Good morning, Camden Chatters.
If you’re a fan of sudden-death, win-or-go-home postseason baseball, then you’re in for a treat. The ALCS has extended to a decisive Game 7 after the Blue Jays staved off
elimination with a win over the Mariners last night. The winner-take-all matchup between the two 1977 expansion clubs will commence at 8:08 tonight in Toronto. If the Mariners win, they’ll advance to the World Series for the first time in franchise history. If the Jays take it, they’ll be back in the Fall Classic for the first time since 1993.
I’m rooting (like most Orioles fans, I’m sure) for the Mariners to eliminate the Birds’ much-disliked division rival. I don’t have any particular animus toward any current members of the Blue Jays — and there are a couple, Kevin Gausman and Anthony Santander, that I actively like — but they’re still the Blue Jays. They’re the team that twice had fans throw things at Orioles players. The team that once employed the eminently hatable José Bautista, and going back a ways, the team once managed by Cito Gaston. Cito Still Sucks. So I’d like to see the Jays fail.
Whichever team advances will get a date with the red-hot Dodgers in the World Series. L.A. had only the fifth-best record in MLB during the regular season but has been unbeatable in the playoffs, going 9-1 in cruising through their three series so far. While I’m as big a fan of Shohei Ohtani as anyone, it would be such an unsatisfying result to watch the Dodgers win the World Series for a second year in a row. Does anyone want this? If it ends up being a Dodgers/Blue Jays World Series, I’m going to have trouble even caring about the outcome.
So: let’s go, Mariners. You’re our last hope for the 2025 season to have a tolerable ending.
Links
Addressing three questions about the Orioles – School of Roch
Regarding the first question…are we really worried that the Orioles will have too many good starters to fit into the rotation? I would be thrilled if that were the case, but somehow I don’t expect it.
Alex Jackson could provide Orioles with 3-catcher option in 2026 – BaltimoreBaseball.com
Hard pass on this. A third catcher seems to me like a waste of a roster spot, even if Samuel Basallo and Adley Rutschman will be starting at other positions occasionally.
Ex-MLB catcher Jesus Montero, 35, dies after traffic accident – ESPN
Tragic news about about Montero, whose last season in an MLB organization was with the Orioles, where he played 13 games for Triple-A Norfolk in 2017. Condolences to the Montero family.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Two former Orioles were born on this day: left-hander Ty Blach (35) and infielder Bobby Floyd (82).
Oct. 20 has been a pretty uneventful day in O’s history. The last time the Orioles even made a transaction on this date was in 2015, when they claimed righty Vance Worley off waivers from the Pirates. The journeyman righty ended up pitching 35 games as a swing man for the 2016 Orioles, posting a 3.53 ERA. Like I said…uneventful day.
