They're in! First division title since 1997. Finally!
9-1 they're last 10 games
39-18 since All-Star break (best in AL)
Orioles look strong, they need to finish strong.
Go O's!!
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How bout them O's?!
Been waiting a long time to see this happen again. Go O's! Baltimore is going to be nuts today; I should probably leave for work now...
1997…1997…I still think they got robbed by that kid reaching over the fence.
…are the Yankees still losing? Good.
(1996)...
That soooo pissed me off, and I was a kid at the time. There was a picture the next day that showed the view from where the umpire was standing, with the kid clearly over the wall showing the player standing beneath the hand where it would have been caught.
The fact that they had the kid on Letterman the next night pissed me off even more.
Letterman was the least of it. He got to meet the mayor (got a key to the city, I believe) and the Yankees gave him sideline tickets for the rest of the playoffs, as I recall. Everyone in the world knew it was interference, and the kid got rewarded big time. The Yankees organization basically put on a showcase that they were flouting the rules. It's a sports moment I will never forget.
They later signed him to the minors.
Yeah, that's the stuff I hate about athletics. That's actually the year I started a personal boycott of baseball...and about the same year I had a personal boycott of the NFL (the strike year was somewhere in there).
My father was so mad he stood up to 8 year old me and lectured me like crazy as if I was the one to grab the ball.
"YOU DO NOT REACH ON THE FIELD, EVER! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"
Oh please.
(Congrats, see you in October)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
#natitude
Orioles Magic > Natitude
I won't downvote you due to your opinion, but NOPE.
Just some friendly banter among the fanbases, nothing more. The Nats are a really good team and I think it would be really fun to match up with them in the Series.
Yep, just having some fun! Congrats to your guys.
Can you imagine the chub that Angelos is getting thinking about this?
I'd rather not...
I love how his (Jayson Werth's) late walk up song is the theme from the tv show
But then he cancels it out by using Dave Matthews Band the rest of the time.
If the storyline is anything like the books, that doesn't bode well for Werth.
NO SPOILERS I'M ONLY ON EPISODE 3!!!
That would actually be a fun World Series to watch.
And I'd pull for the Orioles.
Yeah, they're a pretty good AAAA, er...National League team...
oh, you're funny. Back to the kids table now, Junior Circuit
AL = SEC
NL = Big 10
I didn't realize the Big 10 had won 5/8 last Championships...
Plus, strategy baseball > brute force baseball
Pffft. It's baseball. Any team can win a 7 game series.
But losing interleague play the last 11 seasons in a row, is it? And like 14 out of 18? But of course that's because the AL had the big payroll Yankees & Red Sox...oh, wait a minute. Or it's the DH...even though the AL has a ~.500 record on the road without the DH the last 3 seasons? Or the NL has the Astros...oops. Or [insert excuse here]?
Ah yes, the double switch requires such a keen baseball mind...
I'm just glad I have friends who are Nats fans...and of giving me their money after interleague play!
Ok, then why play a world series then? If it's meaningless and any team can do it, what's the point?
It's the top of the 7th inning and you're the manager of the Away team. Your pitcher has pitched 80 pitches. Your team is down 3 runs to 1. The 9th batter (pitcher's spot) is up. Your team has man on first and second, and one out in the inning. The opposing pitcher is right-handed, and your pitcher bats right handed. On your bench, you have a left-handed batter with .240 average and .480 slugging against righties, but he's never face the pitcher on the mound. Furthermore, your bullpen is overworked from a 13 inning marathon the night before. Your typical 7th inning guy has been struggling lately. You could matchup in the bottom of 7th, but you see the opposing team L-R-L-R due up next inning. What do you do?
a) have the pitcher swing away
b) have the pitcher sac bunt
c) bring in the pinch-hitter, at the detriment to your bullpen and ability to hold the current score
This is just one scenario of many that arises night after night. I enjoy it. Maybe you don't. FYI, the double switch is one of the rarest moves in National league baseball (it's really a detrimental move, and only one you take if SP sucks and gets knocked out early). I think the Nats may have done it 5 times this year, maybe not that high.
Which side of the international dateline on they on?
Exactly. Some prefer brute force. I, like many NL fans, prefer cerebral strategy.
There is absolutely nothing cerebral about 2 or 3 free outs in the first 6 innings. The decisions in the NL are just a little different than the AL. But no more difficult or easy.
The fact of the matter is that the AL simply has better teams and players -- and has for the past 10-15 years -- regardless of what rules are being used. And it's not close.
I'd get over the DH because the days of the pitcher hitting...er, batting, are probably numbered (as are the two different leagues as we know them). Baseball is a locally/regionally driven sport; it makes no sense that they that don't maximize this. I'll bet within 10 years we see MLB realign geographically -- like Hockey. And the NL rules will be the first thing to go.
GO BIRDS!!!
In the 2nd inning today in the Nats and Marlins game, the Marlins 7th batter hit a double with 2 outs. No one is on 1st or 3rd. The 8th batter is up. Does the pitcher, a)intentionally walk him, b) pitch around him, or c) go after him? What does the batter do if the pitcher pitches around him? a) expand his strike zone or b) take the walk with the open base.
Call me dork, nerd, whatever, but I love this shit. I love NL strategy.
Since baseball is really nerdy, and the NL has a strong "let the pitcher bat" contingent, I doubt you're right. But if MLB does, I, like many other baseball nerds, would be pretty pissed about it. The game would lose a lot of luster and intrigue.
Top of the 5th inning, 2 outs, runners on 1st and third, you're losing 3-1. Pitcher has gotten out of several jams, but has thrown 87 pitches -- and having lost 5 out of 6 and played 2 extra inning games in the last 3 days, the bullpen has been severely overworked. 9th batter in the lineup is at bat.
The away pitcher has only thrown 53 pitches through 4 innings.
It's the NL, the hitter is almost certainly the pitcher -- who is batting .167 for his career. How hard is your decision -- both in regards to what you do with your pitcher, how you approach the hitter, and how you position your defense?
In the AL, the hitter is a quasi-leadoff hitter...left-handed, decent speed and on-base percentage (good eye), has some pop in his bat, but generally pulls the ball.
What do you do? Bring in a reliever or leave the starter in? Pitch to him or pitch the corners? Is a walk okay (puts the force out at all bases in play) or is it bad (he's the #9 hitter and now you're facing a real lead-off hitter with the bases loaded and he could blow the game open)? How do you play defensively (a single scores only one and keeps the game somewhat close, but with 2 outs a double could score 2 and makes it a 5-1 game)? Do you hold the runner at first to prevent him scoring on a double but create a gap for a pull hitter? Do you risk shifting the shortstop and 2nd baseman toward the right side of the diamond?
Cerebral (NL) vs brute force (AL)...now I get it.
The AL rules are better (personal opinion) and the AL teams and players are better (fact).
Ugh, reasons why living in the DMV sucks right now
Signed,
Sad Braves Fan
Barves*
Related gif from last night's game:
Not a full time O's fan, but consider me fully dipped into their bandwagon for the rest of the year.
If only baseball ended about a month earlier, to get out of football's way.
[ducks]
Methinks the city of Baltimore is glad the O's are pulling attention away from football for a minute.
#TEAMPIE!!!
FIRST PIE MARKAKIS!
THEN PIE ALL OF THE FANS!
Thanks you Dangerously Delicious Pies!
That's fully dipped if I ever saw it.
Dude, Dangerously Delicious is awesome. The Baltimore Bomb is amazing. It may also give you a heart attack on site, but that's totally worth the risk.
The DC location is right around the corner from me. It's amazing I am not a lardy fat man.
Dangerously Delicious pies are so effin good! They are singlehandly responsible for me joining #teampie #baltimorebomb
I hate Baltimore.
I would rather live in Baghdad than Baltimore.
If Vladimir Putin put together a baseball team of Ivan Drago-style super athletes, I would cheer for them to beat Baltimore. (They would probably have fewer steroids in their system than Chris Davis) Even if they showed incredible determination and gave an inspiring speech at the end, I still wouldn't cheer for them.
The only thing consoling me is the fact that they will lose quickly in the playoffs.
Do you have any proof that Davis is taking steroids other than he *probably* is more muscular than you?