After 47 games, a historical comparison

[Bahama O's Fan]

15 minutes ago, oriole said:

To be honest, there’s one player on this current team who a major injury to would absolutely destroy this team. Gotta just hope it doesn’t happen

But losing Adley this year is better than last year due to having a more capable backup

[maybenxtyr]

38 minutes ago, Bahama O's Fan said:

But losing Adley this year is better than last year due to having a more capable backup

McCann is a decent backup in almost all situations. That being said, Adley is proving to not be the typical situation. I don't even want to talk about the repercussions of losing Adley.

[oriole]

2 hours ago, Bahama O's Fan said:

But losing Adley this year is better than last year due to having a more capable backup

McCann and his .509 OPS? 
 

I mostly meant the swing in winning% once Adley was called up. He seems to add something unquantifiable to the team. 

[Royle]

The wire-to-wire 1997 team was 32-15 on their way to 42-17

[jdwilde1]

3 hours ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

That was the year I think the O's pitching suddenly looked very good (in the early season).  Was it a Bedard injury that started the downward spiral?  I checked the offense and it was Mora and Tejada and not much else.  This year's offense seems much more broad based.

Don’t forget about B-Rob.  That was his big breakout year, career high 18 HR, 45 2B, .903 OPS.

[LA2]

3 hours ago, Frobby said:

But, that team topped out at 14 games over .500, a figure it reached several times, the latest being at the 70-game mark.  This team is further over .500 (+15) than that team ever got.  I don’t think this team has proven anything yet but I’m supremely confident that they’re much better than that 2005 team.  

I’ve been thinking about the 2016 team. That team got to +18 on July 25, but never got any higher and finished at +16.  The 2013 team got to +14 on July 22 but finished at +8.   Last year’s team got as high as +10 but finished +4.  So, there’s a long way to go before we know how things will shake out for this team.  The teams that are memorable tend to be ones that had a strong finishing kick.  Here’s the record of the WS teams in the last 47 games of the season:

1966: 24-23

1969: 29-18

1970: 35-12

1971: 32-15

1979: 28-19

1983: 33-14

That ‘66 team kind of coasted in, but the others didn’t.   This year’s team won’t be able to afford to, I suspect.

 

 

Excellent point. O's Sept/Oct opponents are going to be quite a challenge:

@Diamondbacks 3

@Angels 3

@Red Sox 3

Cardinals 3

Rays 4

@Astros 3

@Guardians 4

Nationals 2

Red Sox again for the final 4 in Baltimore

 

[Uli2001]

1 hour ago, Royle said:

The wire-to-wire 1997 team was 32-15 on their way to 42-17

That 1997 team was sputtering by the end of the season. They were underdogs against Seattle in the ALDS, were bailed out by Jeff Reboulet into the ALCS, where we all know what happened. I will always remember that team with mixed feelings. They faded seriously in September and October.

The reality is that it's not how you start but how you finish. However, even if this team fades in the second half, the season will be still remembered fondly, as the start of something special. There was no such silver lining in 1997.

[InsideCoroner]

6 hours ago, LA2 said:

Excellent point. O's Sept/Oct opponents are going to be quite a challenge:

@Diamondbacks 3

@Angels 3

@Red Sox 3

Cardinals 3

Rays 4

@Astros 3

@Guardians 4

Nationals 2

Red Sox again for the final 4 in Baltimore

 

This still seems much more palatable to me than the schedules in previous seasons when you’re facing the Yanks, Rays and Jays for something like 20 out of the last 27 games (or whatever it might be). 

[now]

2005 was quite the roller coaster, for sure. Starting with ex-MFY Lee Mazzilli managing (fired at the 2/3 mark). There was the whole Raffygate/Tejada drama at midseason. Clubhouse chemistry also tainted by 36-yr-old Sammy Sosa (78 OPS+). Pitching was shaky with #5 starter Ponson at 6.21 ERA, and bullpen was similar with #5 guy Julio at 5.90, and three of the next tier of relievers (Maine, Penn, and Reed) also over 6.30 ERA. All in all, no contest next to this year (so far!).

https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BAL/2004.shtml

Edited May 23, 2023 by now

[pdiddy]

9 hours ago, Royle said:

The wire-to-wire 1997 team was 32-15 on their way to 42-17

It’s hard to articulate how much that playoff loss crushed me - after coming back from getting screwed in the playoffs the year before I was convinced it was team of destiny. 

[SteveO]

I'm just enjoying the ride and grateful to watch talented players, play winning baseball. 

Still feel like the best is yet to come in 2024-2027 and perhaps beyond, but this team will be fun to watch this year also. After the lean years, I am just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round with a great big happy smile on my face. 

[Moshagge3]

8 hours ago, Uli2001 said:

That 1997 team was sputtering by the end of the season. They were underdogs against Seattle in the ALDS, were bailed out by Jeff Reboulet into the ALCS, where we all know what happened. I will always remember that team with mixed feelings. They faded seriously in September and October.

 

I remember when everyone blamed Jimmy Key's poor second half on his getting married.

[Roy Firestone]

11 hours ago, jdwilde1 said:

Don’t forget about B-Rob.  That was his big breakout year, career high 18 HR, 45 2B, .903 OPS.

juicer, and I like Brian.