The Orioles looked to be well on their way to notching their second straight win last night to begin their four-game set in Oakland. The win would have also gotten them back to .500 (again), and made them 3-2 through half of this crucial 10-game west coast swing. Ubaldo Jimenez was dominant, striking out 11 over 5.1 innings (and eight in the first three) before being removed from the game thanks to a line drive to the leg. They were up 4-3 headed to the bottom of the eighth, with Brad Brach and Zach Britton lined up perfectly to close things out.
Only, that didn’t happen. Brach was shelled – he wasn’t the victim of any bloops or bad luck, save for a Chris Davis error on a foul pop-up that could have certainly helped, should the catch have been made – and gave up two before being replaced by Richard Bleier. Now down 5-4, the O’s could muster nothing in the bottom of the ninth, and they lost their sixth of the season when leading after seven.
It was quite a demoralizing loss for O’s fans who stayed up to watch it, as I’d imagine it also was for those fans who went to bed when the team was leading, only to wake up and see the unfortunate result.
However, should we really be surprised that the Birds were able to steal defeat from the jaws of victory on this Friday night? There is, after all, something else going on here….
It's Saturday in Bmore but still Friday in OAK where @Orioles have lost their 10th straight Friday game. Can't make this up #FreakyFriday
— Mark Viviano (@MarkWJZ) August 12, 2017
Wait, that can’t be right, can it?
Let’s have a look at the schedule:
And, Mark speaks the truth! The O’s have indeed lost their last TEN Friday games.
August 11 @ Athletics – Loss 5-4
August 4 vs. Tigers – Loss 5-2
July 28 @ Rangers – Loss 8-2
July 21 vs. Astros – Loss 8-7
July 14 vs. Cubs – Loss 9-8
July 7 @ Twins – Loss 9-6
June 30 vs. Rays – Loss 6-4
June 23 @ Rays – Loss 15-5
June 16 vs. Cardinals – Loss 11-2
June 9 @ Yankees – Loss 8-2.
For the season, the Orioles are 6-13 on Fridays, and 51-46 on all other days of the week.
So, what could be the culprit for this oddity?
In my humble opinion, there is only one thing to blame.
This friggin’ thing:
For my money, the Orioles have the best two caps in baseball in their home and road “cartoon bird” versions. However, every Friday night, they choose, for some inexplicable reason, to wear the above monstrosity, a relic of yesteryear’s awful Baltimore squads, and a logo that is STILL grammatically incorrect.
I get that they want to wear their all-black alternate jerseys on Fridays. I’m all for that! But it looks best with the road version of the cartoon bird cap, NOT with the “O’s” cap nonsense.
Another option is the all-black batting practice version, which they actually wore in one of their Friday WINS this season, on April 14 in Toronto:
Now that’s a good lookin’ uniform! The smiling bird sits atop the black perch like a vulture looking down over the carcasses of the less fortunate, his knowing grin betraying his inner confidence.
It’s time to put an end to the Friday curse.
It’s (well past) time to retire the “O’s” cap, Orioles.
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Friday is the new Sunday.