Good morning, Camden Chatters.
Round 1 of the Orioles-less 2026 postseason is in the books. With the Braves finishing off the Phillies in the sudden-death Game 3 of the Wild Card Series last night, the Division Series matchups are set. Because of MLB’s bizarre decision not to re-seed teams between rounds, the American League pits the teams with the two best records against each other — the Rays and Yankees — while the White Sox take on the Guardians in an AL Central battle. In the NL, the Padres will
face the top-ranked Brewers, and the Braves head to L.A. to face the two-time defending champion Dodgers.
Who are you pulling for, Camden Chatters? I’d say there’s only one series where I have a clear favorite, which of course is rooting for the Rays to win (or more accurately, rooting for the Yankees to lose). I have no strong feelings either way about the Guardians and White Sox, but I guess I’d lean toward Cleveland since it’s been nearly 80 years since their last World Series win.
As for the National League, I’d be happy for either the Brewers or the Padres — two teams who have never won a World Series — to make it to the Fall Classic, and in a perfect world they wouldn’t have to face each other until the NLCS. But only one can even advance that far. Each team’s roster is sprinkled with former Orioles — Manny Machado and Austin Hays for San Diego; Joey Ortiz and DL Hall (and Gary Sánchez) for Milwaukee — so pick your favorite. Meanwhile, it’s hard to get excited about the Braves/Dodgers matchup. Hopefully, whoever wins that series will lose swiftly to either the Brewers or Padres in the Championship Series.
Including the Rays, there are three teams still alive in the postseason that have a chance to win their first World Series in franchise history. That would be a cool thing to witness, even if it’s a far cry from the enjoyment we’d get if the Orioles were involved. But because the baseball gods don’t want us to have any fun, I’m sure we’ll just end up with a Dodgers/Yankees World Series that will make everyone want to throw up.
Links
What do Orioles need to avoid a 3rd straight losing season in 2027? | MAILBAG – BaltimoreBaseball.com
Well, my preferred answer — fire Mike Elias — apparently isn’t happening, so your guess is as good as mine.
Rubbing Some Dirt on It Isn’t Working for the Orioles – FanGraphs
Davy Andrews revisits Craig Albernaz’s criticism of Samuel Basallo for not playing through pain, and points to Gunnar Henderson as an example of why that’s a misguided thing to say. If you can even imagine Craig Albernaz saying something misguided!
How Orioles can clean up defense – School of Roch
Well, my preferred answer — blow up the roster and replace everyone with better players — apparently isn’t happening, so your guess is as good as mine.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Three former Orioles were born on this day: outfielder Aaron Hicks (37), infielder José Morban (47), and right-hander Victor Santos (50).
On this date in 2012, Chris Davis tied an Orioles record by homering in his sixth consecutive game, providing the only offense in a 1-0 victory over the Rays. The O’s won despite the Rays’ James Shields throwing a complete game two-hitter with 15 strikeouts, as Miguel González and three Birds relievers kept Tampa Bay off the board.
In 2016, the Orioles clinched a playoff spot on the last day of the season by beating the Yankees, 5-2, in New York. Matt Wieters crushed two home runs in what turned out to be his final regular-season game as an Oriole. Kevin Gausman worked 7.1 strong innings, and Zack Britton got the last five outs to punch the Birds’ ticket to October, sending them to Toronto for the Wild Card Game. I forget what happened after that.
The O’s have also played four postseason games on Oct. 2, three of them victories. In 1996, they beat Cleveland, 7-4, to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five Division Series. The O’s stormed out to a 4-0 advantage by the fifth thanks to a Brady Anderson homer and RBI hits by Hall of Famers Cal Ripken and Eddie Murray, before Cleveland rallied to tie it up. The Orioles broke the deadlock with a three-run eighth inning that featured a fielder’s choice error, an Anderson sac fly, and an RBI single by another Hall of Famer, Roberto Alomar. A crowd of 48,970 was on hand for the festivities at Camden Yards.
In 1997, the Orioles again took a 2-0 lead in the Division Series, this time against Seattle, with their second consecutive 9-3 victory. Anderson homered and drove in three, Harold Baines hit a dinger, and Alomar and Mike Bordick each drove in two runs. That supported a strong effort by starter Scott Erickson, who held a powerful Mariners lineup to three runs in 6.2 innings.
And in 2014, the O’s opened the Division Series with a 12-3 shellacking of the Tigers at Camden Yards. Facing the first of Detroit’s three Cy Young-winning starters, Max Scherzer, the Orioles pounded him for five runs, including homers by Nelson Cruz and J.J. Hardy. Five different O’s batters had multi-hit games and seven drove in at least one run. This was a tense, 4-3 game until the bottom of the eighth, when the O’s exploded for an eight-run inning and sent 12 batters to the plate.
