Which was your favorite year (baseball-wise) of the last decade?

[Frobby]

I figure this really comes down to 2012 vs. 2014, but I threw in poll options for 2016 and other.   Vote in the poll and give your reasons here!

2012: Our first winning season in 15 years, and almost completely unexpectedly.    The team outperformed its Pythagorean record by 11 games, going 29-9 in one-run games and 16-2 in extra innings.    The season included the Chris Davis pitching performance in the 17-inning win over the Red Sox in May, Manny Machado’s August debut and amazing display of defense on a nightly basis, the unveiling of the six statues including the great win against the Yankees on Cal’s statue night, and many other highlights.    The O’s won the wild card game and lost a tense five-game series with the Yankees.    

2014: The first division title in 17 years for the O’s.     The O’s not only won the division by 12 games, but they dominated divisional play, going going 47-29 and winning the season series against all four AL East opponents (including 13-6 against the Yankees).    Nelson Cruz led the league in homers and the O’s pitchers allowed 100 fewer runs than any other O’s team this decade.    The O’s clinched the division at OPACY and Adam Jones circled the field slapping hands with fans and giving one the pie treatment, after Nick stood on the field taking it all in and misting up.    The postseason featured a dramatic comeback against Detroit capped by Delmon’s double and an eventual sweep of the Tigers, only to be followed by the O’s being swept in the ALCS by the Royals.    The year featured our best regular season record and deepest playoff run of the decade.

So, what’s your pick, and why?    Feel free to go with another year if you can justify it.

 

[atomic]

2012 season was the most fun for me.  As no one expected. I was just hopeful that we could stay above .500 even I think in early August that was my hope. 

[Yardball85]

2012 was pure magic.  Gonna be hard to beat, outside of a future World Series. 

[Moose Milligan]

2012 was magic, for sure.  Haven't had that much fun in a summer for a long, long time.  Everything seemed to click.  

[Redskins Rick]

21 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

2012 was magic, for sure.  Haven't had that much fun in a summer for a long, long time.  Everything seemed to click.  

I agree 2016 was sweet, but after 14 years of hell, 2012 felt good.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

23 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

2012 was magic, for sure.  Haven't had that much fun in a summer for a long, long time.  Everything seemed to click.  

I had to convince myself it was actually happening and I wasn’t going to wake up from a dream.

By 2008-09, I had just come to accept that the Orioles would never have a winning season again. Nothing seemed to work and just playing.500 ball seemed like an impossible dream. 1989 and 2012 were my two favorite years to watch as a fan. I can remember parts of 1983, but it’s fuzzy. 

[scOtt]

2012, hands down. 2014 gets an honorable mention if only for Delmon's double. Plus we led the East all year. It's gud ta be da king!

[DrungoHazewood]

I'm astonished that anyone picked anything but 2012. 

I guess you could have been too young to remember 2012, but just old enough to remember 2014. Or maybe you just started following the Orioles in 2010 or 2011 and didn't understand how crazy it was that a dead and buried team like the 1998-2011 Orioles could win 90 games and get to October with mostly a cast of unknowns and castoffs and a Hall of Fame 3B who just turned 20.

[Just Regular]

The Unexpected Team is one of the very best things in sports, and 2012 has my vote, but I think 2014 is competitive.  In the summer of 2012, it was one pleasant 2-out-of-3 surprise after another.  By 2014, it was knowing we were going to win a lot of games instead of hoping, and there is some fun value to that kind of excellence.  You only get to buy the Andrew Millers off the October shelf when you aren't scrounging for a berth.

I rooted for it as it happened but in retrospect I think I rooted wrong pulling for the Royals to upset the Angels in the other ALDS that year so we could have HFA.  The Tigers series was so successful, and then suddenly after years of underdog-dom that Showalter leveraged well, earning clear favorite status was I think a little discombobulating.

[weams]

34 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

I'm astonished that anyone picked anything but 2012. 

I guess you could have been too young to remember 2012, but just old enough to remember 2014. Or maybe you just started following the Orioles in 2010 or 2011 and didn't understand how crazy it was that a dead and buried team like the 1998-2011 Orioles could win 90 games and get to October with mostly a cast of unknowns and castoffs and a Hall of Fame 3B who just turned 20.

I liked being there to win the east. And Destroy Detroit. Though love me some Joe Saunders. 

[LookinUp]

2014 for me. Delmon's double was the most memorable great play of my Orioles lifetime fandom. Loved 2012, of course. Honorable mention to...2019. Yeah, I said it. First time I've seen this team with a smart, coherent, plan since Pat Gillick was GM. 

If he's good, ten years from now we'll all be saying how important the Elias hire was (which happened in 2018, but you get the point).

[spiritof66]

2012 -- it came as such a surprise to me.

[Legend_Of_Joey]

Team standpoint - 2012

Personal standpoint - 2018 and 2019

[thatbearflies]

This is all just a "feeling" about a team, but, while I loved the 2014 season, that 2012 team was so fun. 2014 just felt more like a powerhouse and I felt like we were the favorite to win every single night, but there was something about the grind of that 2012 team (and somehow only a 3 game difference between the two!).

It was scrappy, it seemed to have more personality to it. I loved that confidence I felt about the 2014 team, but 2012 just felt like the underdog, good guys breaking through. Sometimes we forget, there was air of fun around Chris Davis. I still remember "Big Game" Joe Saunders (at least that one time!), Miguel Gonzalez (out of nowhere),  Nate McLouth, Luis Ayala in those goggles when we made the playoffs... I was a lurker on this board for that season, but I had fun just watching you all talk with my binoculars on the rooftops. 

Like I said, it was all from my subjective view of things and I loved 2014, but 2012 felt like a team that wasn't supposed to be there, was there. If there was every a season to reinvigorate my love of the Orioles and remind me why I love baseball so much over the last decade, it's 2012 for me also. 

[murph]

2012.  They won every game by one run!!!  It was amazing!!!

Yes, I know that’s not really true, but sure felt like every game I watched was a nail biter and that intensity was fantastic.