Let’s be honest, no one enjoys a rebuild. In fact, for the past four seasons the word should be considered as bad as a curse word in Baltimore when it comes to the Baltimore Orioles. For the world of sports, it only means unpredictability, a lot of losing, and uncertainty of whether you’ll be around when your team finally wins again. For fans, the term is despised because the opportunity to feel the ticker tape on the city street after a championship win can sometimes feel like a pipe dream. However, the “light at the end of the tunnel” is when fans hit pay dirt. The team starts surging and somehow fans find their way back to the empty cathedral known as the ballpark.
Fruits of the farm
The fruits of the farm have grown and are soon to be included in the show. Grayson Rodriguez, Gunnar Henderson, Colton Cowser, DL Hall, and Jordan Westburg are only to name a few who will come up. The term around the corner is the story that applies to the Baltimore Orioles. After a long and painful rebuild, the Orioles look to be on the surge with the Orioles in the fourth and fifth position of MLB’s top 100 prospect list.
Over the past two years, Bowie and Norfolk has seen success with the amount of talent that has been drafted under the Mike Elias era in Baltimore. That talent now has the MLB ETA of either the second half of 2022 and or 2023. As of July 10, the latest MRI from Rodriguez has come back clean. In late June there was a Westburg, Henderson, and Stower show in Norfolk. The expectation to win is in good hands for the time being.
The surge
Eight-game winning streak. Those are the four words coming out of powerful and eventful homestand this past weekend.
Following the homestand sweep against the Los Angeles Angels, the Baltimore Orioles are now one game under .500 and in the Wild Card conversation.
No one saw this effort coming from the Orioles, but here we are in July and now pondering if the conversation will be about them being buyers or sellers at the trade deadline.
For four years now, the seats have remained empty and basically waited on hopeful fans making their confident return. after this past weekend the Orioles have set some attendance records of 27,814. These are fans who have suffered for a few years now. The time has come for them.
Hope springs eternal
This creation by Mike Elias is not the culmination, but just the beginning of something special. The light is at the end of the tunnel. This winning is not a dream and the potential is not some mirage to fool the masses. Sports is cyclical and situations like this do not just happen by chance. There’s a different energy brewing at Camden Yards nowadays.
After a few years of futility and mulling around the basement of the AL East, the noise that the Baltimore Orioles are making right now is worth the attention.