FanPost Friday is upon on once again. Last week I asked you all to share your moments of Little League glory and you did not disappoint! These were probably my favorite stories since the start of FP Friday. One trend I've noticed is that for being the baseball loving group that we are, few of us were actually ever good at baseball.
This topic was so enticing that even blog boss Mark Brown got in on the action, writing about the home run that ended a friendship (that's some dramatic license by me, maybe). Also joining in the fun was my husband, Paul, who told of that time he threw a guy out a home plate thanks to a little help from his mom.
Here are a few of my other favorites:
- Fart_Shoes, who wrote about "stealing" four bases in one inning
- Astronaut Mike Dexter, who gave a lovely tribute to his dad and the Hamilton Little League
- Tflach2, whose included Little League photo is worth the price of admission alone
You can check out all 13 great stories that were submitted over in the FanPosts section.
But what about today's topic, you are surely asking to yourself. Today's question is, if you could change one play in the history of the Orioles, what would it be? This question was actually posed here on Camden Chat in the not so distant past, but I think it's a good time to re-visit it since we have new folks joining us all the time.
Is there one play that was heartbreaking to you due to its playoff or franchise implications? Or just something more personal because it's a game you attended or that has special meaning to you? Tell me all about it in a FanPost.
When I think about this question, the first thing that comes to mind is the 2014 ALCS, since it's so fresh in my memory. But it's hard to pick just one pitch out of four games that were all so close and when there seemed to be so many times that one thing going just a little bit differently could have changed the tide.
So instead I'm going back to 2012, the first good year in a long time, and that just foul by a hair non-home run by Nate McLouth. It was game five of the ALDS, somewhere I never imagined that the Orioles would be. The offense had spluttered in the series except for McLouth, it seemed. The Yankees were ahead 1-0 in the sixth inning when McLouth hit that long, ultimately foul-by-a-hair ball. If I could change one play, I'd like that thing to ding off of the foul pole for a home run.
The home run wouldn't have given the Orioles the win. It would have tied the game with no guarantee of the future. But 2012 was such a magical season, one that I spent most of feeling like things could crash down around me at any point. When the umpires reviewed that ball and confirmed it was foul, that was the moment I knew that our magical season had come to an end. There were three more innings to play, but I just knew, and I wasn't ready. Especially because back then I had no idea what the future of the Orioles would look like. For all I knew they'd lost 95 games the next season.
Of course that's not what happened, which is good for us. But as I watched the Yankees move on to the ALCS where they lifelessly rolled over for the Tigers, I thought about that pitch a lot, and about how if it had been a fair ball the Orioles might have won, and surely they would have put up a better fight against Detroit.
What play do you pick? Head over to the FanPosts and write about it!