What is going on in Baltimore? These guys just find ways to win, and it is baffling to me. A team made up of outcasts. Players contenders didn't want, a manager people had forgotten about, and a city where baseball hasn't been relevant in over a decade. Baltimore has admittedly become a city known more for its football and it's crime than its baseball. This organization hasn't reached the playoffs since they won the East in '97. But that is seemingly all about to change.
The Orioles currently control the second wild card spot, and are a month away from playing in October. But who is responsible? Who is to be congratulated for this feat? Well, everyone really.
This team was built though the front office. They drafted well, they went out and got the guy they envisioned being their manager, and they signed and traded for players that would work well playing their style of baseball.
First the front office. These guys deserve a serious pat on the back for the job that they have done. Getting Showalter to leave his cushy job at ESPN for the stresses of being not only an MLB manager, but the manager of the Orioles. I mean they didn't have a whole lot to sell to him but I guess it was enough, and boy has it payed off.
Next in line for praise has to be Buck Showalter. And Walter, what a show he has put on. The Orioles won all of 69 games last year. They have won 68 already this year. Those kind of numbers speak for themselves. This team is winning not only because of Showalter's guidance and coaching but because of the moves he has made with his roster. His baseball mind combined with the front office have put a winning team on the field. That team however improbable and however unlikely has found ways to do just that, win.
The Orioles as a team have to be one of the biggest bands of castoffs and misfits I have ever seen. Probably the biggest one since Major League. I would actually probably prefer Pedro Cerrano to some of these guys. Theyre like AF's fantasy team. Just a bunch of guys nobody wants that somehow win games. I mean take Chris Davis for example. This guy was basically given to the Orioles for nothing, and despite last nights three homer performance he probably shouldn't be playing anywhere. Then go to the other side of the diamond and you have Mark Reynolds. A guy, like Davis, who has really great power but shouldn't be starting on any team. These two guys strikeout as much, if not more then most players in the league, yet they start. Other castoffs that are the stars of the Orioles team include JJ Hardy, Kevin Gregg, Omar Quintanilla, and Matt Lindstrom, all of them accept for Gregg were acquired via trade.
The point off all this is I guess the Orioles are living proof you don't have to have a lot of star power. Just guys who can do a job and contribute to the win in some way.
correct, I win games.
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