25 greatest games at OPACY

[MDtransplant757]

 

1 hour ago, Spy Fox said:

I think they've had one or two losses on the countdown. I was also wondering if one of the 2014 ALCS games might be in there, which were both losses but also close and fairly interesting games. I'm guessing they won't be. 

They only have 1, the Eddie Murray 500 HR game

[Frobby]

8 hours ago, Spy Fox said:

I think they've had one or two losses on the countdown. I was also wondering if one of the 2014 ALCS games might be in there, which were both losses but also close and fairly interesting games. I'm guessing they won't be. 

Three games come to mind:

June 5, 1992 - In OPACY's opening season, O's win 1-0 on a Cal Ripken RBI single in the 8th.   The Blue Jays are held scoreless on 4 hits thanks to the greatest catch in Camden Yards history, made by Mike Devereaux on a would-be Joe Carter HR ball in the 4th.

October 15, 1997 -- Mike Mussina pitches 8 innings of one hit, 10 strikeout ball, but the O's lose on a 10th inning homer by Tony Fernandez off Armando Benitez.

September 15, 2012 -- Nate McLouth hits a walk-off single off the RF wall and Chris Davis hoists him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes in the ensuing celebration.    This game featured the Manny Machado "don't throw it away -- don't throw it at all!" play, possibly the best game call in OPACY history.   

I was lucky enough to have attended each of these games.   

[Eddie_Ripken]

6 hours ago, Frobby said:

Three games come to mind:

June 5, 2012 - In OPACY's opening season, O's win 1-0 on a Cal Ripken RBI single in the 8th.   The Blue Jays are held scoreless on 4 hits thanks to the greatest catch in Camden Yards history, made by Mike Devereaux on a would-be Joe Carter HR ball in the 4th.

October 15, 1997 -- Mike Mussina pitches 8 innings of one hit, 10 strikeout ball, but the O's lose on a 10th inning homer by Tony Fernandez off Armando Benitez.

September 15, 2012 -- Nate McLouth hits a walk-off single off the RF wall and Chris Davis hoists him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes in the ensuing celebration.    This game featured the Manny Machado "don't throw it away -- don't throw it at all!" play, possibly the best game call in OPACY history.   

I was lucky enough to have attended each of these games.   

The September 15 2012 game for me was the best one I ever attended. Not just the game itself, it was the culmination of everything leading up to and going on at that time.That game, to me, was the "turning the corner" and not looking back moment when I finally felt like the decade and a half of loserville was gone and the O's were going to be contenders for at least a few years.

Sept 15 was close enough to the end of the season to realize there would be no collapse. You could see the fruit of MacPhail and Duquette's labor starting to pay off. The team was gelled. Everyone was looking forward and not back at that point. There was no looking back.

And then Manny absolutely electrified the ball park with that play. I mean, everyone was excited, but it was like someone hit Camden with 10 thousand volts when he faked that throw and caught the runner off third. It was like everyone in the stadium, at that instant, realized the O's were back.........and when McClouth doubled into the corner the magic was officially back in Baltimore.

 

[Number5]

6 hours ago, Frobby said:

Three games come to mind:

June 5, 2012 - In OPACY's opening season, O's win 1-0 on a Cal Ripken RBI single in the 8th.   The Blue Jays are held scoreless on 4 hits thanks to the greatest catch in Camden Yards history, made by Mike Devereaux on a would-be Joe Carter HR ball in the 4th.

October 15, 1997 -- Mike Mussina pitches 8 innings of one hit, 10 strikeout ball, but the O's lose on a 10th inning homer by Tony Fernandez off Armando Benitez.

September 15, 2012 -- Nate McLouth hits a walk-off single off the RF wall and Chris Davis hoists him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes in the ensuing celebration.    This game featured the Manny Machado "don't throw it away -- don't throw it at all!" play, possibly the best game call in OPACY history.   

I was lucky enough to have attended each of these games.   

I think you've got the date wrong on the first one.

[Frobby]

18 minutes ago, Number5 said:

I think you've got the date wrong on the first one.

Yes, I meant 1992.   I'll fix it. 

[Frobby]

44 minutes ago, Eddie_Ripken said:

The September 15 2012 game for me was the best one I ever attended. Not just the game itself, it was the culmination of everything leading up to and going on at that time.That game, to me, was the "turning the corner" and not looking back moment when I finally felt like the decade and a half of loserville was gone and the O's were going to be contenders for at least a few years.

Sept 15 was close enough to the end of the season to realize there would be no collapse. You could see the fruit of MacPhail and Duquette's labor starting to pay off. The team was gelled. Everyone was looking forward and not back at that point. There was no looking back.

And then Manny absolutely electrified the ball park with that play. I mean, everyone was excited, but it was like someone hit Camden with 10 thousand volts when he faked that throw and caught the runner off third. It was like everyone in the stadium, at that instant, realized the O's were back.........and when McClouth doubled into the corner the magic was officially back in Baltimore.

 

Yes, it was awesome.     I was sitting with the OH crew just to the right of the scoreboard, and we went nuts when Manny made his play and when McLouth's ball hit the scoreboard, pretty close to adjacent to where we were sitting.  And then they won a 14 inning game on a walk-off the following night.    What an unbelievable season that was.   

[esmd]

8 hours ago, Spy Fox said:

Today I went to see if they had revealed the whole list of 25 games and it looks like the top nine will be a slow reveal between now and the start of the season. Here's a link to the highlights of the games already ranked. 

Because I'm bored, any guesses at what games might crack the top nine?

Here are the ones that came to mind as good bets:

• October 2, 2014: Delmon Young hits game winning double as O's go up 2-0 on Tigers in ALDS
• September 16, 2014: O's clinch AL East vs Blue Jays
• September 6, 2012: O's hit 6 HRs, including Jones tiebreaker in 8th, to tie Yankees for 1st place in standings on Cal Ripken statue night
• September 28, 2011: Andino walk-off hit ends the Red Sox season in game 162
• July 1, 2009: Down 10-1, O's mount biggest comeback in team history to beat Red Sox 11-10
• May 17, 1996: Chris Hoiles beats Mariners on "Ultimate Grand Slam"
• September 6, 1995: Ripken passes Gehrig's record

What am I missing? Maybe Game 1 of the 2014 ALDS could be in there as well, which had a lopsided final score but was generally an exciting game. If that's in there and I'm right about the seven above then there's only one missing game. 

I'm a bit too young to remember the '96 and '97 playoffs well, any major classics there?

I was there for that one - what a night.  One of my favorite all time games, one I'll never forget.  For me personally, it's when I knew the O's were back.  Great memory. :-)

[incubus]

9 hours ago, Frobby said:

Three games come to mind:

June 5, 1992 - In OPACY's opening season, O's win 1-0 on a Cal Ripken RBI single in the 8th.   The Blue Jays are held scoreless on 4 hits thanks to the greatest catch in Camden Yards history, made by Mike Devereaux on a would-be Joe Carter HR ball in the 4th.

October 15, 1997 -- Mike Mussina pitches 8 innings of one hit, 10 strikeout ball, but the O's lose on a 10th inning homer by Tony Fernandez off Armando Benitez.

September 15, 2012 -- Nate McLouth hits a walk-off single off the RF wall and Chris Davis hoists him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes in the ensuing celebration.    This game featured the Manny Machado "don't throw it away -- don't throw it at all!" play, possibly the best game call in OPACY history.   

I was lucky enough to have attended each of these games.   

It was September 12th, I will never forget, I brought my wife to the OH night on her birthday. Greatest OH night game so far. Especially since McClouth's hit was in the right field corner where we were sitting.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL201209120.shtml

[OFFNY]

12 hours ago, Spy Fox said:

Today I went to see if they had revealed the whole list of 25 games and it looks like the top nine will be a slow reveal between now and the start of the season. Here's a link to the highlights of the games already ranked. 

Because I'm bored, any guesses at what games might crack the top nine?

Here are the ones that came to mind as good bets:

• October 2, 2014: Delmon Young hits game winning double as O's go up 2-0 on Tigers in ALDS
• September 16, 2014: O's clinch AL East vs Blue Jays
• September 6, 2012: O's hit 6 HRs, including Jones tiebreaker in 8th, to tie Yankees for 1st place in standings on Cal Ripken statue night
• September 28, 2011: Andino walk-off hit ends the Red Sox season in game 162
• July 1, 2009: Down 10-1, O's mount biggest comeback in team history to beat Red Sox 11-10
• May 17, 1996: Chris Hoiles beats Mariners on "Ultimate Grand Slam"
• September 6, 1995: Ripken passes Gehrig's record

What am I missing? Maybe Game 1 of the 2014 ALDS could be in there as well, which had a lopsided final score but was generally an exciting game. If that's in there and I'm right about the seven above then there's only one missing game. 

I'm a bit too young to remember the '96 and '97 playoffs well, any major classics there?

 

o

 

I was there for that one, also.

[actorgersh]

They did a 20 greatest list 5 years ago, which was before they broke the long losing streak and became contenders again. Here is the link: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/bal/oriolepark/greatest_games.jsp

I still think 2131 is first, the only thing that ever tops that is a World Series clincher.

The rest of the top 5 should be (not necessarily in order) Cal statue night, Hoiles grand slam, Delmon Young in Game 2 ALDS and possibly "don't throw it at all".

The previous top 5 had the Boston comeback, first ever game at OPACY, last game of 2011, Hoiles slam and 2131.

 

[MDtransplant757]

12 minutes ago, actorgersh said:

They did a 20 greatest list 5 years ago, which was before they broke the long losing streak and became contenders again. Here is the link: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/bal/oriolepark/greatest_games.jsp

I still think 2131 is first, the only thing that ever tops that is a World Series clincher.

The rest of the top 5 should be (not necessarily in order) Cal statue night, Hoiles grand slam, Delmon Young in Game 2 ALDS and possibly "don't throw it at all".

The previous top 5 had the Boston comeback, first ever game at OPACY, last game of 2011, Hoiles slam and 2131.

 

I'd honestly be ok with the list as is. I think games 1 and 2 of the ALDS in 2014 should be up there though 

[Spy Fox]

31 minutes ago, actorgersh said:

They did a 20 greatest list 5 years ago, which was before they broke the long losing streak and became contenders again. Here is the link: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/bal/oriolepark/greatest_games.jsp

I still think 2131 is first, the only thing that ever tops that is a World Series clincher.

The rest of the top 5 should be (not necessarily in order) Cal statue night, Hoiles grand slam, Delmon Young in Game 2 ALDS and possibly "don't throw it at all".

The previous top 5 had the Boston comeback, first ever game at OPACY, last game of 2011, Hoiles slam and 2131.

 

I had forgotten about that, thanks for sharing it.

In that case it seems like their top nine will likely be, in some order, the same top five from the 2012 list plus the Ripken statue game, "Don't throw it at all," 2014 division clincher, and 2014 ALDS game two. 

[notfast]

I think the AL East clinching game of 2014 could be up there too. Not really a tight game but a great over all moment.

[Frobby]

There have been 157 walk-off wins at OPACY, so I'm sure there are plenty of great games that we're not remembering now because they happened a long time ago.

Incredibly, the O's team with the most walk-off wins at OPACY was the 2010 squad, which had only 66 wins but 12 of those were by walk-off.   7 of the 12 were after Buck took over as manager on August 3, so 7 of 34 wins under him were via walk-off.    That's pretty amazing.   

[MDtransplant757]

7 minutes ago, Frobby said:

There have been 157 walk-off wins at OPACY, so I'm sure there are plenty of great games that we're not remembering now because they happened a long time ago.

Incredibly, the O's team with the most walk-off wins at OPACY was the 2010 squad, which had only 66 wins but 12 of those were by walk-off.   7 of the 12 were after Buck took over as manager on August 3, so 7 of 34 wins under him were via walk-off.    That's pretty amazing.   

That's fascinating