The mood is wistful over at Camden Chat, SB Nation's Baltimore Orioles blog. And why not? The team staved off the brutal AL East schedule all season despite a patchwork rotation and having few players with household names. But that all ended Saturday night in Game 5 of the ALDS, a 3-1 loss to the New York Yankees and a dominant CC Sabathia.
Orioles vs. Yankees, 2012 ALDS Game 5: O’s fans say goodbye
Over 160 commenters so far have joined Stacey in saying goodbye to the best O’s team this century. After avoiding elimination twice already this postseason, the third time wouldn’t be the charm for Baltimore:
“Time and time again this season the Orioles defied logic and expectation, and before we knew it we had a legitimately good baseball team on our hands. Did they play over their heads? Maybe. But that doesn’t mean they weren’t good, because they were. They were good and exciting and special. And going into tonight, they faced elimination for the third time this postseason.”
Baltimore still found themselves in the game late, scoring one run in the eighth to pull to within 3-1 with the bases still loaded. But those bases stayed loaded, and the O’s ran out of the magic that seemingly propelled them this far. Stacey, for one, seemed grateful the ride lasted as long as it did, as bitter as the end may have been:
”I hoped they might have some fight in them, that something magic might happen, but no. They went quietly into the night, and took with them the Orioles season.
“So there you go. A bad way to end it, certainly, but given that this is the first time the Orioles have brought me sustained joy since I was a teenager, I can’t be too upset. Just a little sad.”
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