The Orioles Last Win That Big in the Regular Season

[Filmstudy]

We do not have the benefit of hindsight from the end of this season, but with the tiebreaker win and re-establishing the 1-game lead, this is the most important O's win in many years.  Let's review:

I do not believe there are any from 2017-2022 that are close.

In 2016, they won a WC by 2.5 and lost the ability to play that game at home by losing the season series 10-9 to TOR.

In 2014 they won the division by 12, so they didn't really have any critical games in hindsight during the regular season.

In 2013 they finished 5th in the WC race (2 WC teams) by 6.5 games.

In 2012 they won the 2nd WC and the 2 series which were huge were the 3-game sweep of the Rays at home 9/11-13 and the win Sat 9/29 at Bos which pulled them into a tie with the Yankees with 4 to play (the O's won 2 while the Yankees won all 4 remaining)

1998-2011 There were virtually no important wins

1997 They won the division wire-to-wire, but they also blew 7.5 games of a 9.5 game lead on 9/6.  The sweep at the Braves in June (6/13-15) pushed their record to 45-19 and made us believe they could compete with anyone.

In 1996 they clinched the AL's only WC on the last Saturday of the season at Toronto on Roberto Alomar's HR the night after the spitting incident.  And yes, this might be the last regular season win as big as Saturday night.

1990-95 had big games and some big wins, but nothing of the magnitude of Saturday night.

1989 my choice for the biggest win of the year is probably the comeback from 6-0 down at Boston that kept them in 1st place a while longer.  Similar situation with the win vs Toronto on 8/20 to increase their lead from 0.5 to 1.5. 

Let's hear some other nominations over this era or perhaps go back further.

[Uli2001]

It all depends on what will happen over the next two weeks. If the Orioles go on to win the division, this will be a much bigger win than otherwise.

I believe that the sweep at the Braves in 1997 included the game when Ripken went 6-6.

[foxfield]

Was at tonights game and it was pretty outstanding.  Grayson delivered big time and Gunnar was spectacular at the plate and in the field.  But the game was much closer than the score.  The Orioles did an awful lot of damage with two outs and got big plays defensively seemingly every time the Rays had a chance. 

O'hearn made several nice plays at first, Hicks made a nice catch and Hays caught a ball over his shoulder going back to the wall.  Any of those balls fall and it changes the game.

Man it was a good time.  Took 4 1/2 hours to get to the stadium and only 3 hours to get home.  The pitch clock is a very welcome addition as tonights game was just over 2 hours.

A big win by a team that always seems to bounce back.  Grayson and Gunnar were both showered with coolers of water after the game.  Is there any doubt at this point that Gunnar is the ROY? 

[Malike]

46 minutes ago, Filmstudy said:

We do not have the benefit of hindsight from the end of this season, but with the tiebreaker win and re-establishing the 1-game lead, this is the most important O's win in many years.  Let's review:

I do not believe there are any from 2017-2022 that are close.

In 2016, they won a WC by 2.5 and lost the ability to play that game at home by losing the season series 10-9 to TOR.

In 2014 they won the division by 12, so they didn't really have any critical games in hindsight during the regular season.

In 2013 they finished 5th in the WC race (2 WC teams) by 6.5 games.

In 2012 they won the 2nd WC and the 2 series which were huge were the 3-game sweep of the Rays at home 9/11-13 and the win Sat 9/29 at Bos which pulled them into a tie with the Yankees with 4 to play (the O's won 2 while the Yankees won all 4 remaining)

1998-2011 There were virtually no important wins

1997 They won the division wire-to-wire, but they also blew 7.5 games of a 9.5 game lead on 9/6.  The sweep at the Braves in June (6/13-15) pushed their record to 45-19 and made us believe they could compete with anyone.

In 1996 they clinched the AL's only WC on the last Saturday of the season at Toronto on Roberto Alomar's HR the night after the spitting incident.  And yes, this might be the last regular season win as big as Saturday night.

1990-95 had big games and some big wins, but nothing of the magnitude of Saturday night.

1989 my choice for the biggest win of the year is probably the comeback from 6-0 down at Boston that kept them in 1st place a while longer.  Similar situation with the win vs Toronto on 8/20 to increase their lead from 0.5 to 1.5. 

Let's hear some other nominations over this era or perhaps go back further.

Good stuff, but 2011 had one of the most important wins in the 2000's. The last game of the season and one of the greatest collapses in recent memory for the Sox.

[tntoriole]

48 minutes ago, Filmstudy said:

We do not have the benefit of hindsight from the end of this season, but with the tiebreaker win and re-establishing the 1-game lead, this is the most important O's win in many years.  Let's review:

I do not believe there are any from 2017-2022 that are close.

In 2016, they won a WC by 2.5 and lost the ability to play that game at home by losing the season series 10-9 to TOR.

In 2014 they won the division by 12, so they didn't really have any critical games in hindsight during the regular season.

In 2013 they finished 5th in the WC race (2 WC teams) by 6.5 games.

In 2012 they won the 2nd WC and the 2 series which were huge were the 3-game sweep of the Rays at home 9/11-13 and the win Sat 9/29 at Bos which pulled them into a tie with the Yankees with 4 to play (the O's won 2 while the Yankees won all 4 remaining)

1998-2011 There were virtually no important wins

1997 They won the division wire-to-wire, but they also blew 7.5 games of a 9.5 game lead on 9/6.  The sweep at the Braves in June (6/13-15) pushed their record to 45-19 and made us believe they could compete with anyone.

In 1996 they clinched the AL's only WC on the last Saturday of the season at Toronto on Roberto Alomar's HR the night after the spitting incident.  And yes, this might be the last regular season win as big as Saturday night.

1990-95 had big games and some big wins, but nothing of the magnitude of Saturday night.

1989 my choice for the biggest win of the year is probably the comeback from 6-0 down at Boston that kept them in 1st place a while longer.  Similar situation with the win vs Toronto on 8/20 to increase their lead from 0.5 to 1.5. 

Let's hear some other nominations over this era or perhaps go back further.

1982… 3 games behind to Brewers ..4 games to finish season.  Lose 1 and season done.  Each game as important as any.  Won 3 to tie then lost on Sunday, last game of the season. 

[Filmstudy]

2 hours ago, tntoriole said:

1982… 3 games behind to Brewers ..4 games to finish season.  Lose 1 and season done.  Each game as important as any.  Won 3 to tie then lost on Sunday, last game of the season. 

All great ones until Sunday.  My vote probably goes to Saturday, since it got the standings all tied up.  For some reason, the Syracuse station decided to play a movie instead of the ballgame on Sunday.  Incredibly frustrating, but so was the game.

[Frobby]

I’m going with Game 158 of the 2016 season.  Going into that game, the Orioles were in second wild card position, two games behind Toronto, one game ahead of Detroit, two ahead of Seattle, 2.5 ahead of Houston.  They’d lost convincingly to Toronto the night before, 5-1.   Playing before a hostile crowd of 44,000+ in the Rogers Cehtre, they were trailing the Jays 2-0 going into the 8th.  Mark Trumbo narrrowed the Jays’ lead to 2-1 with a solo homer in the 8th.  With the Jays’ closer Osuna brought in for the 9th, Jonathan Schoop got a one-out single and Michael Bourn pinch ran for him.  Buck brought up Hyun Soo Kim to pinch hit for Nolan Reimold, and Bourn stole second to get into scoring position.   But then, on a 3-2 pitch, Kim shocked everyone by hitting a 2-run homer, only his 6th homer of the year, to suddenly give the O’s a 3-2 lead.   Zach Britton came in for the 9th and did Zach Britton things, retiring the Jays on two strikeouts and a grounder to 2B.    The win put the O’s back within one win of the Jays for the first wild card, and maintained our one-game lead over Detroit, who also won that night, as did Seattle.  The O’s finished out the season 3-1 from there to secure the second wild card, clinching it when Detroit lost on the penultimate day of the season, but to me that win in Toronto was the crucial one.  The O’s actually were still in play for the first wild card and home field advantage on the final day, but Toronto beat the Yankees that day to take that spot.