The 2014 Baltimore Orioles overcame the odds
Something most fans check prior to a season’s start is where they stand in regards to the odds in wining their team’s division…at least. Many things must go right for a team to win a division in baseball. You frequently hear the season is a marathon, not a sprint. Had this season been a sprint, the Baltimore Orioles may not be in the position they found themselves in last evening.
In the spring, Bovada had the Orioles listed as a +700 underdog to win the American League East. The book also listed Baltimore with 16/1 odds to win the American League and 33/1 to win it all. The over/under as far as wins: 80.5. They achieved their 81st win on September 3rd. So much for the over/under and division. If you did put any money down on them winning the division, congratulations on your payout.
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Now, the odds of Baltimore winning the AL stand at 7/2 while bringing home the whole shebang sits at 13/2 as of today.
On June 6th, the O’s were 6.5 games behind the then first place Toronto Blue Jays. Once they claimed the AL East’s top spot on July 5th, they would never relinquish it.
As I stated, many thing must go right to win. The Orioles had many go right for them. One thing some people may point to is the fact hat the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox had down seasons. Sure, New York lost 4/5ths of its starting staff and owned an offense that was, for the lack of a better term, impotent. The Red Sox seemingly never got on track. Between both teams, they held the lead in the AL East for a total of 21 days, 20 of those by the Yankees and 8 of those days found the Bronx Bombers in a tie.
No one should overlook the signing of Nelson Cruz. After his suspension for being involved in the Biogenesis scandal, most teams would not dare to offer him the multi-year deal that he was expected to fetch on the free agent market. Oh, there was interest, but somehow Cruz landed with the O’s on a one-year, $8 million deal. Money well spent.
Adam Jones just keeps playing baseball. He’ll make the spectacular defensive play on occasion. But what Jones has done offensively will sometimes be overlooked. They’re not gaudy numbers by any means, but here’s what Jones can accomplish this season. Providing he stays healthy for the remainder of the season, Jones will record his third consecutive season with 180+ hits. He has already posted his third straight season of hitting at least 25 home runs.
There has to be someone to run the ship and manager Buck Showalter usually pressed the right buttons. When Tommy Hunter began to struggle as the team’s closer, Buck snagged Zach Britton as the “fill-in”. Britton has more than made Showalter look right on this move. Britton’s success will certainly lead to the roar that most any pitcher can be a closer, but that’s a topic for another day.
And for a manager to press those buttons correctly, there has to be someone bringing in the players. O’s GM Dan Duquette made moves that helped this club. We looked at the Cruz signing already, but do not discount trading for Alejandro De Aza and Nick Hundley.
De Aza has been on a tear since the deal. In 54 plate appearances as an Oriole, he’s smacked a pair of home runs, driven in nine and scored seven. Sure, small sample size and vastly different from the numbers he had while with the Chicago White Sox.
Hundley wasn’t impressive at the dish, but having an experienced backup to Caleb Joseph makes life easier for a manager. In fact, the catching position as a whole was a void offensively especially after Matt Wieters went down for the season. Once again, the O’s managed to overcome a negative.
Yes, there is the Ubaldo Jimenez signing that hasn’t worked out as hoped, but when you win a division, that can be swept under the rug…at least for the moment.
Can Baltimore win it all? Considering the odds they have already overcome, who would bet against them?