Good news! The 2012 Orioles are now ahead of the pace of the 2005 team, which was the last incarnation of the O's to remain in the playoff hunt into the second half of the season. All through the current season, Baltimore fans have been haunted by comparisons to that ill-fated gang who went from first to fourth place in 30 games, lost in a quagmire of steroid suspensions, DUIs, and bad baseball. But yesterday, the present-day Birds picked up win number 51 in their 95th contest. The 2005 Orioles also happened to
play game 95 on July 22, and they dropped to 50-45 with a 7-5 road loss to the Devil Rays. Bruce Chen's five-run second inning doomed them that day, and among the position players only Larry Bigbie (3-for-4 with a home run) had more than one hit. It was the third consecutive loss in an eventual six-game skid, so the O's didn't earn their 51st win until game 99. They immediately began an eight-game slide, running their record to 51-56 with a 10.5 game deficit in the division.
I've got my tongue firmly planted in cheek here, but it's nice to be able to say that the 2012 Orioles are superior to their fluky, weary predecessors.
The last game I've seen in Baltimore was late in July of 2005. It was probably less than a week before Raffy was suspended. I remember because we were still on vacation when that happened.
ReplyDeleteWasn't long after he got his 3,000th hit either because they had the banner up on the warehouse.