August, glorious August

It's September first. Really? Do we have to start a new month? Can you blame an O's fan for not wanting August to end? The Orioles are in first place in the AL East. No, not yet; not even Buck is that good. But they had the best record in the division in August. AL East standings for August: Balt......17-11 TB.......17-12 NYY.....16-13 Bost.....15-13 Tor.......15-13 These things also happened in August: *Buck Showalter took over as manager. *The O's went 17-10 under Buck and went 8-1 in series openers with Buck. *The O's 17 wins in the month matched their win total of June and July combined. *Luke Scott hit .314-9-20 in August. *Koji Uehara became a ninth-inning force for the O's with five saves and a 0.66 ERA. *Josh Bell hit three home runs - batting right handed. *The Orioles went 6-0 in the month vs. an Angels team they went 2-8 against last year. *Mike Gonzalez re-discovered his fastball and Jim Johnson came off the DL. *The O's had a 30-inning scoreless streak. *The O's team ERA of 3.38 in the month was third best in the AL. *The Orioles signed top draft pick Manny Machado. Best records in MLB in August: .704 - Cincinnati, 19-8 .643 - Philly & Minn, 18-10 .621 - Atlanta, 18-11 .607 - Orioles, 17-11 .586 - Houston & TB, 17-12 I'm probably missing a few things, but you get the point. Now we find out if, when the calender changes, the O's fortunes can stay the same. Meanwhile, on their final night as an O's farm team, Bluefield lost a doubleheader to Princeton at Bowen Field as a 53-year relationship came to a close. Here is an article on the final night from the Bluefield Daily Telegraph.