First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone who participated in this tournament. Whether you voted for every matchup in each round, voted in just a couple, or simply followed along, you helped turn this post-midnight idea into a success amongst Orioles fans.
You may have heard about this tournament on 105.7 the Fan’s Vinny and Rob Show at some point this past month. Rob (@RobLongSports) was nice enough to invite me on the show after seeing the link to this tournament on Twitter, and I am equally grateful to their producer, Dan (@theflyinha_y_n), for setting up air times for me.
We began with 64 players from the Orioles dark years (1998-2011) seeded 1 through 16 in four manager–themed regions and after six rounds of voting, we have crowned a favorite.
The playing field ranged from guys like (1-seed) Melvin Mora to (4) Kevin Millar to (7) Vladimir Guerrero to (16) Josh Bell. In the first round, our biggest surprise was (12) Cesar Izturis over (5) Jack Cust. Dark horse (6) B.J. Ryan advanced all the way to the Elite Eight behind victories over (11) Marty Cordova, (3) Tony Batista and (2) Erik Bedard before falling to (1) Miguel Tejada. Three of the four 1-seeds advanced to the Final Four, with the exception being Jeremy Guthrie who fell to (3) Koji Uehara in the Elite Eight.
In a “Battle of the Bobbleheads,” (1) Melvin Mora and (1) Brian Roberts faced off to determine who would be crowned our favorite Oriole from the dark years.
And the winner is…
Brian Roberts!
(gif via Baltimore Sports Report)
At the time voting was cut off, Roberts led Mora by 18 votes between ESR and O’s Uncensored.
final_bracket (click to see the final bracket in PDF form)
Our beloved B-Rob played for 13 seasons in Baltimore before donning pinstripes in his final season. Though he never posted truly outstanding numbers, he represented the Orioles at the All Star Game twice and set a franchise record with 56 doubles in 2009. In 2007, he finished the season tied with Carl Crawford for first place in the American League with 50 stolen bases.
His consistency, both with the bat and with the glove, made him a fan favorite and a staple in the organization.
Roberts finished in the top 15 in Orioles franchise history in several offensive categories, including runs (7th), hits (11th), doubles (4th), walks (9th) and stolen bases (3rd).
Just about every Orioles fan has a fond memory involving Brian Roberts. For me, it was when my grandfather and I met him in Fort Lauderdale during Spring Training one year. For you, maybe it is one of his six career grand slams. Maybe it was his hair or million-dollar smile. Whether you liked him for his game, his looks, or his personality, B-Rob was and always will be a true Oriole.
I think we can forgive him for the 91 games he played as a Yankee.
