MIKE BURKE
Allegany Communications Sports
My buddies and I try to go to the final Orioles home game of the regular season, but this year one of us decided he’d rather go to Scotland with (get this …) his wife.
Very understandable since his wife is one of the most lovely people you’ll ever meet, while we are most certainly not. And Scotland … that’s a bucket lister there, so more power to them.
It’s doubtful, though, we’d have gone to Baltimore on Wednesday, since my other friend and I didn’t. It was a scheduled night game with the Toronto Blue Jays, then became the second half of a day-night doubleheader that the Orioles would sweep.
Despite this rare good fortune, this year’s Orioles team, other than Pete Alonso, hasn’t been much to look at. In fact, they’ve been downright difficult to look at. Led by overmatched manager Craig Albernaz, these Orioles at times challenged the adage, “Bad baseball is better than no baseball.”
As we’re soon to find out with the impending December 1 lockout, bad ain’t all that bad, as long as it’s bad baseball. But there have been times this season that have given cause to look away from this team and find another game to watch.
The Orioles do pitch pretty well, so much credit to pitching coach Drew French, but it might be the worst defensive team I’ve seen this side of the Chico’s Bail Bonds Bears. Neither can the Orioles hit, nor do they have a clue about situational hitting or, too often, how to even play the game.
Supreme baseball ruler Mike Elias brought in a lot of new players over the offseason on the heels of last season’s last-place finish. Some of them, beginning with Alonso, worked, but most of them did not. But who knew Taylor Ward would reinvent himself into being a walks machine after the Orioles traded for the guy who hit 36 home runs last year? Baseball is a funny game.
That the Orioles, who were eliminated from the postseason yesterday, were still playing meaningful baseball to the final weekend series of the season is a testament to three wildcards and to just how bloody horrible the American League has been this season, save for a few teams.
Thus, yet another opportunity lost in the closing window of the Mike Elias rebuild.
Alonso, though, who was unanimously elected Most Valuable Oriole on Wednesday, has been everything he was said to be and more. He produced the 40 home runs and the 100 RBIs Mets fans said he would. He has played a terrific first base, far better than anyone expected, and he immediately became the leader and the face of this club. The five-year, $155 million free-agent contract he signed with the Orioles is looking like a bargain.
The rest of the core players, beginning with shortstop Gunnar Henderson, have regressed to the point of most of their at-bats being predictable and unwatchable. And the eight-year Orioles rebuild, that for most of two brief shining seasons looked as though it would come to fruition, cratered to the degree that Elias, the architect, traded the player the entire operation was built around, catcher Adley Rutschman.
Injuries again doomed the team, beginning with the team’s best and most versatile player, Jordan Westburg, who has become a unicorn, closer Felix Bautista, and his free-agent replacement, Ryan Helsley.
Again, French and his staff deserve much credit for building this pitching staff into being the sole strength of the team without having a closer all season long.
Already there has been an upheaval in the player development department of the front office, yet Elias remains clean, the car that causes the 10-car pileup on the Beltway, yet drives away without a scratch. Controlling owner David Rubenstein continues to pledge his undying faith in Elias, believing the guy who created the mess is the most qualified to clean it up. Again, baseball is a funny game.
Still, it’s been baseball, which is always something to be grateful for, and there are still three games left for the Orioles as they close the season this weekend in Yankee Stadium.
This much can be said for this Orioles team. For as maddening as they have been, in spite of their shortcomings, all of which are on Elias, they don’t give up, and that is something that is appreciated in a city like Baltimore.
There were 19,824 fans at Camden Yards for the final game, and when the Orioles had completed the sweep, the fans stayed in their seats to applaud the team, as they have done after every home finale since the mid-1970s.
And the players, led by Alonso, came back to the field to applaud the fans. It’s become a familiar scene in Baltimore on the final day, even after another disappointing season, because there is no other place like Baltimore.
“It’s just felt so good because whether it be fans, people here internally, teammates, it’s just a strong connection to the city because people have just made it so enjoyable,” Alonso said. “I’ve got nothing but amazing things to say about the city, the fans. People have welcomed my family and I, the team, fans, coaches. Everyone has rolled out the red carpet, and it’s really felt like – it’s felt special.
“I believe in the baseball gods, and I honestly believe that I’m here for a reason. I was always meant to be a Baltimore Oriole and I think people are very appreciative and receptive to that, and I feel just as lucky and fortunate to be here as other people have told me. So, yeah, it’s special. It’s special. That’s really an understatement.”
When it comes to baseball in Baltimore, hon, the beer is always cold.
Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began. covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at mikeburke934@gmail.com. Follow him on X @MikeBurkeMDT