HOF
Posted 04 February 2024 - 10:37 PM
Through the magic of Baseball Reference I looked it up, and yes, on Thursday May 24th they beat the Angels 5-1 to improve to 35-5.
Tor was 27-14 and the 2nd best team in baseball at the time they were 35-5. 8.5 out. Tor pulled to within 3.5 on June 6th. Tigers were 39-13 while Tor was 36-17. Next closest team in all of baseball was 33-23.
HOF
Posted 04 February 2024 - 10:41 PM
One last note on '84. 5 AL East teams finished better than the AL West winning Royals who only won 84 games.
HOF
Posted 04 February 2024 - 10:57 PM
Through the magic of Baseball Reference I looked it up, and yes, on Thursday May 24th they beat the Angels 5-1 to improve to 35-5.
HOF
Posted 05 February 2024 - 12:01 AM
One last note on '84. 5 AL East teams finished better than the AL West winning Royals who only won 84 games.
And got swept by Detroit in the ALCS. That was the last year of the best-of-five format.
Now that I think of it, 1985 seemed to have promise at the outset. It was a radical departure from the Oriole Way in that the Orioles suddenly tried to buy what they could no longer build--a consistent winner. The Orioles added Fred Lynn, Lee Lacy and Don Aase that offseason in what looked to be an impressive free-agent haul. The team got off to a strong 18-9 start, but ultimately finished 83-78, a full 16 games behind the division-winning Blue Jays.
HOF
Posted 26 February 2024 - 04:02 PM
Just bought a 13 game plan. I also got tickets to OD too at season ticket prices. Wasn't planning to go but now I am probably going!
I Miss McNulty
Posted 26 February 2024 - 05:30 PM
Just bought a 13 game plan. I also got tickets to OD too at season ticket prices. Wasn't planning to go but now I am probably going!
I wasn't able to buy as many OD tix this year because of how many new plan holders there are.
There is baseball, and occasionally there are other things of note
"Now OPS sucks. Got it."
"Making his own olive brine is peak Mackus."
"I'm too hungover to watch a loss." - McNulty
@bopper33
Posted 26 February 2024 - 05:44 PM
Anybody remember, "It can be done in '61"? That's the season I most looked forward to. We'd almost won the year before after being below .500 in the franchise's early years.
But NY and Detroit were super, and we were only good. Won about 97 games and finished third.
I'd say this is the most excited I've been about a season since then.
HOF
Posted 26 February 2024 - 05:58 PM
'61?? Damn man. I dont even know if Shack is old enough to remember '61. In all seriousness, Im jealous of all you guys who got to experience the run from the 60s-early 80s. To know the team was going to show up and perform every year.Anybody remember, "It can be done in '61"? That's the season I most looked forward to. We'd almost won the year before after being below .500 in the franchise's early years.
But NY and Detroit were super, and we were only good. Won about 97 games and finished third.
I'd say this is the most excited I've been about a season since then.
Posted 27 February 2024 - 09:22 AM
I kinda took it for granted after awhile. We'd be good every year. My only concern was whether we'd win the World Series.
Orioles set a Major League record for games won in a 3-year span from 1969-71. (MFY broke it in the nineties.)
Little did I know the good times were ending and we'd be on a 40-year stretch w/o a WS appearance.
HOF
Posted 27 February 2024 - 11:51 AM
I kinda took it for granted after awhile. We'd be good every year. My only concern was whether we'd win the World Series.
Orioles set a Major League record for games won in a 3-year span from 1969-71. (MFY broke it in the nineties.)
Little did I know the good times were ending and we'd be on a 40-year stretch w/o a WS appearance.
The Orioles were the best team in baseball from 1969-71 and should have won all three of those World Series. They just stopped hitting in 69 and 71. The Mets had a very good pitching staff so it's probably not as unbelievable as a lot of historians make it out to be. But losing to the Pirates in '71 after winning the first two games was a tough one to swallow.
Posted 27 February 2024 - 02:07 PM
HOF
Posted 27 February 2024 - 04:28 PM
Yeah, the Mets, outside of Cleon Jones and Agee(maybe Don Clendenon in the 2nd half), were a lousy hitting team. I think their team batting average was around .240. But they had very good pitching led by Tom Seaver's 25 wins. Like you said, in a short series, quality pitching can present a lot of problems. Not to mention all the circus catches they were making that took away a lot of potential runs for the Orioles.The Mets might have had 1 or 2 guys who could have started for the Orioles, their shortstop and Agee in center. But it goes to show you what kick-ass pitching does in a short series.
'71 was only bearable to me because of Clemente's performance.
Posted 28 February 2024 - 02:50 PM
I sometimes dwell on the possibility of Burnes, Bradish and Grayrod all healthy and pitching to their potential this year. Can you imagine THAT in short series?
HOF
Posted 28 February 2024 - 03:05 PM
I sometimes dwell on the possibility of Burnes, Bradish and Grayrod all healthy and pitching to their potential this year. Can you imagine THAT in short series?
HOF
Posted 28 February 2024 - 03:25 PM
Yeah, the Mets, outside of Cleon Jones and Agee(maybe Don Clendenon in the 2nd half), were a lousy hitting team. I think their team batting average was around .240. But they had very good pitching led by Tom Seaver's 25 wins. Like you said, in a short series, quality pitching can present a lot of problems. Not to mention all the circus catches they were making that took away a lot of potential runs for the Orioles.
The Orioles' starting pitching could match that of the Mets, and I'd argue that Cleon Jones was the only regular on that team who could have started regularly for the Orioles. Tommy Agee had a good year in 1969 with a .271 average and 26 homers, but the Orioles had Paul Blair, who also cracked 26 homeruns that season.
Despite their 109-53 record that year, the Orioles' bats had cooled off considerably as September wore on, losing five in a row at one point and struggling to put up runs. This carried over into the ALCS against Minnesota, a sweep for the Orioles, but one in which they needed extra innings in the first two games to do so. Not the best way to head into a Series having to face the likes of Seaver and Koosman.
HOF
Posted 28 February 2024 - 04:08 PM
The Orioles' starting pitching could match that of the Mets, and I'd argue that Cleon Jones was the only regular on that team who could have started regularly for the Orioles. Tommy Agee had a good year in 1969 with a .271 average and 26 homers, but the Orioles had Paul Blair, who also cracked 26 homeruns that season.
Despite their 109-53 record that year, the Orioles' bats had cooled off considerably as September wore on, losing five in a row at one point and struggling to put up runs. This carried over into the ALCS against Minnesota, a sweep for the Orioles, but one in which they needed extra innings in the first two games to do so. Not the best way to head into a Series having to face the likes of Seaver and Koosman.
That's true, they were slumping offensively going into the post season. I think because it was the first play-off series and there were a lot of unknowns on how to approach it as a manager, Earl Weaver probably rested more regulars than he should have coming down the home stretch. I've had people tell me more than once that Earl's greatest team was the 1970 Orioles that won the World Series but I always say it was the '69 team. The difference was the Reds had a very average pitching staff and Orioles bats took advantage of it.
Posted 28 February 2024 - 09:32 PM
The Reds' top pitcher Wayne Simpson was hurt and never made an appearance I don't believe. Merritt, a 20-game winner, was hurting and not up to snuff. We beat a staff that was severely hampered by injuries.
HOF
Posted 29 February 2024 - 06:16 PM
HOF
Posted 29 February 2024 - 08:17 PM
The Reds' top pitcher Wayne Simpson was hurt and never made an appearance I don't believe. Merritt, a 20-game winner, was hurting and not up to snuff. We beat a staff that was severely hampered by injuries.
Fair-weather ex-diehard
Posted 05 March 2024 - 08:19 PM
'61?? Damn man. I dont even know if Shack is old enough to remember '61. In all seriousness, Im jealous of all you guys who got to experience the run from the 60s-early 80s. To know the team was going to show up and perform every year.
I was "8, going on 9". And you know how I get folks annoyed with me without me realizing it until after I did it? And you know how Brooks was/is the nicest guy who ever lived? Well, I was just 8 year old... and I managed to get him annoyed with little ole me...
Now, AFAIK he was only *slightly* annoyed... but he's Brooks... so it felt like way worse than it would have felt from anybody else yelling at me...
After the game, he'd come out of the gate and direct us to follow him to his car where he'd sign autographs. He always did this and stayed until everybody got theirs. Just moments before, I'd spent my allowance on the '61 Orioles Yearbook, I went with others over to his car (a maroon Buick non-huge convertible). He got in, rolled down the window, and he'd sign whatever we passed into him. So I got him to sign the cover of the yearbook... and then I got back in the line at the rear, and when I came up the 2nd time, I had it folded to his page inside the yearbook. Well, somehow he knew it was my 2nd time. I still don't know how, he never looked up to see who was who. By then it had been a few years since I realized Mom didn't really have eyes in the back of her head, so I knew it wasn't that. Maybe he recognized my shirt in his side-view mirror or something like that, beats me. Anyway, when I handed it in, he said, "Come on, man...". Then he signed it and passed it back.
I was absolutely crushed for weeks. Of all the people I might have accidentally annoyed, it was Brooks Robinson. I would much rather have pissed off the dang Pope. I still wince every time I think about it.
p.s. Jim Gentile's pic showed him doing an amazing split to reach out for a throw at 1B. His crotch was about 8" off the ground. Well, *somebody* (not me) drew a little turd dropping from his britches. I still don't know who did it. My little brother was too little to do it, my sister who was 5 would not have done it, and my other sister wasn't even born yet. So, I'm guessing it was Robert Irsay...
"The only change is that baseball has turned Paige from a second-class citizen to a second-class immortal." - Satchel Paige
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