This is my favorite Oriole team ever

[DocJJ]

I've been a fan since 1977 when I was 8 years old.   I've had my share of great Oriole teams over the years- the 1979 and 83 teams were fun.  The 1989 Why Not team was fun.  The 1996 team and the 2012 and 2014 teams were nice (even though they broke my heart!)

 

But there's just something about this team...  !

First, they have vastly exceeded expectations.  Obviously, they were expected to be another last-place team at the beginning of the year. 

They have a ton of youth and youthful exuberance.

Many guys have outperformed even modest expectations- most of the starting pitchers, in particular.

The bullpen has been rock solid all season.

The rookie call ups have supplied energy and ability.

 

They've had a ton of late inning heroics, highlight reel defensive plays, and just well-played games almost every night.  

The offense is streaky and I wish it was a bit more consistent... but I think I've enjoyed watching this team as much as any Oriole team I can remember.... They have been so much fun to watch!

 

 

[cacavolante]

I love this team. But its not even close to 89 imo. 

[bluedog]

10 minutes ago, DocJJ said:

I've been a fan since 1977 when I was 8 years old.   I've had my share of great Oriole teams over the years- the 1979 and 83 teams were fun.  The 1989 Why Not team was fun.  The 1996 team and the 2012 and 2014 teams were nice (even though they broke my heart!)

 

But there's just something about this team...  !

First, they have vastly exceeded expectations.  Obviously, they were expected to be another last-place team at the beginning of the year. 

They have a ton of youth and youthful exuberance.

Many guys have outperformed even modest expectations- most of the starting pitchers, in particular.

The bullpen has been rock solid all season.

The rookie call ups have supplied energy and ability.

 

They've had a ton of late inning heroics, highlight reel defensive plays, and just well-played games almost every night.  

The offense is streaky and I wish it was a bit more consistent... but I think I've enjoyed watching this team as much as any Oriole team I can remember.... They have been so much fun to watch!

 

 

Agreed!

I just wish they would sit Odor. It's frankly astonishing that he plays more often and is pinch hit for less than any other player. I am so sick of watching him flail at the plate and listening to Jim Palmer talk about how good he is at turning double plays as if that's a justification for plugging his 0.1 WAR into the lineup every day.

Other than that, I have no complaints about this team.

[Aristotelian]

I'm growing very fond of these guys. '89 was the team that made me really fall in love with baseball, and '12 put an end to 14 years of losing. I think those are my two favorites followed closely by this team, '97, and '83. Of course, this season isn't over yet and things can change. 

[UMDTerrapins]

49 minutes ago, cacavolante said:

I love this team. But its not even close to 89 imo. 

For me it is, and I loved the ‘89 team. It’s never really occurred to me to pick a favorite between the two, but the preceding year was even worse with this team. And the future prognosis is better with this team. Both teams wildly exceeded expectations and were a thrill to watch. No matter, I’m just fully appreciating the moment. This is special. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

55 minutes ago, cacavolante said:

I love this team. But its not even close to 89 imo. 

And I wouldn't place this season above the 2012 Orioles... at least for now.

2012 season had many special moments like this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvsGuIhfo0k

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, cacavolante said:

I love this team. But its not even close to 89 imo. 

Why is it not?   

[tntoriole]

No team will ever exceed the 1966 Os in my heart .. this group is excellent though .. similar to the 2012 club. 

[ChipTait]

Jolly Olive giving this team some love on YouTube.  He highlights why Odor isn't going anywhere anytime soon...

 

 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

6 minutes ago, ChipTait said:

Jolly Olive giving this team some love on YouTube.  He highlights why Odor isn't going anywhere anytime soon...

 

 

Thanks of posting this video, I've only watched the first few minutes so far and it's good.

There aren't many baseball Youtubers I'm aware of and I'm going to start paying attention to this channel. 

[hutchead]

I try not to compare my love for the teams because I'm old and I've seen so many special teams in my lifetime. '66 will always be hard to beat. '69-'71 will always be special. Fond memories of '79 & '83. '82 was super special, especially that last Milwaukee series. '12 was particularly satisfying. But '89? Wow, that was something else. I'll have to agree that season was especially joyful! But I'll never forget the crushing heartbreak I felt when we were eliminated by the Blue Jays on that last weekend - especially after leading 3-1 going into the bottom of the eighth. I'm still not over it. That one hurt more than any other sports loss in my life including three World Series losses, two Super Bowl losses and five NCAA Basketball Tournament Championship game losses. I was just so invested in that club after what happened in '88. But this season ranks right up there with the best of them. I can only dream of what it could have been like had Adley not got hurt in the preseason and had started the season with the team. I believe we would be in first place right now.

[Gentile4]

1966 hands down. Not even close.

[Uli2001]

Perhaps there is some recency bias in saying this is the most compelling Orioles team ever, but it also depends on what is going to happen over these last 30 games and beyond.

[SteveA]

It's such a subjective thing because not only is it about the team, it is about you and when you first became a fan and where you were in your life at the particular time and so many other factors.

1977 was special to me because I was 13 - that perfect age where baseball can still be the most important thing in your life - and this new evil force called free agency had stripped the Orioles of guys like Bobby Grich and Wayne Garland and Reggie Jackson and we weren't supposed to be able to compete with the big evil Yankees and Red Sox but we had a whole bunch of rookies and guys from the big 1976 trade and we DID compete and stayed in it until the last weekend.

In 1979 I got caught up in the fever of Oriole Magic and listened to WFBR every waking hour as that youthful top 40 radio station had taken over from grownup stodgy WBAL talk/news radio and set the Chuck Thompson highlights  as inserts to rock songs like BTO's You Ain't Seen Nothin Yet and played them over and over and we had the best record in baseball and made it to the World Series.

1982 was the first year I and all my friends had drivers licenses and instead of going to a small handful of games a year  with my Dad, I went to 20+ games with my friends and we staged an incredible finish that lasted until the last day of the season.  I remember the friends and the good times and the great games (I somehow managed to see 6 Oriole Grand slams in person, some teams dont but that many in a year).

1989 was my first year as a season ticket holder (13 game plan) and I was fresh out of college and still youbg enough to go out 3 or 4 nights a week and stay out late and still go to work every day and function on my job.  I want to 45 games total that year, never come close to that since.   And it was such an incredible unexpected joy of a season, until it ended that Saturday in Toronto and about 5 minutes after we were eliminated I got a phone call telling me my favorite aunt's long battle with lung cancer had finally ended.

As great as this season is, I don't think it will ever match those years.  For me.   I don't have a circle of friends that want to go to games very much anymore, and my age and arthritic knees also prevent me from going to that many games.  I've been to five this year and will make a couple more.  I still care but I'm too knowledgeable about the game now to have the unbridled enthusiasm that I once did.  I watch most games on the big screen in my living room and the losses still hurt and the wins still are great, but not to the level they once did.   I don't think I will ever be able to live and die with the team like I did when I was younger.  I have too much understanding of how the sausage is made.  I understand too well the random factors in baseball and the business of the game to ever worship the players the way I did when I was young or to believe that there is something special about the guys who don the orange and black.

That said, this year and the surprising early arrival of the Orioles as contenders is a hell of a lot of fun, but I personally will never be able to enjoy it at the level I did when I was in my teens or even early 20s.

But I can certainly understand how for someone at a different point in their life this season would be the greatest ever, just like those other ones were for me.

[RZNJ]

2 hours ago, bluedog said:

Agreed!

I just wish they would sit Odor. It's frankly astonishing that he plays more often and is pinch hit for less than any other player. I am so sick of watching him flail at the plate and listening to Jim Palmer talk about how good he is at turning double plays as if that's a justification for plugging his 0.1 WAR into the lineup every day.

Other than that, I have no complaints about this team.

We get it but why in this thread?   Pretty poor.