O's unable to spoil taste of champagne for Rays, but thankful to see it delayed
Visiting Clubhouse Manager Fred Tyler had about 100 bottles of champagne ready to go last night in case Tampa Bay clinched their first ever AL East division title.
The Orioles knew they were there before the game. That had to be irritating. Those champagne bottles just sitting there on ice had to make the O's a bit angry and envious. The least they could do was delay the opening of those bottles until the Rays left town.
Even though the Rays will most likely win the division, the Orioles didn't want the celebration to happen in their house.
Lucky for an already deflated team, it didn't.
Interestingly though, the Orioles were not responsible for the foiled celebration, as they lost to the Rays 11-6 last night. The only reason the Rays didn't clinch was because the Red Sox beat the Indians.
It would have been good for the Birds to be the ones to take the wind out of the Rays' sails. Right now, the team could use any kind of pick me up.
Kevin Millar knows how deflating a busted clubhouse celebration can be.
Millar was a member of the 2003 Red Sox when they lost Game 7 of the ALCS. Boston was up 5-2 on the Yankees in the eighth inning. The tarps were up, covering the lockers. The champagne was ready.
Then the Yankees came back to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth. Millar said the clubhouse attendants literally wheeled the champagne cases out of the Red Sox clubhouse and into the Yankees clubhouse. The Yankees went on to win the game and the series.
That had to be a depressing sight for the Red Sox. The Orioles wanted to create the same depressing sight for the Rays. Though the stakes weren't as high as they were for the Red Sox in the playoffs, the Orioles hoped to stave off an embarrassing moment.
In the end, they didn't have to watch the Rays win the division at Camden Yards, but their loss deprived them of the chance to play spoiler. At this point in the season, spoiling another team's division-clinching celebration is one of the few reasons to take the field.
The Birds are 29 games out of first place and they could have used that petty victory last night to help salvage pride and boost morale.
Who knows? Maybe the Orioles will use the Rays success this season as inspiration. The Rays were in the same place as the Orioles this time last year. It's a good reminder that anything is possible.
By the way, the Rays took the champagne bottles on the plane with them to Detroit.
Amber,
Absolutely. Whenever you start seeing teams spending ridiculous amounts of money on players, you almost never see any real improvement from past success, and this goes with any sport. The Yankees is probably the biggest example. Their last pennant was in 2003, but look at all they've spent since then compared to the success they've seen. Staying in New York, the Knicks have always had a ridiculous payroll, and they haven't done much of ANYTHING since Patrick Ewing retired in 2002. Don't get me started on them. Then I think about the Redskins back one year (I can't remember exactly), a few years back where they spent all kinds of money getting big names for their defense (Bruce Smith, Deion Sanders, etc). In all those cases, the teams get stuck with players that they can't really get rid of, since no one really wants to take on their big contracts.
I do agree with your comment that it is a lame excuse for losing in that division. Again, I go to the NFC East in the NFL in comparison. Washington is not really mentioned as one of the "powerhouses" in that division, but you would never know that watching them play. I'm watching them play Dallas right now at Texas Stadium, and they have a 20-17 lead at the moment. They could just roll over because no one expects them to do much, but that's not happening. I don't care really for any of those teams, but I find myself always watching their games. A tough division just means they have the most good teams. If EVERYONE becomes good, then the worst that happens is that you have the NFC East in football, where the last place team is 2-1.
By the way, I totally forgot about the Marlins and Rockies, you're right about them...and you did say at the beginning of the season in your blog that the Rays could very well win the division. See...some of us DO pay attention...:)
Your right Robert, what the Rays did this year dispells the myth that attempting to compete in the AL East with the Yankees and the Red Sox is a lost cause. Personally I always thought that excuse for losing was a cop-out. Teams like the 2003 Marlins or the 2007 Rockies show you don't have to have a ridiculous payroll to win. The Orioles will be able to compete in the future by making the right personnel decisions, not by frivolous spending on big contracts.
Hey Amber!
Sure...anytime our season is over, it's always fun to play the spoiler. The pressure is not nearly as great for us as it is for the teams looking to advance.
I think that at this point, the best thing the O's can do is to remember all those comeback wins we had earlier in the season. That should be plenty of inspiration for us going into next year. Sure we're in probably the toughest division. But that doesn't mean those games can't go our way and WE can't be the ones taking loads of champagne wherever we go until we clinch.
I've probably watched more baseball this year than I ever have. I've watched it enough back in the day to know who's who, but not as many games as I've watched this year. The high points of this year would be again, those comeback wins. Whatever we had in us to win those games, we have to remember that for next year.
I personally don't care how tough the Rays, Sox, and Yankees are. With the Rays improving from worst to first, as you said, we shouldn't hang our heads as though a major turnaround is impossible. And forget the doubters...
...after all, weren't we all saying in the beginning of the season that the Rays would be in last place "as usual"? Even when they got on a good run, most of us thought they weren't for real and would slip soon.
A wise man once said, "That's why they play the games." Surprises like the Rays' happen every single year.
I think we're about due. After all, it HAS been 10 years since our last playoff game.