Counting down as the ‘23 Orioles match some of the O’s winningest teams

[Frobby]

With their 93rd win yesterday, the 2023 matched the 2012 Orioles, for 16th place on the team's all time win list.

It's fitting that the 2023 O's matched the 2012 total by winning an extra inning, one-run game.   The 2012 Orioles lived off those wins, going 16-2 in extra innings and 29-9 in one-run games.   This year's team also has done well in those games, 11-6 and 27-14.  Also like 2023, 2012 was a season that ended a long playoff drought -- in that case, 14 years, more than twice as long as the 6-year drought that will end this season.

For the 2012 team, for much of the season O's fans were just hoping for the first .500+ season in 15 years.   The team got off to an excellent start and in late April/early May went on a streak of winning 7 of 8, culminating in what surely is one of the 10 most memorable games the team ever played, a May 6 17-inning 9-6 win over Boston in which Chris Davis pitched the final two shutout innings, outdueling former Orioles outifeld farmhand Darnell McDonald.  The team went from there to reach an early apex of 27-14 on May 19.  But the team seemed to run out of pixie dust in the next several weeks, falling to 46-44 by July 17.  Perhaps not coincidentally, Nick Markakis missed all of June and the first half of July with a broken hamate bone.  Orioles fans who had suffered through countless second half collapses during the previous 14 years surely felt another one coming.   But the O's were able to reverse course a little in late July and the first few days of August while waiting for reinforcements.   And boy, did they get reinforcements!   First, on August 4, they called up Nate McLouth, who had been claimed from Pittsburgh.  McLouth became their leadoff hitter and offensive catalyst, and ended a parade of leftfielders who hadn't been getting it done on offense or defense.  Then, on August 9, they called up the jewel of their farm system, 20-year old Manny Machado, out of AA and moved him to 3B.  To say that Machado radically improved the 3B defense would be like saying that the invention of the light bulb improved lighting.   And from the day that Manny joined the team to the end of the season, the O's went 33-18 to finish with 93 wins and grab a wild card spot, clinching their spot with three games remaining and only being eliminated from the divisional race on the second to last day of the season.  They beat Texas in the win-or-go home wild card game behind late August acquisition Joe Saunders, but lost a hard-fought five game series to the hated Yankees to end their season.

2012 was Dan Duquette's first season as O's GM, and it seemed like every offseason move he made worked out.  He traded Jeremy Guthrie for Jason Hammel and reliever Matt Lindstrom, signed Wei-Yin Chen to a 4 year, $17 mm deal, pulled Miguel Gonzalez out of the Mexican League, and signed Luis Ayala, who became a bullpen stalwart that year.   Before Duquette arrived, at Buck Showlater's urging, the team claimed Darren O'Day off waivers from Texas.  All those moves turned out to be enormous.  Duqette also signed Adam Jones to a 7-year deal not long after the 2012 season began.  Jones responded by having the best year of his career to that point, slamming 32 homers, winning a Gold Glove (his 2nd), and finishing 6th in the MVP voting.  Buck also installed Jim Johnson as the closer, and Johnson had an amazing year, coverting 51 of 54 save opportunities.  Chris Davis had a breakout year, hitting a team-leading 33 homers with 85 RBI.  Matt Wieters had his second straight All Star, Gold Glove season, posting career highs in homers (23) and RBI (83).  J.J. Hardy supplied the team's third Gold Glove that year.  Chris Tillman, who had struggled in his up-and-down stays with the Orioles in 2009-11, finally flashed his true potential, joining the rotation at the halfway point in the season and going 9-3 with a 2.93 ERA in 15 starts. 

One of the very few downers for the 2012 team was that Nick Markakis, who had played in at least 157 games each of the previous five years, twice suffered broken bones that interrupted what otherwise was one of his best seasons, as he hit .298/.363/.471 in 104 games, first missing 35 games with a broken hamate bone, and then missing the final 23 games of the regular season and the playoffs with a broken thumb suffered when he was hit by a C.C. Sabathia fastball.  

Anyway, I could go on and on about all the amazing things that happened in 2012.  The team outscored its opponents by 7 runs and yet won 93 games, 11 more than their pythagorean record.   Many pundits saw the season as a complete fluke, but the truth is, once McLouth and Manny joined the team, they were a very good team. 2012 ushered in a five-year period where the Orioles had the best overall record in the AL and went to the playoffs three times.  It was one of the most fun years ever and a great time to be an Orioles fan.

If you have some favorite memories about that team, feel free to add them in here.   There are so many.

Edited September 18, 2023 by Frobby

[O's84]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

If you have some favorite memories about that team, feel free to add them in here.   There are so many.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mondo Trasho]

Not only did they have that 17 inning game in Boston, they also had an 18 inning game in Seattle later that year. I remember staying up until what must have 3 or 4 am watching that. I also remember how hyped the crowd was that first playoff game at OPACY. 

[Uli2001]

Yes, that 2012 team is one of my favorite one. Even though the 2014 team was better, the 2012 team came out of nowhere. More or less like the 2023 team. But I would have to say that the 2023 team takes the cake (no recency bias).

[Jagwar]

Strange... I don't remember Luis Ayala at all. 

Edited September 19, 2023 by Jagwar

[Spy Fox]

 

[Frobby]

29 minutes ago, Jagwar said:

Strange... I don't remember Luis Ayala at all. 

He wasn’t that memorable, but a key piece of our 2012 bullpen. 75 innings, 2.64 ERA.   We traded him away less than 2 weeks into the 2013 season. 

[Jagwar]

13 minutes ago, Frobby said:

He wasn’t that memorable, but a key piece of our 2012 bullpen. 75 innings, 2.64 ERA.   We traded him away less than 2 weeks into the 2013 season. 

Ah yes... wasn't he the original catch the HR ball in the bullpen with your cap pitcher?

[Pickles]

19 minutes ago, Jagwar said:

Ah yes... wasn't he the original catch the HR ball in the bullpen with your cap pitcher?

Great memory.

[Pickles]

2 hours ago, O's84 said:

 

 

 

 

 

I'm almost certain the Mark Reynolds meme thread was from 2011.

[Can_of_corn]

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/complacent-reynolds

[Pickles]

To comment on Frobby's post without quoting it:

I think he made a real good point that is often overlooked: Yeah the 2012 team overperformed their Pythagorean record significantly, but they were a legitimately good team once McClouth and Manny were in the lineup.

There was nothing "fluky" about that team's success, which is precisely why they would go on to have the best record in the American League over the next five seasons.

[Babkins]

2012 was the first year of the new cartoon bird hat; it felt like a part of the magic that year.

I was at ALDS Games 4 and 5 at Yankee Stadium, Section 205. I’ve told this story on OH before (DOD Appreciation Thread), but it’s a favorite, so indulge me once more. During Game 4, the Yankees fans next to me, friends of the friend I had purchased my seats from, were pleasant all game long. They had a lot of questions about Orioles players that they were unfamiliar with, which was most of them. They had high praise for McLouth in particular, and for our bullpen.

In the bottom of the 8th of a 1–1 game, O’s trailing 2–1 in the series, Ayala surrendered singles to the first two batters, prompting Buck to bring in Matusz to face Canó with runners on first and second. “Who’s this guy?” the fans next to me wanted to know. I explained that Matusz had been a first rounder who had had some success, then struggled, then found a role as a lefty specialist out of the bullpen. Matusz retired Canó on a grounder to second, advancing the runners. Rodriguez was up next, and Buck immediately went to the bullpen to bring in O’Day. “How about this guy?” the fans next to me wanted to know.

”This is the guy who’s going to strike out A-Rod,” I said.

Big love forever and always to Darren O’Day for having my back that night.

I see now as I am reviewing the game log on Bb-Ref that Lew Ford, pinch-running for Jim Thome in the top of the ninth, was picked off of first base for the second out. I have no recollection of this. Was this perhaps the moment that spurned all the Lew Ford hatred on the board? I have to admit I never fully understood it, but as I was at the game, I was not keeping up with the game thread, if that’s indeed what started it.

[now]

Love these winning season writeups, Frobby. One burning question: what's your source for all the juicy details? BB-Ref season logs? A dogeared personal notebook? Sheer memory? Either way, well done! 

[Frobby]

59 minutes ago, now said:

Love these winning season writeups, Frobby. One burning question: what's your source for all the juicy details? BB-Ref season logs? A dogeared personal notebook? Sheer memory? Either way, well done! 

I definitely lean heavily on BB-ref, especially for the pre-1966 seasons, which pre-date when I started following baseball.  Of those, so far I’ve only written up 1960, with 1961, 1964 and 1965 still to come.  (‘65 is now due for a write up after today’s win matching that team’s 94-win total.). I remember a lot about the ‘66 and later seasons, but definitely need reinforcement from BB-ref to supply some details and check my memory.  It’s been fun doing these and thinking back on these very successful past seasons.  It’s good to remember that the O’s were an excellent team for a very long time.