Early Wednesday morning, I witnessed something I never thought I would see in September - a Baltimore Orioles fan, shown on camera during the 16th inning of the Mariners-Orioles game, at what had become a nearly empty Safeco Field in Seattle. It wasn't that the fan was balancing a beach ball on his nose or juggling on a unicycle, nor was he oddly dressed (though the bright orange emitting from his shirt through my laptop screen did take its toll on my 1 a.m. retinas). It was the fan's mere presence - or rather, what his presence represents - that made me think to myself, "Oh boy, maybe I should have taken notes during that apocalyptic movie. 2012 is really happening."
I mean, who would've expected the Orioles in the playoff picture this late in the year?
I would assume that this fan stayed to watch the entire 18-inning affair, in which his Orioles were shut out for eight frames, scored two runs in the ninth and essentially repeated that pattern in extra innings, only this time keeping the Mariners from the scoreboard. It is, after all, the Orioles thing to do. Including last night's third win in Seattle, the O's have now won their last 15 extra-inning games, and are quickly approaching the 1949 Cleveland Indians 17-game record.
Another mind-boggling statistic is their 27-8 record in one-run games, which has helped them set the pace in the American League wild card race and kept them in the hunt for the AL East's top spot through mid-September.
Of course, there's no accurate method of correlating all this close-game success to anything, though the general consensus seems to be that the O's have been astronomically lucky this season. Sure, that's a neat back end of the bullpen they've got there in Baltimore, but it's not worth 40 wins. The Orioles shouldn't be here by any measure, sabermetric or otherwise. That fan in Seattle should have left in the eighth, when Buck Showalter's men were three outs away from being shut out. Nate McLouth batting third is supposed to be a sign of September decay rather than one of an inexplicable playoff push. But somehow, that's not how things seem to be working out.
The Oakland Athletics are another team that wasn't expected to be playing meaningful September baseball this year. Much like the O's, the A's haven't hit awfully well, and their dependence on pitching has kept them in the hunt for a postseason berth. In fact, Bob Melvin's team has the Rangers - with their once untouchable AL West cushion - looking over their shoulders.
But it is worth noting that both of these fairy-tale runs are very fragile. One bad series at this point in the season could put an early end to what looks to be a thrilling sprint to the finish for both of these teams. When you take into account their remaining opponents, you can't help but worry for the A's (unless you're the Angels, of course).
But even if the A's don't make it to October, one thing's for sure. The coming offseason, much like the last, will be spent glorifying the team's general manager, Billy Beane. I'm sure we all crapped our cornflakes when the A's committed $36 million (a gazillion dollars in Oakland money) to Yoenis Cespedes, an unproven YouTube sensation. But Billy knew what he was doing. He knew he would have to compensate somehow, but it was worth it to get Cespedes, especially when he has a dozen or so quality rookie arms on minimum salaries in the system.
It has been a topsy-turvy season. We've gotten used to the roller-coaster ride, but the loop-de-loop is yet to come. And at this point, there is no real way of knowing who will fall off when we get to the top. But someone is going to miss out.
It could be the lucky O's, the young-adult A's or even the decadent Yankees (God, I hope it's the Yanks). All I know for sure is that the next month is going to be very, very interesting. And this isn't even the half of it. Over in the National League, an equally exciting storm is brewing (I will never apologize for puns). I'm going to get me some popcorn.
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