, as most seasons for most teams do not.
But just as the Orioles teams of 1977, 1979, 1980 and 1982 just missed, the team of 1983 won the World Series because the core of the aforementioned teams grew up together, came to the big leagues together and won together.
In the words of George Will, “Baseball suits the character of this Democratic nation.
“Democracy is government by persuasion. That means it requires patience. That means it involves a lot of compromise. Democracy is the slow politics of the half-loaf.
“Baseball is the game of the long season, where small incremental differences decide who wins and who loses – particular games, series, seasons.
“In baseball, you know going to the ballpark the chances are you may win, but you also may lose. There’s no certainty.
“You know when the season starts that the best team is going to get beaten a third of the time. The worst team will win a third of the time. The argument over 162 games – that middle third.
“So it’s a game you can’t like if winning is everything.
“And democracy’s that way too.”
It’s fun to win. You just can’t win them all.
Get used to the Baltimore Orioles. This was far from being their last October.
Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @MikeBurkeMDT