Adam Jones, 2013 Topps Opening Day #76

I've been wondering what I could say about the Orioles' 2014 season that I haven't already said over the past six or seven months. It was a thrilling ride, often frustrating, but even more often delightful. I think I captured my feelings succinctly last Wednesday, while watching the O's go down fighting in their ALCS and season finale against Kansas City: I just wasn't ready for it to end. Not yet.

Including the postseason, the Orioles played 169 meaningful games in 2014. They won 99 of them, a level of success they hadn't approached since 1997. That was something of a common phrase throughout the year: "since 1997". It's little wonder, since that was the last time the O's stood atop the American League East after 162 games. Make no mistake, this team belongs to Baltimore's baseball history in a high place, as does that wire-to-wire squad. As the saying goes, "flags fly forever". The Orioles might have been stopped four wins short of the pennant, and eight shy of the big shiny trophy, but they were still division champions. That flag will hang in Camden Yards next year, and the year after, and so on. A four-game stretch of bad breaks and near misses shouldn't cancel out 162 (or 165) successful games.

In my second year as a season-ticket holder, I was fortunate to attend 25 games, including the first three of the club's four postseason home contests. It was my pleasure to witness 17 wins against just eight losses:

Rk	Gm#	Date		Tm	Opp	W/L	R	RA	Inn	W-L	Rank	GB	Win	Loss	Save	Time	D/N	Attendance
1	1	Monday, Mar 31	boxscore	BAL	BOS	W	2	1		1-0	1	Tied	Britton	Lester	Hunter	2:53	D	46,685
11	11	Saturday, Apr 12	boxscore	BAL	TOR	W-wo	2	1	12	5-6	4	1.5	Britton	Redmond		3:39	N	30,446
23	23	Saturday, Apr 26	boxscore	BAL	KCR	W-wo	3	2	10	12-11	2	1.5	Britton	Duffy		3:09	N	34,941
33	33	Friday, May 9	boxscore	BAL	HOU	W	4	3		19-14	1	up 0.5	Chen	Williams	Hunter	2:29	N	28,875
35	35	Sunday, May 11	boxscore	BAL	HOU	L	2	5		20-15	1	up 1.5	Cosart	Tillman	Qualls	3:21	D	45,944
45	45	Thursday, May 22	boxscore	BAL	CLE	L	7	8	13	23-22	3	1.5	Outman	Patton	Atchison	4:22	N	18,894
47	47	Saturday, May 24	boxscore	BAL	CLE	L	0	9		24-23	3	2.5	Kluber	Jimenez		3:05	D	36,873
60	60	Saturday, Jun 7	boxscore	BAL	OAK	W	6	3		31-29	2	5.5	Gausman	Gray		2:51	N	44,202
64	64	Wednesday, Jun 11	boxscore	BAL	BOS	W	6	0		33-31	2	4.5	Chen	De La Rosa		2:49	N	25,886
66	66	Friday, Jun 13	boxscore	BAL	TOR	L	0	4		34-32	3	4.5	Hutchison	Jimenez	McGowan	2:44	N	44,031
77	77	Wednesday, Jun 25	boxscore	BAL	CHW	W-wo	5	4	12	41-36	2	1.5	Hunter	Webb		4:03	N	22,020
80	80	Saturday, Jun 28	boxscore	BAL	TBR	L	4	5		42-38	2	1.5	Bedard	Chen	McGee	3:13	D	36,387
90	90	Wednesday, Jul 9	boxscore	BAL	WSN	L	2	6		49-41	1	up 2.5	Fister	Norris		2:50	N	35,575
92	92	Friday, Jul 11	boxscore	BAL	NYY	W-wo	3	2	10	51-41	1	up 3.0	McFarland	Warren		3:05	N	45,389
119	119	Wednesday, Aug 13	boxscore	BAL	NYY	W	5	3		69-50	1	up 7.5	O'Day	Kelley	Britton	2:45	N	37,587
129	129	Monday, Aug 25	boxscore	BAL	TBR	W	9	1		74-55	1	up 6.0	Tillman	Odorizzi		2:56	N	15,516
131	131	Wednesday, Aug 27	boxscore	BAL	TBR	L	1	3		75-56	1	up 6.0	Smyly	Gausman	McGee	2:44	N	20,762
139	139	Thursday, Sep 4	boxscore	BAL	CIN	W	9	7		82-57	1	up 9.5	Hunter	Parra	Britton	3:26	N	21,114
146	146	Friday, Sep 12 (1)	boxscore	BAL	NYY	W-wo	2	1	11	87-59	1	up11.5	Brach	Warren		3:51	D	31,871
147	147	Friday, Sep 12 (2)	boxscore	BAL	NYY	W	5	0		88-59	1	up11.5	Norris	Mitchell		2:57	N	43,707
151	151	Tuesday, Sep 16	boxscore	BAL	TOR	W	8	2		91-60	1	up13.5	Jimenez	Hutchison		3:02	N	35,297
152	152	Wednesday, Sep 17	boxscore	BAL	TOR	W	6	1		92-60	1	up14.5	Norris	Happ		3:13	N	37,537
Rk	Gm#	Date		Tm	Opp
	ALDS Game 1	Thursday, Oct 2	boxscore	BAL	DET	W, 12-3			WP: Tillman LP: Scherzer
	ALDS Game 2	Friday, Oct 3	boxscore	BAL	DET	W, 7-6			WP: Brach LP: Soria SV: Britton
	ALCS Game 1	Friday, Oct 10	boxscore	BAL	KCR	L, 8-6 (10 IN)			WP: Davis LP: O'Day SV: Holland

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 10/21/2014.

If you go further down the rabbit hole with me, you'll see that things started well with a personal four-game win streak, followed by a dip that tracked the team's first-half struggles. Then there was a 10-1 stretch (and an embedded seven-game win streak) that lasted through the season's second half and on into the ALDS, before those magical, mystical Royals gummed things up on October 10. But still, I experienced a lot of great games and moments, including:

• Opening Day, featuring the first of Nelson Cruz's career-high 40 home runs.
• Five walkoff wins. The heroes in those games were David Lough, Nick Markakis, Lough again (scoring on a wild pitch, and this game gets an asterisk anyway, because I reluctantly left during a lengthy late rain delay on a work night), Nick Hundley, and Jimmy Paredes. Go figure, right?
• Kevin Gausman's first major league win as a starting pitcher.
• Two of the team's 13 shutouts. How long has it been since the Birds had such a strong pitching staff?
• Four of Baltimore's pivotal 13 wins over the Yankees, including both ends of a doubleheader sweep, the first twinbill they'd taken from New York in 30 years.
• A two-homer, four-run eighth-inning rally to down the Yanks in mid-August.
• A raucous win over the Rays that featured separate instances of back-to-back AND back-to-back-to-back home runs (a first in team history), as well as an astounding catch-and-throw by Adam Jones to take three runs away from Tampa Bay.
• The first division-clinching win in Charm City since 1969.
• Christian Walker's big league debut and first career hit, as well as a multi-homer game from Steve Pearce.
• The first and second games of the Orioles' three-game ALDS sweep over Detroit's three Cy Young winners, featuring a pair of incredible eighth-inning offensive outbursts.
• The first ALCS game at Camden Yards (all together now) since 1997. It represented the beginning of the end for the O's, but the atmosphere was surreal and the game was exhilarating, featuring a comeback from a four-run deficit before the home team succumbed in the tenth inning.

That's just from a 15 percent slice of the team's full schedule. I wasn't there for the walkoff homers from Matt Wieters, Chris Davis, and Manny Machado, or Manny's acrobatic defense in his injury-shortened season, or Caleb Joseph's five-game home run streak, or the 60th anniversary ceremonies...it goes on and on. The 2014 Orioles were a joy to watch, and I'm already missing them.

Brian Roberts, 2013 Topps #515

My closing thoughts on the Orioles' division-winning 2014 season will have to wait another day. While Janet and I were visiting her family in Charlotte last weekend, a former Oriole with North Carolina ties officially called it quits. Durham native Brian Roberts announced his retirement in an interview with Fox Sports Radio, saying that two "very good teams" showed interest in him following his midseason release from the Yankees, but that he declined. He realized that he wasn't able to play at the level he'd previously been accustomed to, and didn't wish to keep dragging along.

Here in Baltimore, we already said our goodbyes when the O's decided not to re-sign Roberts after last season, leading to his short-lived stint in the Bronx. The second baseman concluded his 14-year career with a batting line of .276/.347/.409, with a perfectly adequate 101 OPS+. He totaled 367 doubles, 97 homers, 542 RBI, and 285 steals in 358 tries. He was an All-Star in 2005 and 2007, and led the American League in doubles twice, including a career-high and franchise-record 56 two-baggers in 2008. He also went 50-for-57 in stolen bases in 2007 to top the junior circuit.

I'm glad that Brian was healthy enough this season to play 91 games, but I'm sorry that his career ended so soon, and that he wasn't able to participate in the postseason with the Orioles. He deserved it after everything he did in Baltimore, but baseball isn't always about who deserves what.

Gregg Zaun, 1996 Score Dugout Collection #110

Now that the Orioles unfortunately cleared my schedule for the weekend, I'm going silent until Monday. I'll be back with an elegy for a fantastic baseball season that ended a bit too soon. I promise I won't be away as long as Gregg Zaun, who hasn't been featured on this blog since his brief return to the O's roster back in 2009.

Jim Palmer, 2014 Topps Heritage Baseball Flashbacks #BF-JP

It's Jim Palmer's 69th birthday. The Orioles couldn't possibly get swept out of the ALCS on their greatest pitcher's birthday, could they? This season has been so much fun. I'm not ready for it to end. Not yet.

Ben McDonald, 1994 Pinnacle #184

I remain stubbornly optimistic about the Orioles' chances to win in Kansas City tonight, and I'm not the only one. Courtesy of Twitter:

The O is 4 Orioles. Let's go O's! #OriolesMagic #OriolesvsRoyals #ALCS #kansas #bowhunt #realtreeoutdoors #whynot pic.twitter.com/3vbg7YM8ut
— Ben McDonald (@realbenmcdonald) October 14, 2014

Just to recap, Ben McDonald went out hunting today and painted an "O" into the camouflage pattern on his face. I don't see Kevin Appier in the brush with a "KC" painted on his cheek. Do work, boys.

Matt Riley, 2000 Skybox Metal Universe Talent Show #2

Tonight's schedule Game Three of the ALCS in Kansas City was a bigger washout than Matt Riley. The game was postponed due to heavy rains, called off three hours before the scheduled 8 PM start time. The Orioles and Royals will try again tomorrow, with Wei-Yin Chen trying to best Jeremy Guthrie and prop up Baltimore's flagging hopes. The waiting is driving me up a wall, but I'll hang in for another 22 hours.

Darren O'Day, 2014 Orioles Postcards

You know it's been a rough weekend at the office when Darren O'Day is the losing pitcher on back-to-back days. But maybe the flight back to Kansas City will dislodge the lucky horseshoe that has been jammed up the rear ends of the Royals. Even down 2-0, I'm not counting out the O's, especially after Jarrod Dyson went and stuck his foot in his mouth. As a wise man once said:

"What? Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no! And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the goin' gets tough... the tough get goin'! Who's with me? Let's go!"

Forget it, he's rolling. I'll see you back in Baltimore on Friday night, Birds.

Nick Markakis, 2014 Donruss Jersey Kings #37

Okay, so last night didn't go according to plan. But it was still an incredible, strange, tense game, and it takes four wins to go to the World Series...not one. I figured it was a good omen when I pulled this Nick Markakis jersey relic from a rack pack of 2014 Donruss Series Two on Thursday, but 'Kakes had an uneven first game of the ALCS. He collected two singles, a double, a run scored, and a stolen base, but was slow to get to Alex Gordon's three-run double in the right field corner and also made the final out in the tenth inning with the tying runs on base. So it goes. In a few minutes, Bud Norris will get a shot at evening up the series.

Vintage Friday: Gary Roenicke, 1980 Topps #568

Tonight, the Orioles begin their quest to win the franchise's first American League pennant since 1983, and I'll be on hand at Camden Yards. May every Baltimore batter be imbued with the spirit of Gary Roenicke, who set LCS records in that showdown with the White Sox 31 years ago. The O's outfielder reached based nine times in ten trips to the plate, with five walks, a single, a double, a home run, a hit-by-pitch, four runs scored, and four RBI. His .900 OBP, 1.750 SLG, and 2.650 OPS are all tops in league championship history, small sample sizes be damned. So let's go O's, and stay away, rain!

J. J. Hardy, 2011 Topps Orioles Team Set #BAL15

Today is my father's 60th birthday, and the Orioles gave him a damned fine present: three more years of J. J. Hardy. On the eve of the ALCS opener, the Birds locked up the would-be free agent with a three-year contract extension that will pay him $40 million. It also includes a vesting option that could keep the Gold Glove shortstop in Baltimore through 2018. It's risky to have any player contracted through his age 35 season, but I know I'm glad to be able to watch James Jerry do his thing in the middle of the O's infield for the foreseeable future, and I'm sure Dad is happy too.

Tippy Martinez, 1984 Fleer #12

As the Orioles prepare for Friday's ALCS opener against the Royals, today is the anniversary of the game in which Baltimore clinched its last trip to the World Series.

It was 31 years ago - October 8, 1983 - that the Orioles outlasted the White Sox in a 3-0, ten-inning nailbiter to capture the American League pennant, three games to one. Storm Davis tossed six scoreless innings, and winning pitcher Tippy Martinez kept the Pale Hose off the board for the final four frames. Chicago starter Britt Burns carried his shutout bid into the top of the tenth inning before role player Tito Landrum blasted a go-ahead solo home run to chase him from the game with one out. Reliever Salome Barojas failed to retire a batter, yielding three straight singles. Gary Roenicke had the third of those hits, driving in a second run. Benny Ayala's sac fly against Juan Agosto capped the scoring, and once Martinez got those last three outs, the Birds had a date with the Phillies in the Fall Classic.

Jeremy Guthrie, 2009 Upper Deck #31

Hey, Jeremy Guthrie, you seem like a pretty cool guy and all. You did a lot of good things in your five years in Baltimore, and made some dreadful teams a little more enjoyable to watch. I'm glad you've got a good thing going in Kansas City, I really am. But there's no way the Orioles can let this Royals gravy train roll into the World Series unchecked. For the next week or so, I just can't wish you and your ilk well. It's not personal, it's just baseball.

Jay Gibbons, 2006 Fleer Tradition #119

Much like he did in 2012, Jay Gibbons took in an ALDS game at Camden Yards last week. Even better, he was hanging out with Larry Bigbie. Personally, I like it. For good or bad, those guys were part of the rough times that the Orioles endured from 1998 through 2011. They didn't enjoy losing games any more than we enjoyed watching it all. So if they want to come back and experience a jam-packed, noisy, energetic Oriole Park, something that was a rarity when they played here in the mid-2000s, more power to them. It's not just the Brooks Robinsons and Scott McGregors that belong to the 60-year legacy of this team.

Here's your photographic proof - Gibbons on the left, Bigbie on the right. Picture via imgur.

Bud Norris, 2014 Topps Heritage #417

Bud Norris gave the Orioles 6.1 innings of two-hit baseball, striking out six en route to a 2-1 ALDS-clinching victory today. The O's, who were treated as something of an underdog, swept the Tigers despite facing the last three Cy Young Award winners in succession. Thursday was Max Scherzer. Friday they outlasted Justin Verlander. And this afternoon, they bested old Tampa Bay nemesis David Price. Price flinched before postseason novice Norris, as Nelson Cruz hooked a fly ball just inside the right field foul pole with Adam Jones aboard to give Baltimore a 2-0 lead. Zach Britton made things tense by yielding back-to-back doubles to the Martinezes to begin the ninth, but closed out the one-run win with a double play grounder off the bat of questionable pinch hitter Hernan Perez.

Kansas City is five outs away from wrapping up an even more surprising ALDS sweep of the 98-win Angels. If that result holds, the Orioles will have home field advantage in the American League Championship Series and will host the Royals in the opener on Friday. The Birds are four wins away from a return to the World Series.

Jim Palmer, 2003 Topps Tribute World Series #120

In his storied career with the Orioles, Jim Palmer was on the winning end of four postseason sweeps. Most notable was the four-game upset of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale's Dodgers in the 1966 World Series, which included Palmer's four-hit shutout in Game Two, several days shy of his 21st birthday. However, the Birds also dominated the American League Championship Series in the earliest days of division play, sweeping away the Twins in 1969 and 1970 and then dispatching the Athletics in three straight games in 1971. Coincidentally, Jim was the winning pitcher in the Game Three clincher in all three series. Each time, he tossed a complete game, because that's just how damn good he was.

Palmer's nine-inning effort on October 5, 1971 in Oakland was an exercise in perseverance. He walked three, struck out three, and allowed seven hits. The A's actually hit three solo home runs off of the future Hall of Famer - Reggie Jackson had a pair and Sal Bando also went deep. But the O's made it hold up, as the offense reached opposing starter Diego Segui and a young Rollie Fingers for five runs. Don Buford had three hits from the top of the order, Brooks Robinson drove in a couple, and the Birds were bound for their third straight World Series. As fate would have it, that was the most recent postseason series sweep by an Orioles team.

Tomorrow is October 5, wouldn't you know? Bud Norris will take the mound at Comerica Park in Detroit with an opportunity to clinch an ALDS sweep for Baltimore against the Tigers. This would please me, and Jim Palmer would probably approve of it as well. Stay tuned.

Vintage Fridays: Bob Grich, 1975 Topps #225

So here's a text message I received from my sister at 8:43 this morning, after I'd already been at work for an hour and a half:

"You definitely can't go today? My boss gave me two tickets in section 54."

Needless to say, I crunched the numbers on my annual leave and figured out that I could spare a few hours to cheer on the Orioles in Game Two of the Division Series...especially from a vantage point above the visitors' dugout. By the time we both left work, met up, and found parking, the game was already underway. But we only missed the top of the first inning, so we had a close view of all of the excitement. Seated at the end of our row was a gentleman in an orange Bobby Grich throwback jersey; he certainly had better taste than the guy who was spotted in an Armando Benitez jersey at last night's game. I had worried that the park might be less than full for a noon start time on a Friday, but I was off the mark. Attendance was 48,058, a sellout plus standing room, and the orange towels and shouts and cheers and applause seemed to reach critical mass as Nick Markakis gave the Orioles a 2-0 lead with a third-inning homer off of Justin Verlander; it was Nick's first ever postseason four-bagger.

Things took a troubling turn in the top of the fourth, as Wei-Yin Chen managed to give up five runs on just ten pitches. The big blow was a three-run homer by Miguel Cabrera, who was kind enough to gesture toward the fans as he jogged home, shouting and taunting like a real champion. The Tigers had gotten the best of Baltimore's lefty starter, but they didn't have much luck against his replacement. Kevin Gausman relieved Chen with two outs in the inning and a runner on first, and proceeded to retire nine of the first ten batters he faced, striking out five and yielding only a single to Torii Hunter. Hunter was promptly wiped out thanks to an incredible Flaherty-Schoop-Pearce double play. Gausman ran out of gas in the eighth inning, and a Victor Martinez double pushed the Tigers lead back to three at 6-3. Still, Cabrera was gunned down at the plate on the play and Brad Brach got the O's out of the jam.

After Thursday night's eight-run outburst in the bottom of the eighth, even a three-run deficit didn't seem hopeless. Detroit manager Brad Ausmus perked up the Baltimore fans by pulling pitcher Anibal Sanchez after two perfect innings of relief and turning instead to husky, bearded ex-Yankee Joba Chamberlain, one of the goats of the previous evening. Joba exhibited more self-awareness than Miguel Cabrera by sardonically tipping his cap to the crowd when they greeted him with loud cheers. The noise only grew as he facilitated an Oriole rally by plunking Adam Jones and yielding back-to-back singles to Nelson Cruz and Steve Pearce. Now it was 6-4, and J. J. Hardy came to bat representing the go-ahead run with one out. He faced Joakim Soria (another Game One whipping boy) and walked on five pitches to load the bases. Earlier in the inning, I asked my sister when she thought Buck Showalter would let Delmon Young pinch hit. He was an unfathomable 10-for-20 in that role during the regular season, and has had a flair for the dramatic in recent postseason experiences with the Tigers and Rays. Sure enough, Delmon strode to the plate in Ryan Flaherty's spot in the batting order, and before you could say "boo", number 27 jumped all over a 79-mph slider from Soria, slicing it into the left field corner. Nelson Cruz jogged home, windmilling his left arm to urge Pearce home behind him. Outfielder J. D. Martinez had a bit of trouble coming up with the ball, so Birds third base coach Bobby Dickerson sent Hardy home as well. He slid at just the right moment, slapping home plate with his left hand a split second before being tagged by catcher Alex Avila. 7-6, Orioles. Mayhem.

As he did so many times during the regular season, O's closer Zach Britton removed the anxiety from the end of the game, plowing through the bottom of the Detroit lineup on only 11 pitches. On Sunday afternoon, the Orioles will send Miguel Gonzalez to the mound in Comerica Park with a chance to sweep the four-time defending AL Central champs. Dare we dream?

Frank Robinson, 1990 Orioles Postcards

I just got home from an incredibly tense playoff opener that turned into a laugher right at the end. The Orioles got home runs from Nelson Cruz and J. J. Hardy to carry a tenuous 4-3 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning, and then broke out for eight runs on six hits, two walks, and a pair of Tigers errors in a 34-minute at-bat. Detroit used four pitchers, to no avail. The sellout crowd was lively all night long, but they/we truly started having fun in that big inning, chanting "Nick Mar-ka-kis" for the longtime O's outfielder who was finally participating in his first postseason game, and eventually taking a page from pro wrestling fans by chanting "this is awesome" before moving on to "we won't stop", the three-word slogan that the Birds have adopted for October 2014. 12-3 final, a new playoff record for runs scored by a Baltimore team. They'll do it again at noon tomorrow, and I'll try to keep tabs on things from my cubicle.

What does this superb autographed Frank Robinson postcard have to do with anything? Nothing, really, except that it's another wonderful Oriole-related item. Frank did push the Birds to their first World Series triumph back in 1966, of course. This was the big-ticket item in yesterday's mailing from Randy. I'm very glad to have it, just as I'm glad to have seen a Division Series victory by the O's.

Eddie Murray, 1985 Donruss 3x5 All-Stars #9

I got mail today! It was a pair of plain white envelopes taped together, from Friend of Blog (TM) Randy. Included were some 23 O's cards, many of which were brand new to me. I'll hold a few back for the coming days, but this was my absolute favorite from a sheer visual standpoint. The very 80's Tron border, the postcard size (because the only thing better than an Eddie Murray card is a BIGGER Eddie Murray card), and of course, the sheer Eddie-ness of both the action shot and the inset headshot. Some day I might have to make a list of my favorite cards of ol' number 33. Thanks, Randy!