WTF Orioles!!!

14 games left , Yanks are up 1/2 game on the Orioles. The O’s have won their last 2 in extra innings. So far this year they are 15-2 in extras. The odds against the Orioles winning 15 straight extra-innings games are 16,384-1.

I popped on the Orioles blog “Camden Chat” to see how the fan base is dealing with this remarkable performance.  The nugget I extracted was beautiful in its simplicity, O’s fans have begun and may forever refer to the 2012 orioles as the “WTF Orioles”, sounds appropriate to me.

I made a comment to a fellow Yankees fan this morning: “Buck must wake up every morning and check the standings to make sure he is not dreaming.” The O’s are winning close games and that is the bottom line. No superstars, they are third in majors in taters although no one with more than 30(Adam Jones). No Ace, leading pitcher Wei Yin Chen has 12 wins. Major League low 50 steals--- no speed. They are also second in the majors in home runs hit in the seventh inning and beyond. They also have a solid bullpen led by their closer Jim Johnson. 15 games to go (for the Orioles) it will be an interesting stretch run.

Clearly my heart is with the Yankees but I am glad that the Baltimore Orioles are once again relevant. Years ago I worked at a company where the mail room assistant “Jimmy” was a die-hard Orioles fan. He was a gentle man, friendly, reserved, and genuinely liked by all in the company who crossed his path. Jimmy had a warm smile and his southern roots came through in his demeanor. In this company he was alone in his loyalty to the Baltimore baseball team and the head mailroom guy (Yankees fan) used to remind him constantly of the ineptness of the Orioles.  Jimmy’s loyalty never wavered and he loved his “birds” as much as he did his Newport menthols, and his after work cold ones.  I made a trip down to Baltimore on business which I made sure to include a sidetrip to Camden Yards for a ball game. I picked up a vintage Orioles cap and got a bunch of people to chip in a couple bucks so that I could present the lid to Jimmy “from the guys”.

I don’t believe I ever saw a bigger smile from Jimmy, and he wore that hat a lot.  I have not seen Jimmy in a few years, and I am not sure if he still has that black hat with the orange bird on it, but I am sure he is smiling!