So, for the Orioles, the race is on.
What race? The only one they’re in — the one for sole possession of LAST PLACE in Major League Baseball.
C’mon? Are you gonna pretend you’re not following it, too?
The Orioles are 65-87, good enough for a .428 win percentage and second-to-last place.
Tampa Bay is 63-90 and .412.
Two and a half games with 10 days left? Well, let’s look at the "matchups."
The O’s have 3 with Texas, 1 with Kansas City (and an angry fanbase), 3 with Toronto and 3 with the Yankees.
The Rays have 3 with Boston, 3 with New York and 3 with Toronto.
I dunno, maybe the Red Sox/Texas thing is a wash at this point, right? I watch the Sox most nights and they really stink right now.
No doubt that Pittsburgh, Florida, Chicago and Kansas City are a factor for the basement with 66 wins. And Houston and San Francisco feel pretty "safe" at this point with 67 wins, but bad IS bad, right?
Oh, and the Washington Nationals — while putrid — are safe from harm with 68 wings going into the final 10 days of the season, thanks of course to that three-game sweep at Oriole Park back in June that began the weekend of the "nail in the coffin" for Sam Perlozzo.
I’m flipping tonight between several games because I love me a good pennant race, even if my team isn’t involved. I always pull for San Diego, but if the Phillies get in, I could support them in some twisted way. Maybe drive up for a playoff game, who knows?
One thing for certain: The ONLY thing that could POSSIBLY be worse than being an Oriole fan at this point would be to be wearing a Tampa Bay cap tonight. The dome in St. Petersburg is packed with Red Sox fans and they are trying against Josh Beckett to not wear the dunce tag of "worst team in baseball." They’re fighting nine men and 30,000 "Sooooh–wwkkks" Nation people.
At least their fans don’t know any other way, like we do here.
We have a history here and that’s what hurts the most. Those poor suckers in Tampa NEVER had a "heyday."
I suppose baseball ignorance is bliss.
