Andrew Stetka: O's giving fans something to cheer about in September

It's the middle of September and you are still watching and enjoying baseball. OK, so maybe you didn't watch much baseball yesterday with the return of the NFL to your television set. But in general, you are still watching baseball in mid-September, and you're doing it with a purpose. That's something that Orioles fans have taken for granted over the last half decade or so. It's hard to believe, but this is the fifth straight season the O's are giving fans really meaningful baseball down the stretch. Doesn't it feel great?

A decade ago, that would've seemed unimaginable. Whether or not the Birds end up playing in October, it's nice to know they have a chance this late in the season. I remember like it was yesterday a time when the O's would be out of it by mid-July. Some even had a mindset that they were out of it by mid-April. Those times are long gone.

I've seen plenty of complaints this season about the product on the field. Fans gripe about the pitching staff, about hitters swinging for the fences rather than getting on base, and anything else they can get their hands on. That's just the nature of being a fan at times, and I understand that. Even I've found a few things to gripe about this year. But over the last few seasons, once September rolls around I always tend to enter this different mode. The Orioles are in a playoff chase, and that's a beautiful thing.

For a decade and a half, September in Baltimore meant football season had arrived, dragging fans out of a month's-long spell. That's no longer the case. Buck Showalter has consistently had his team in the mix at this time of year. I suppose it's unreasonable to call on fans to just appreciate something when the dream of something more is there. I just like to take a step back and recognize that it's fun to enjoy that the Orioles are doing it their way. They don't conform to the typical way of doing things.

With their backs up against the wall over the past month, these Orioles have responded. It hasn't always been pretty, and hasn't always been easy, but they've fought back. They entered Detroit this past weekend against a team that had been red hot, and came out with a series victory. Even after losing the first game of the crucial series, the Birds battled back and got the next two. Perhaps the best part of what we'll see over the remaining few weeks of the regular season is games that really matter to both teams. Aside from a four-game weekend set against the Rays this coming week and another home series against the Diamondbacks, the O's are playing games against the teams they are battling with for playoff position. They play games against the Red Sox, Blue Jays and Yankees down the stretch that will determine who wins the American League East and likely takes at least one of the wild card spots.

Regardless of how things shake out over these final few weeks, you can't argue that it's going to be fun. The Orioles have given fans something to look forward to in the stretch run. It's another reminder of what used to be. All of those dark days are in the past. Even if they come up short of October, I'm going to enjoy the ride. The ride is where the fun lives.

Andrew Stetka blogs about the Orioles for Eutaw Street Report. Follow him on Twitter: @AStetka. His thoughts on the O's appear here as part of MASNsports.com's continuing commitment to welcome guest bloggers to our little corner of cyberspace. 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.