Rob Long: Role Reversal
For nearly a decade and a half, I remember the New York Yankees practically owning the Baltimore Orioles. I remember looking at them and knowing they were clearly the better team from top to bottom. They had future Hall of Fame players and better role players. The Yankees were the class of the division and often the class of Major League Baseball.
Last night, as I was watching the O's take on the Yankees, I couldn't help but look at Derek Jeter and all the misery that he's represented for me and fans like me. Sure, you respect the guy because as Buster Olney put it, he just looks like he's having fun as he goes about his business. He looks like a fan of the game, not just treating the game like a job.
However, 2014 looks as if it's a reversal in roles for the two teams. With a four game series remaining in the Bronx in late September the O's (11-4) have clinched the season series against the Yankees. Not only that but the Birds have had five series this year against New York and they've won all five. That's what Jeter and his team used to do to the O's.
Last night, Brian McCann hit a solo homerun in the top of the ninth inning that gave the Yankees a one-run lead that would have been enough in years past. Not last night. Not in 2014. While the O's have lost a lot more than they've won trailing after eight innings, you never feel like you're out of the game with this team. On that stage, you just felt like the O's had a run or two left.
Then, after Nelson Cruz led off with the double to left field, you just knew they had a shot. The Birds used three doubles to put the game away and drop that ole magic number to three to win the American League East for the first time since 1997. The team that was in the midst of having a strangle hold on the division watched as the Orioles celebrated near second base. Yes, times have changed.
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