At the beginning of last season the Orioles were predicted by many to finish towards the bottom of what was widely considered one of the strongest divisions in baseball. You had a team in the Red Sox who came in as the reigning World Series Champs, the Yankees who are always expected to be in contention for the playoffs, a Rays team that always seems to shock people, and finally the Blue Jays who no one quite knew what would happen with them. Then you had the O's who although had really good players, were just a dark horse team at best. Well lo and behold, 162 games later the O's were standing on top of the mountain, won the east and had one of the best records in all of baseball. If you had never watched this team, you would think that they were the Yankees or Red Sox in Baltimore uniforms. Nope, not even close. This is a team that lost platinum glove winner Manny Machado to a second knee injury in as many seasons, and an All-Star catcher in Matt Wieters. How did they get there you may ask? Buck Showalter and an unlikely cast of players who shed blood, sweat and tears throughout the season!
Manager of The Year
Sure there were a few other managers in the American League that were deserving of this award. You had Mike Scioscia out in Anaheim who led his Angels to the best record in the league. You had Ned Yost who took another unlikely team all the way to the World Series only to lose to the Giants. However, in this writer's opinion, there was only one man who should have won that award, Buck Showalter! From the moment he took the podium when he was announced as the new Orioles manager, you could tell he was the right man for the right team. He immediately let the world know that not only was he unafraid of the two big dogs on the street (Yankees, Redsox), he was going to take the fight to them. Most teams would falter after losing a couple of their star players but not these Orioles, not this manager. He took control of the ship, put the right players in the right positions, and led this team to the promised land.
Bold Prediction
If the team can bring back Nick Markakis, Nelson Cruz, or both and bring in a potential ace for the pitching staff, the sky is the limit for this team. However if they fail to capitalize they could fall back down to earth and not make the playoffs for the second straight year. I do see the Orioles as a hungry team and think that they will find a way to win the East again, finish with 95 wins, and actually make the fall classic for the first time since the days of Cal Ripken.
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