Dear Orioles, thank you for a thrilling 2022 season

Flashback to the end of last season: The Baltimore Orioles had completed yet another dreadful campaign by losing 110 games. They were the absolute worst team in Major League Baseball in 2021, more awful than any Steven Seagal movie.

Heading into this season, the outlook didn’t look much brighter. In early July, the O’s were nine games below .500 and seemed headed toward another wasted season.

But at that juncture — just when we thought we were looking at the same tired franchise that hadn’t produced a winning season since Rihanna was putting in work back in 2016 — something unexpected happened.

You might call it magical.

The Birds proceeded to rip off their first 10-game winning streak since 1999. Suddenly, their slumbering fan base was awakened and re-energized.

The team had the town buzzing, offering hope that perhaps there were better days ahead. At a time when many local sports fans would be counting down the days until Ravens training camp, meaningful baseball was being played at Camden Yards.

After going 17-10 in August, the club was in the thick of the American League wild card race. By the end of September, they took the field in Boston against the last-place Red Sox with a chance to make the postseason.

But after losing three of those four games in Boston, the team’s playoff hopes were effectively dashed until next year.

And yet hardly any true fan is complaining, because for the first time in a long time, optimism and hope are in the air for a 2023 campaign where the dream of a World Series appearance — their first since 1983 — is no longer some farfetched pipe dream.

When the organization’s top minor league prospect, catcher Adley Rutschman, arrived in May, it signaled a new era of youthful energy and talent.

Rutschman capped off an excellent rookie season by winning the 2022 Most Valuable Oriole award, the first rookie to win it since Rodrigo Lopez 20 years ago.

We finally got to see why Brandon Hyde, a member of the Chicago Cubs coaching staff when they won the World Series in 2016 — their first in 108 years — was the right hire in replacing respected manager Buck Showalter, whose last squad here finished 47-115 in 2018.

Remember the days when Chris Davis couldn’t hit the floor if he fell out of bed? When only the presence of Adam Jones and Manny Machado made the O’s the town’s third-best viewing option behind Tyler Perry’s “A Madea Family Funeral” and reruns of “Joanie Loves Chachi”?

That was a terrible time to be an Orioles fan. But now with Hyde at the helm and the emergence of young stars in Rutchsman, dazzling 21-year-old infielder Gunnar Henderson and hard-throwing closer Felix Bautista, the thrill of victory this year was much more prevalent than the agony of defeat.

They proved that they could not only compete with, but beat the best teams in baseball, even after the trade of beloved Trey Mancini to Houston at the trade deadline. They showed a fight and grit that allowed you to believe that down two runs, with the bases empty and two outs in the ninth inning, they could pull it out.

“It would be nice to maybe get off the deck in the first to the fifth and then cruise in. That’s what I’m hoping for once in a while,” Hyde quipped after a 5-4 come-from-behind win in the first of two games against Toronto on Wednesday to close out the season (Toronto won the second game, 5-1, as the O’s finished 83-79 for the season). “We like to make it tough, and then pitch out of jams, and then pop one late to get a win.”

They played with a youthful swagger and fun that permeated the stadium, with fans feeding off the jubilant atmosphere in the dugout.

In short, we fell in love with our Birds again. And to quote the great Jackie Wilson, “Oh what a feeling!”

The Orioles reminded us yesterday of what they were all about this year.

Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning in the day’s first game against the Blue Jays, baby-faced rookie Terrin Vavra knocked in a three-run homer to secure the 5-4 victory.

It was the first home run of Vavra’s career, symbolic of this year of firsts that bode well for the future. Rookie pitcher DL Hall appeared to notch his first career victory in relief and the imposing Bryan Baker earned his first career save after tossing a perfect ninth inning.

In short, the progression from last year has been nothing short of astounding, especially considering the fact that the team’s payroll of $64.8 million was the league’s second-lowest.

“I don’t want to announce a budget to the agent community or the other 29 teams, but I do continue to view this as an offseason where we’re going to have the flexibility to invest in the major league payroll in a different way than I have done since I’ve been here,” Orioles Executive Vice President and General Manager Mike Elias said in his final media session of the season on Wednesday. “ feel like this team is officially in the fight in the American League East, and that’s a big achievement.”

With the team looking to acquire veterans via trade and free agency, next year’s squad should have an even more potent mix of talented youth and proven experience.

The future looks bright, and fans can rejoice that the magic that returned this year will only grow more magical in the years ahead.

Thanks, Orioles. 2023 can’t get here fast enough.

alejandro.danois@thebaltimorebanner.com

Alejandro Danois

Alejandro Danois was a sports writer for The Banner. He specializes in long-form storytelling, looking at society through the prism of sports and its larger connections with the greater cultural milieu. The author of The Boys of Dunbar, A Story of Love, Hope and Basketball, he is also a film producer and cultural critic.

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