“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
If you’re old enough to remember the Orioles’ last division win in 1997, you’ve felt this feeling before. You know what it’s like to feel what we’re all feeling right now.
I’m only 16. I, like the rest of those in my age bracket, have not only been raised to deal with losing seasons, but been groomed to expect it year after year.
You see, the Orioles’ streak of missing the playoffs (despite the 2012 tease) is a blessing in disguise. We’ve had to work for every win we’ve witnessed. And I can tell you as I sit here writing this article, it’s all been worth it.
You had to deal with the Dave Trembley era too, but it’s all we’ve ever known.
You had to suffer through the painful days of Sidney Ponson too, but it’s all we’ve ever known.
You had to witness Felix Pie roam the Camden Yards outfield too, but it’s all we’ve ever known.
The pain we have felt as a fan base over the past 15 or so seasons isn’t describable. Quite frankly, I know there are many, including myself, that thought they would never see an Orioles team win the AL East.
After all, what did we have to look forward to?
A certain night comes to mind. Remember August 22nd, 2007?
The Orioles were hosting the Texas Rangers in the opening game of a doubleheader. In the top of the 4th inning, the Birds of Baltimore were winning 3-0, appearing to be on their way to a nice, but meaningless, August win during one of the dog days of summer.
Daniel Cabrera took the mound for the 4th inning and something just…happened. There’s no other way to describe it but – The ORIOLES happened.
They imploded, allowing 25 runs in the final four innings and dropped the first game of the doubleheader 30-3.
This game comes to mind because I think it says something that many of us teenagers and early 20s folks can’t quite say. That game, minor in the grand scheme of life, pretty much sums up what we’ve felt not just for a block of our life, but our ENTIRE lives.
We didn’t know what it felt like to have an 11.5 game lead on a division that consisted of the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox. We do now.
We had no clue what it meant to be a World Series favorite. We do now.
A potential 100 win season? We weren’t ever able to dream of such a ridiculous feat. We can now.
You see, to us, this is the moment we’ve dreamed of our entire lives. And when I say dreamed, I truly mean dreamed. We never thought this was possible.
“I was 4 years old the last time this was accomplished, and I remember to this day going to my grandmother’s house in Glen Burnie and watching the games,” said O’s fan John Langley. “Baltimore is relevant again, and it brings all of us together.”
“Brings us all together”….Heck, isn’t that what this is all about?
There’s something special about this team that isn’t comparable to what we all have seen before. The Ravens have done their thing, had a big parade, and all of that jazz – but isn’t this different?
There’s just something about these guys that makes the aura around Orioles fans just…special. It’s really not explainable.
To be honest, it’s not even something that needs to be explained. It’s just truthfully what I dreamed it always would be like.
As I write this paragraph, Alejandro De Aza just ripped a triple down the right field line. My phone just lit up with a text message from a friend with these three words: “This is it.”
After all, maybe this is it.
Maybe this is the moment and the reason we’ve suffered through 7:05 games every night for, some of us, our entire lives.
We’ve dropped hundreds (maybe thousands) of dollars on Orioles gear, tickets, and everything in between for this moment. AL EAST Champions.
It all ties back to a quote my grandmother Lori Wedra has spoken to me for years. She was here for the World Series wins, the days of Ripken and Robinson…She’s been through it all.
“Loyal fans will always get their day,” she’s said to me since I’ve been five years old. She taught me that no matter how grim things looked, no matter how bad the team was, there would always be that day.
That day has come.
That day has come for Nick Markakis.
Nick Markakis at the moment it was announced that the @Orioles are AL East Champions http://t.co/dWITVLkuqw
— Orioles GIFs (@OriolesGIFs) September 17, 2014
Soak it in like Nick. Enjoy the rest of the season and make it your mission to cherish every last game. I can assure you I, and everyone that’s close to my age will.
The Baltimore Orioles are the 2014 AL East Champions.
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Special thanks to everyone on social media who wanted to share their thoughts on the Orioles success. Below, you’ll find fans that are too young to remember the 1997 division win.
Erica Lewandowski: “In 1997, I was three years old, so to me this will be the first time I will witness the Baltimore Orioles take the AL East. This season means everything to me after a lifetime of mediocrity before 2012. We as fans deserve it, the city deserves it, the players deserve it. We have been patient for long enough. Here is to winning the AL East and continuing our journey to the World Series!”
Davis Atlas: The Orioles winning the AL East means so many different things to so many different people but to me I don’t know what it means, not yet anyway. If the Orioles win the World Series I’ll always remember it as the year that the Orioles finally got over the hump, the year that, against all odds, they put it together. The year that rooting for a losing team for over a decade finally paid off. However, if Baltimore doesn’t end up winning the World Series then it’ll be just another building block for the franchise, a sweet building block…but just another block at the end of the day. 2012 was one magical season for the Orioles but looking back on it now it was just another step forward for the franchise. If 2014 doesn’t end with a World Series title I’ll just consider it another building block like 2012 was. But for now, let’s just enjoy the ride!
Ryun Anderson: During the “dark ages” (what year, I can’t recall) my dad played an April Fool’s joke by telling me the Orioles had traded away the only glimpse of hope on the team: Nick Markakis. I threw my remote at the couch because it sounded so stupid that it WAS believable; my lifetime had consisted of the Orioles making stupid decisions. Now, one win away from a division title, in a year that nobody said they could do it, I watch Markakis, the model of consistency, in right field, finally leading a winning team after so many terrible seasons. And I find it barely more believable than I did the supposed trade all those years ago.
Eddie Lee: More than anything it means that I can finally celebrate the Orioles like I’ve been able to with the Ravens twice. Being born in 1995 my first Orioles recollections (not celebrations, of course) really start in 2003 when I went to my first game (a 12-6 win over the Rangers), whereas my Ravens memories start in 2000. It’s an awesome feeling to finally be able to celebrate both after not having anything to celebrate for my entire recollection of the Orioles.”
Jonah Rombro: I’ve been a fan of the O’s since as long as I can remember. Growing up with them having so many losing seasons, seeing them be able to win the division makes me so proud and so happy that I’ve stuck with them for all these years and that I’ve been able to witness a lot of history. Honestly, I never thought that they’d be this successful, so to see all of Baltimore really get behind the O’s has been incredible.
Jordan Hoffman: I was apart of the “lost generation” and for the first time in my life, and for the first time in a long time, MY home town baseball team has a legitimate chance to win the World Series. The Orioles have made Baltimore into a baseball city again. It’s amazing to see Baltimore decked out in purple AND orange!
Sean Bowling: This Orioles win means that this is the first time they have clinched their division since the year I was born, 17 years ago. This is the first time in my life that I have really gotten the chance to see them be successful and I am loving every second of it. Love to watch this team play they always find a way to make it exciting.
