The hourglass finally ran out of the Oriole's effort to win it all last night. Although they had an impressive run, they ran into a hot Kansas City team at the the wrong time. And now the Royals move onto to play in the World Series and the O's will be watching with the rest of us.
As a fan, I'm naturally disappointed that the O's didn't advance. I, along with may other O's fans, thought the this was "the year". Displaying an ample supply of exciting plays and dramatic comebacks. the O's almost seemed to be a team of destiny. So, seeing them make it to the ALCS only to get swept in four games by a wild-card team is going to take a little time to absorb.
While I may be disappointed with the ALCS outcome, I am far from disappointed in the team itself. These guys played their asses off all season. They were in almost every game until the very end. The tenacity that the O's showed this year can't be ignored. Bottom line, this is one hell of a baseball team that any city would be proud of.
How many teams could lose three All-Stars and really expect to contend? When Matt Weiters went down, we figured that it would have a big impact. But when Manny Machado went out for the season, many fans said that there was no way we could compete. But somehow the Oriole's kept on truckin' and started to move away from their rivals in the AL East. And then, when we found out the Chris Davis would be suspended for 25 games, right before the playoffs, you could almost see a black cloud appear over Camden Yards. But instead of collapsing, like many people anticipated, the O's actually played harder! They opened up a massive lead in the AL East and then bulldozed through Detroit in the Division Series.
And while its natural to be disappointed that the season is now over, I think it's a bit unfair and disingenuous to bash the O's for their performance against the Royals. Every game was close and we were within one big hit until the final out. In four games, the O's lost by a total of six runs. Kansas City just played a little bit better than Baltimore. It happens sometimes. The Royals played great and deserved to win. What else can you say?
The main wish for O's fans is that they have a team that can contend. After so many legitimate disappointing years, we finally have a team that not only can contend, but can also go deep into the post-season. That's something that we should really appreciate. It's great hearing sports people around the country say, "I think Baltimore has a shot at the World Series."
Since the core group of players will likely be back next season, the Orioles should resume another playoff run in 2015. Although they fell a little short this year, they represented Baltimore proudly all season. My hat is off to the birds for a tremendous effort and countless hours of excitement. See you in April!
kw
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