The only thing sadder than the end of the baseball season for a true baseball fan is actually rooting for the season to end quickly because his or her team is playing so poorly. Fans in Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Washington, and Cincinnati are all waiting for October 4th. Nowhere is this truer than in the hearts of Baltimore Oriole fans who must endure not only losing seasons (this one marks the 12th straight) but also disastrous Septembers. Monday's game against Tampa Bay is a perfect example.
The Orioles entered the game having lost 10 straight, including 3 to Cleveland who themselves had previously lost 17 of 20. The Birds fell behind in the first inning 2-0, before rallying to tie the game and then taking the lead. Ahead 6-3 heading into the bottom of the 7th, the Rays had two on with two out when reliever Matt Albers missed his target by about a foot and put one down and in, instead of down and away to left-handed hitting Willy Aybar. Boom! Three-run homer. At that point, it was just a matter of time before the Orioles lost, which they did 7-6 when the Rays scored a run in the 8th off former New Market Rebel Chris Ray. Naturally, the Orioles gave fans one fleeting moment of hope when, with two out, Brian Roberts sent a missle down the left field line which, of course, was foul by a couple of feet. He eventually singled, which only prolonged the agony, before the final out.
With a few historic exceptions, every team wins 61 games and loses 61 games, leaving 40 that determine the winners from the losers. The Orioles have won 60, meaning that even if they suddenly win their remaining 5 games, they will have gone 5-35 in those 40 games that mattered. It's possible that they will have lost them all. Indeed, they lost Tuesday night 3-1, making it 12 straight.
I am always saddened by the end of the baseball season. (For real baseball fans, the post-season is always anti-climactic, with games frequently played at idiotic times, and often broadcast by intolerable announcers.) I am even more saddened by my desire to see this one end before my boyhood team embarrasses itself even further.
Bring on winter when the one thing that takes root and blossoms is a baseball fan's hope.
Battle of the Beltway Series, anyone???
Posted by: Melissa Dodge | October 05, 2009 at 07:04 PM