Zach Wilt: Enjoying the DMV baseball renaissance

I've spent most of the last 24 hours wondering if Tuesday night actually happened and have been quietly humming "We Won't Stop" to myself over and over. It's a catchy tune. After watching highlights on MLB.com and listening to the interviews here on MASNsports.com, I can confirm that it really wasn't a dream, Baltimore. The Orioles are American League East champions. Yes, that crazy night actually occurred.

While my attention was focused solely on the festivities at Camden Yards on Tuesday night, our neighbors to the south had their eyes glued to their TVs as the Nationals clinched the NL East title in Atlanta. Congratulations to our fellow Beltway driving fans. What a coincidence that these two teams, separated by just 38 miles of torturous, traffic-filled circular highways, would win their respective divisions on the same night.

Actually, this coincidence seems to really coincide with the recent history of both of these franchises over the past three seasons. Let's travel back to the 2012, when the Orioles advanced to the postseason for the first time since 1997, ending one of the game's longest playoff droughts. Down in D.C., the Nats won their division and they, too, were headed to the playoffs for the first time since the club moved to Washington, D.C., in 2005. That season, the O's won 93 games, while Washington won 98. Head to head, the Orioles claimed the MASN Cup, winning four of the six games between the teams.

We all remember the 2012 postseason here in Baltimore: The Orioles defeated the Rangers in the AL wild card game 5-1, but then ultimately fell to the Yankees in the best-of-five American League Division Series, three games to two. The Nationals had a similar finish to the postseason that year, eventually falling to the Cardinals 9-7 in game five of the National League Division Series after a dramatic come-from-behind victory by St. Louis.

Both clubs had gotten a taste of the postseason and were eager to return in 2013. Unfortunately, that didn't happen for either. Washington finished the year with 86 wins, in second place in the NL East, while Baltimore won just one fewer and finished in third. The O's and Nats had just completed their second consecutive winning seasons and would use that momentum to get to where they sit today.

In down years in both teams' divisions, the Orioles and Nationals took full advantage of their situations, overcame difficult injuries and earned the right to celebrate Tuesday night. Buck Showalter's team has spent the majority of the season without All-Stars Matt Wieters and Davis and Manny Machado; Matt Williams' club has dealt with lingering injuries to Ryan Zimmerman, Bryce Harper and began the season with Doug Fister out for the first six weeks.

Good teams find replacements and that's exactly what both of these clubs did. In Charm City, players like Steve Pearce and Caleb Joseph have stepped into starting roles to replace injured stars. For the Nats, Anthony Rendon, Jayson Werth and Denard Span who have stepped up to produce for the club, while acquiring Asdrubal Cabrera at the deadline has helped to solidify their infield.

I don't want to use the "W.S." words out of fear that I might be blamed for the great Beltway jinx of 2014, but let's just say that hypothetically these two teams play again in 2014, the storylines of the two franchises might be better than that of any other opponents in baseball. In addition to their similar franchise timelines, a matchup between rookie manager Williams and veteran Showalter would be incredible. Williams played for Showalter in Arizona from 1998-2000 and surely learned a lot from the two-time Manager of the Year during his time as a player. It would be the pupil versus instructor in a Fall Classic to remember.

But enough with the hypotheticals. For now, as a baseball fan, I'm excited to see how far these two teams advance this fall and will watch eagerly as both franchises write the next chapter in their paralleling stories. Hopefully, the finale of this tale will end late in October, here in the DMV.

Zach Wilt blogs about the Orioles at Baltimore Sports Report. Follow him on Twitter: @zamwi. His views appear here as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our pages. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.