The 2010 season was the first full season that I was the main person running Camden Chat. I got some help, but at that time I covered most of the game recaps. You might remember that the Orioles started that season 2-16. I had a hard time not being miserable, and that experience hardened me some to losses. I had to teach myself to stop feeling them. But last night's loss got to me, and I'm still feeling it.
Last night's game felt really good right up until it didn't. I wasn't necessarily rooting for Manny to stick it to the A's fans; he's the one that did something wrong, after all. But Manny has served his time for that and has been a model citizen since. The Orioles have moved on, the rest of baseball has moved on, Oakland has not. I don't blame them; Orioles fans have been booing Mark Teixeira since 2009 and he didn't throw anything at anyone. That's what fans do. But after the relentless negativity coming from the stands in Oakland, I found myself rooting for Manny. Not because I want him to "overcome adversity", because he is the one who screwed up. But because I believe Manny is a good person and a good player who made a mistake. And if those boneheads wanted to make him feel bad for it a month and a half after it happened, and after he served his punishment, well then maybe he should just stick it to them. And he did stick it to them. It all came crashing down when Zach Britton had an uncharacteristically bad night. Walk-offs happen. That's baseball.
I suspect that the A's fan found some poetic justice that it happened at the hands of Josh Donaldson. I don't care that it was Donaldson, but I was really enjoying not only the Manny story, but the statement of the Orioles coming out to their brutal west-coast trip that everyone is lamenting and beating the best team in baseball. So this one still kind of hurts.
Anyway, enough of my rambling. You don't come here for my thoughts, you come here for links! (Aw, who am I kidding. Nobody reads the links. You just come here to chat with each other).
Baltimore Orioles at Oakland Athletics - July 18, 2014 | MLB.com BAL Recap
If you're looking for player and Buck quotes from last night's game, here you go.
Can Orioles' Offense Avoid Another Second-half Swoon? | Press Box Online
I really hope so. I need more playoffs.
Camden Depot: Time to Trade Manny Machado
Oh Jon Shepherd. You're so crazy.
Murray, Ripken, Brooks, Frank headline O's 60th anniversary | Comcast SportsNet Baltimore
We have tickets for this game as part of our ticket package, and I'm looking forward to it. They're wearing throwback 1954 uniforms and there is going to be a laser show!
Manny Machado And Josh Donaldson: A Tale Of Two Third Basemen | Press Box Online
Stan the Fan points out that the incident in Baltimore last month was a turning point for Manny Machado.
Adversity hasn’t stopped first-place Baltimore Orioles | Associated Press
A tally of all the things that have gone wrong for the Orioles so far this year.
Happy birthday to former Orioles David Segui, Dan Graham, and Billy Gardner.
On this day in 1994 the game between the Orioles and Mariners in Seattle was postponed because the ceiling of the Kingdome began caving in.