Nolan Reimold, 2013 Topps Orioles Team Set #BAL-13

I feel very chastened after missing my second straight Vintage Friday, but I have the best of reasons. I didn't make it home from Oriole Park at Camden Yards until about 12:15 this morning, because I stayed until the not-so-bitter end of the Birds' four-hour comeback win over the Royals. Being a first-hand witness to one of the more improbable contests of the year reminded me of  how much excitement and weirdness a fan can experience over the course of a single baseball season. Just last night, the O's treated us to:

-Cuban-born outfielder Dariel Alvarez's first career home run

-A daring first-to-home dash from Manny Machado on a two-out single by Chris Davis, punctuated by a head-first slide and a swipe of home plate, just ahead of K.C. catcher Salvador Perez's tag

-Nolan Reimold's go-ahead grand slam off of the left field foul pole in the bottom of the eighth inning

-Machado greeting reliever Franklin Morales with a solo homer immediately after Reimold's grand slam, making for back-to-back four-baggers against two different pitchers

-Chris Davis responding to a presumably intentional plunking by Morales by slamming his bat into the ground, breaking it in two

-Buck Showalter earning an ejection by unleashing a hellacious tirade against home plate umpire Mark Carlson, who warned both benches after the Davis HBP but refused to eject Morales

-Steve Clevenger (who had pinch hit for Caleb Joseph earlier in the inning) earning a measure of retribution against the Royals by hitting another grand slam in the bottom of the eighth, striking his blow against old Baltimore favorite Joba Chamberlain

So all in all, that added up to a wild 14-8 O's win. In that eventful eighth inning, they tallied ten runs in a single frame for the first time since April 11, 2002, when Geronimo Gil and Mike Bordick sparked a 12-run sixth against the Devil Rays with back-to-back home runs. They also became the first major league team in a decade to hit two grand slams in one inning, and only the seventh team to ever perform that feat. It doesn't quite make up for the indignities of the 2014 ALCS, but it felt good all the same.

Miguel Gonzalez, 2013 Topps Orioles Team Set #BAL-15

I always dread the worst when I have tickets to an Orioles-Yankees game. I'm still carrying the baggage of two decades' worth of blown leads, blown calls, weird breaks, and invading New York fans. But last night the O's provided me with a little relief.

My friend Donnie, a transplanted Yankee enthusiast, also attended last night's game, so we spent the first half of it avoiding the heat and the crowd and watching from the comfort of the Free State Pub out on the concourse. From that vantage point, we saw Brian Roberts touch up Miguel Gonzalez for a solo home run in his first at-bat as a visitor to Camden Yards. An inning later, Kelly Johnson also parked a Gonzalez offering onto the flag court, putting the Bronx Bombers up 2-0. Meanwhile, the Birds were having their usual bout of trouble with opposing starter Hiroki Kuroda. They rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth with the benefit of just one hit - an Adam Jones single that reached up and bit the aging Derek Jeter at shortstop. The Orioles were able to capitalize on a rare bout of wildness from Kuroda, who plunked both Steve Pearce and J.J. Hardy, and tossed a pair of wild pitches in the two-run frame.

Gonzalez, on the other hand, settled down nicely. After the Yankees put a couple of runners in scoring position with one out in the top of the fourth, the righthander retired 14 out of the last 15 batters he faced, marred only by a pitch that got a piece of Kelly Johnson. Of course, we can't gauge intent in such matters. Miguel saved his best for last, mowing down the heart of the New York batting order on five pitches in a flawless eighth inning. Unfortunately he wasn't rewarded with a win, as Kuroda and reliever Dellin Betances kept the O's bats at bay through nine innings. Zach Britton handled the top of the ninth without incident, and T. J. McFarland accepted the baton in the 10th, dispatching the Yankees on three ground balls.

Finally Manny Machado got something going with a leadoff double against new reliever Adam Warren in the bottom of the 10th. After Ryan Flaherty failed to get him in or even over, Plan D catcher Nick Hundley drove a single up the middle. Manny raced home ahead of the throw, and dozens of black jerseys streamed onto the field. 3-2 win, and now the Orioles are guaranteed sole possession of first place in the A.L. East at the All-Star break. I'll take it.

Nate McLouth, 2013 Topps Orioles Team Set #BAL14

I'm back at last. No, I didn't stretch my honeymoon out for another three days; on the contrary, reality set in as soon as Janet and I arrived home in the rain this past Saturday evening. This week has been full of thank-you notes and laundry and organizing and getting rid of old things to make room for the new. Also, the thoroughly depressing endgame to the 2013 Orioles' season has not created great incentive for me to return to blogging. But sooner or later I have to get back on the horse, and it won't get easier if I stay away for much longer. Some random thoughts:

-Throughout our week in the Endless Mountains, Janet suggested that I should get myself some "honeymoon cards". Naturally, it didn't take much prodding. I couldn't find a hobby shop way up north in Pennsylvania, and I'm kind of worn out on my non-Topps compromises at retail stores. (One man can only buy so many Panini packs and repack boxes.) So I held off until we got home and I had some idea of how much money my bride would be spending on "honeymoon yarn" (she's an avid knitter, you see). Then I knew what kind of budget I should make for myself. In the midst of a busy Sunday spent trying to replace our old refrigerator (back to reality!), we took a mental health break and went wandering in Toys 'R' Us. I didn't blow my whole honeymoon card budget, but I did get a few discounted rack packs of 2007 Fleer Ultra and a spiffy new binder for use in conjunction with one of my wedding gifts. That right, I included Ultra-Pro binder sheets on our Amazon gift registry, and my wise friend John actually bought them for me. I've already put binder and sheets to use, as they now house a half-completed 1977 Topps set. Now I've got set binders assembled for most of the 1970s sets: 1972 and 1974-1978. It looks like 1973 will be next...

-I'm disappointed that the O's lost yet another close game on my wedding day, but there was still plenty of home team spirit to go around. Friends and family regularly stopped by our sweetheart table during dinner to deliver score updates, so I knew all about Manny Machado's 50th double and 14th home run. Similarly, my sister and I shared a moment of celebration at the rehearsal dinner on Friday night upon learning that Chris Davis had reached the 50-homer milestone. Our color theme was apple red and burnt orange, so the latter showed up in accents like cloth napkins, decorative signage, and the flowers. I'll share photos as soon as I have some. Janet and I were stumped about which song the wedding party should have for introductions, but inspiration struck at the last moment. Our bridesmaids, groomsmen, flower girls, and ultimately the new Mrs. B. and myself were all introduced to the strains of Mr. Mister's "Kyrie", which you might also know as one of Nate McLouth's preferred at-bat walkup songs. Finally, our farm wedding locale gave me the ideal excuse to make a request to the DJ: John Denver's "Thank God I'm a Country Boy", a seventh-inning stretch standard in Baltimore since the early days of Orioles Magic. By a stroke of good timing, the song was played deep enough into the reception that both Janet and yours truly were free of all other obligations and were able to burn up the dance floor in the refurbished barn. Meanwhile most of our guests were happy to watch from the sidelines and clap along to the beat. It was the single most enjoyable and enduring moment of the reception from my point of view.

-Last night kicked off the final homestand of the 2013 season for the Birds and their fans. There will be no postseason this year. It's a shame that things are ending this way (ongoing six-game losing streak, Manny Machado knee injury, etc.), because I truly believe that this year's team is fundamentally better than the "Buckle Up" club that surprised us all with 93 wins and a Division Series berth in 2012. They've got better defense, better starting pitching on the whole, and career-best offensive production from Chris Davis, Adam Jones, and Machado. But they haven't had any of the lucky breaks that just seemed to snowball in the most wonderful way one year ago. Keeping in mind that I have barely seen any of the baseball the Orioles have played in the last two weeks, the ebb and flow of these games and the storylines that are trickling out of them can be simplified as such: these guys are dog-tired. They've been in the daily grind for seven months, fighting in a tightly-contested division and even more tightly-contested wild card scenario, they've all got their own cumulative aches and pains that we'll never even hear about, many of them have dealt with travel snares and family issues and media and fan pressure and God knows what else. Hell, they've had ONE day off in the past four weeks. Maybe the successes of 2012, the relative disappointments of 2013, and the often razor-thin margins between the two, have given me a new perspective on the fan experience. These Orioles are not losers, or failures, or jokes. They're a bunch of guys who have had a rough couple of weeks on the job in difficult circumstances. This has also been my first year as a partial season-ticket holder. I've been to two dozen or more games, many of them exciting and joyous, others dull and frustrating. I've found a comfortable rhythm to the Camden Yards experience: when to arrive, what to eat, what to drink, where to sit, who I'll see sitting in the stands around me from game to game. I feel at home in Oriole Park in a way that I never did before. So as I came down from the stress of wedding planning, the elation of the big event, and the peace and simplicity of the honeymoon, the rapidly-approaching conclusion of the baseball season caught me off guard. There will be no postseason in Charm City. The tickets I hold for tonight's game, tomorrow's game, and Saturday's penultimate game are all that stand between me and the long, quiet uncertainty of the offseason. I feel a more profound sense of loss this September than I can ever remember feeling before. I will spend these three games saying my goodbyes to the sights and sounds and tastes of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. But I will see you again next year, my old friend. Early and often.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards, 2013 Topps Orioles Team Set #BAL-17

We drove back home from Ocean City yesterday afternoon and barely had time to unpack our bags before heading downtown for the Orioles-Yankees game. As my sister and I took our usual place in Section 340, we grimaced as we watched scores of navy blue-clad New York fans filled up the seats around us. There's nothing worse than obnoxious Yankee rooters taking over the ballpark and taunting the local fans as a game slips away; I'm still a bit scarred from Jim Johnson's ninth-inning meltdown on May 20.

I turned to Liz and wished out loud for an O's blowout win. I wouldn't say that I was confident in such a result, but there were some positive signs. The Zach Britton-David Phelps pitching matchup gave the home team a fighting chance, and the Yanks lineup has cratered. Jayson Nix batting second? Vernon Wells cleanup? $200 million doesn't buy much depth these days. We also took solace in the presence of fellow Birds fans immediately to our left and right.

Of course, the Orioles granted my wish in the first inning by hammering Phelps out of the gate. Five batters in, they had a 4-0 lead, courtesy of an Adam Jones RBI single and a towering three-run homer to the Baltimore bullpen by (all together now) Chris Davis. Two innings later, it went from a comfy lead to a laugher, as Chris Dickerson singled in a pair of runs and Ryan Flaherty knocked Phelps out with his own three-run clout to the flag court. The "Let's Go Yank-ees!" chants had been stifled almost before they could begin.

I spent the middle and late innings bonding with a boisterous fan sitting to my right. He was wearing an Adam Jones t-shirt, and had made a rare trip east from Frederick with his wife to see the game. They reserved a hotel room in the city in order to drink and be merry without worrying about getting back home safely. As my new pal treated me to a 16-ounce can of Natty Boh, he told me about his hazy memory of the Orioles' 1983 World Series win. He was only eight years old at the time, and didn't fully comprehend the reason for his mother's excitable dancing in the living room. October 16 just happened to be his mom's birthday, and he assumed that she got a really nice present. I guess she did, actually.

The Yankees got frisky enough to chase Britton and plate a couple of runs in the sixth inning, but when  Davis stepped to the plate with Nick Markakis on first base and two outs in the bottom of the inning, the guy to my right assured the New Yorkers (and wannabe New Yorkers) in our vicinity that it would be 11-2 in a moment. Chris made good on that boast by launching a moon shot over the right field scoreboard for his 30th home run of 2013. Yep, it's still June.

Pedro Strop made his now-customary garbage time appearance in the ninth, but even he proved incapable of coughing up a nine-run lead so late in the game. The Yankees settled for one more run and an 11-3 loss. For me and my sister, vacation lasted a few more hours.

J. J. Hardy, 2013 Topps Orioles Team Set #BAL-5

Today was a momentous day for the Orioles: J. J. Hardy stole his first base in two and a half years with the team.

Okay, that's not the headline. The O's won their league-best 16th series of 2013 by demolishing the Central-leading Tigers, 13-3. The Baltimore bats pounded out 17 hits, with the big blows coming from (shock of shocks) Chris Davis, who had a double and a pair of towering two-run homers, his 25th and 26th of the season. Taylor Teagarden added a three-run shot, giving him more runs batted in than hits. Nate McLouth chipped in with three hits and his career-best 24th stolen base, Adam Jones knocked in three runs...it was truly a group effort.

But back to Hardy. He had a single and a sacrifice fly and played his usual impeccable shortstop. He may still be basking in the glow of last night's game, when he hit his third home run of the season against 2011 American League MVP and Cy Young Justin Verlander. Overall, J. J. is rebounding nicely from a subpar offensive effort in 2012. After a slow start, he's gotten his average up to .271 on the year with 14 home runs and 43 RBI.

Thanks to the absence of Derek Jeter and the Orioles' recent success and increased fan interest, Hardy is one of four O's who would be slated to start the All-Star Game if voting ended today. Even in the Davey Johnson glory years of the late 1990s, I've never seen the Birds enjoy such popularity in Midsummer Classic voting. Jones is leading all AL outfielders in votes (even that Mike Trout guy), and seems primed to make his third All-Star appearance. Hardy's lone trip to the showcase game was back in 2007 as a Milwaukee Brewer. The other two Orioles sitting in prime position are Davis, who is holding off Prince Fielder at first base, and Nick Markakis, who is something of a surprise would-be starter. Nick was a victim of the O's long fallow period, as his superior early-career performances were largely unrecognized. He doesn't drive the ball like he once did (.488 slugging % in 2007-08, .417 to date in 2013) and has lost some zip on his throwing arm in right field, but it would be nice to see his teammates push him toward Citi Field in early July after he had to carry the weight for so long.

It's mid-June. The O's are in the thick of the American League East and Wild Card races, they're 11 games over .500 and have a whole handful of key players dotting the statistical leaderboards, and it seems like things are as they should be. This is why I hung in there for so many years.