When the Baltimore Orioles take the field Tuesday night against the Boston Red Sox, they will do so with a 16-11 record in the month of August. Considering the team is 48-83 with a winning percentage of .366 on the year, that fact truly says something. Since new manager Buck Showalter took over the team on August 3rd, the O’s have been 16-10. The “Buck Bump” brought them up from the worst record in Major League Baseball to just simply the worst record in the American League.
The Orioles haven’t had a winning season since 1998, but they still can avoid a 100 loss season in 2010 should they manage a 15-16 record or better down the stretch.
Given their phantasmagoric futility the last decade and change, you might have forgotten what the Orioles were from 1966-1997.
By Paul M. Banks
In that 31 year span, the O’s won three World Championships, played in the Series six times and reached the postseason four more times in addition to those six years. Only the Oakland A’s, who won four Fall Classics, were more productive during those three decades.
But these days it seems like the Orioles (and the Toronto Blue Jays for that matter) will need MLB realignment in order to win the AL East.
But consider the years 1969-1997, when Major League Baseball had two divisions. (Prior to ’69 there was a league split, but no divisional, and since ’98 baseball has had three divisions). During that period, the Orioles won the American League East eight times while the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays each claimed the division five times. If “Ripley’s believe or not” still exists I’m sure this fact would make an episode of the show.
But today’s short-term turnaround all starts with Showalter, the former ESPN analyst with a .515 career managerial winning percentage (886-834) and the 1994 AL manager of the year award. This season, Baltimore is playing much better under him than Dave Trembley (15-39) or Juan Samuel (17-34). Last week in Chicago, a reporter asked Showalter about the prospect of a winning August.
“It means something in our mind, just to win, having a winning month period. I’ve always looked at a season in increments anyway,” Showalter responded.
“What does it mean in the long haul? Statistically, you can make the case not much, but mentally it’s nothing but a positive and then it’s behind you, and it’s September and it’s what have you done for me lately?” he continued.
I followed up on that by asking about the proverbial “spoiler role.”
“I do know from being in that other dugout, whether it be Boston, or the Yankees or Tampa, they’re counting on us to compete and give it our best this time of the year. You’re always going to do what’s best for the Baltimore Orioles, but at the same time there’s some integrity there, because you do realize that people are watching those scores and depending on you to be competitive,” Showalter responded.
The Chicago White Sox have always found the Orioles a thorn in their side. The 1983 White Sox, one of the best clubs in team history, were eliminated in the postseason by the Orioles, and Baltimore ruined the postseason chances of the ’96 Sox down the stretch. The Orioles have an advantage in the all-time series with Chicago, and took the season series this year; despite having a much worse overall record than Chicago.
Ozzie Guillen, never at a loss for words or opinion, had this to say about getting beat by the Orioles.
“They pitched good against us. They got a good lineup that can beat you so many different ways and they play good defense. I think having Buck there, they’ll have a face out there that guys are going to go by. He’s going to dictate those guys how to play the game, and things are going to go a different way for them,” Guillen said.
Written by Paul M. Banks, president and CEO of The Sports Bank.net , a Midwest-focused webzine. He is also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, the Chicago Tribune’s blog network, Walter Football.com, the Washington Times Communities, Yardbarker Network and Fox Sports.com
You can follow him on Twitter @thesportsbank and @bigtenguru