The Dodgers put away the Yankees. That’s better than the only available alternative.
Hello, friends.
As you know if you’ve read anything I’ve ever written on this website, it’s been the length of my life plus a few weeks since the Orioles last won the World Series. Anybody my age or younger, we’ve never been alive to see it happen. Younger than 45 and you probably don’t have any real memory of it. That’s the real prize, and this year wasn’t the year. What we just got this year is the next-best consolation prize, which is the Yankees title drought now reaching 15 years.
The Dodgers sealed it last night, coming back from a 5-0 deficit in Game 5 of the World Series to tie things up. They fell behind, 6-5, then stormed back again and took a 7-6 lead that held until it was time to hoist the trophy. I have essentially no positive interest in the Dodgers for themselves. It’s a nice story if you’re a Dodgers fan. They’re a team with great players, four guys who look to be on Hall of Fame trajectories, and that turned into a title. I just only care about the Orioles. Good job on them for beating the Yankees, though.
I’ve been impatient for the postseason to wrap up because I want to get to where things can start happening again. We’re there now. The guys who we’ve known all season long would become free agents have hit their official free agency. (Or at least, as The Onion reminded us long ago, to the extent that any man can be said to have free agency.) Within several days, we’ll know who the qualifying offer guys are, whose options are getting picked up and whose aren’t, and everybody can go forward into the offseason from there. I’ve gone over all of the important dates for reference in this article.
Although by now I know better than to do this, I’m still going to end up eyeing the list of free agents, trying to figure out who might be a good fit for the Orioles. The next time that Mike Elias gives multiple guaranteed years to any player will be the first time, so I should stop getting my hopes up. It would be pretty boring to do that, though. So instead I’ll just set myself up for disappointment. As a life-long O’s fan, it’s a familiar feeling. But at least for 2024 the Yankee fans are disappointed too, and that’s not nothing.
Around the blogO’sphere
Cedric Mullins wows in center field. Was he a Gold Glove snub? (The Baltimore Banner)
The Banner’s Andy Kostka brings the data to show that it wasn’t a snub for Mullins this year.
Ranking the Orioles free agents from most to least likely to return (The Baltimore Sun)
I’m going with James McCann as most likely to return and Corbin Burnes as least likely, although I don’t expect any of the guys to be back.
In Baltimore, Mountain time returns in 2025 (Steve Melewski)
I sure hope that pinning a lot of hopes on Félix Bautista coming back and looking like his pre-surgery self is not going to end up with disappointment for all of us.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Today in 1979, Mike Flanagan was named as the winner of the AL Cy Young Award after posting a 3.08 ERA across 38 starts, including 16 complete games and five shutouts. The victory was likely owed to the voters of the time finding his AL-leading 23 wins to be the most meaningful measure of quality.
There are a number of former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2024 short-time infielder Tony Kemp, 2013 short-time infielder Yamaico Navarro, 1997 outfielder David Delucci, 2005-06 reliever Tim Byrdak, 2007-08 pitcher Steve Trachsel, 1995 catcher Matt Nokes, 1989-90 pitcher Mike Smith, and 1962-74 pitcher Dave McNally. It’s also the birthday of former Orioles manager Dave Trembley (2007-10), who turns 73 today.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: poet John Keats (1795), prohibitionist Andrew Volstead (1860), actor John Candy (1950), Broadway actor Brian Stokes Mitchell (1957), director Peter Jackson (1961), and rapper Vanilla Ice (1967).
On this day in history…
In 1517, Martin Luther delivered his 95 Theses to the Archbishop of Mainz, generally recognized as the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. The possibly-apocryphal nailing to the door came within a couple of weeks.
In 1836, a steamboat carrying hundreds of Muscogee who were being forcibly removed from their land collided with another ship north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The sinking of the Monmouth led to the deaths of 311 of the Muscogee, one sad incident among many that make up the Trail of Tears.
In 1917, during World War I, a British force made up heavily of Australian and New Zealand cavalry soldiers captured an Ottoman garrison at Beersheba. Military historians now credit the battle as the last successful cavalry charge in history.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on October 31. Have a safe Halloween.