Matthew Taylor: Orioles fans should be enjoying the moment

I attempted to convince myself that daytime baseball wouldn't be a distraction from my work. Listening to the radio broadcast on Monday as the Orioles stared down the Red Sox in the Fenway Park opener was simply background noise, I reasoned. It made sense initially. However, by the ninth inning, with both the game and my stomach knotted up, I conceded the point in the hopes of witnessing a victory for myself. I turned on the TV broadcast to watch the game's final inning unfold.

Crouched low in my seat at the kitchen table, I was a jack-in-the-box ready to spring out of my seat given a few turns in the right direction. Craig Kimbrel surrendered one walk. Click. Shortly thereafter came another walk. Click. Then Chris Davis delivered an 0-1 offering into the center field batter's eye. Pop!

I smacked my hands joyfully against the table and blurted out a two-word phrase that, while just shy of actual profanity, would have put me in a situation that I needed to weasel out of had I been in an office setting. Thankfully, I was not. I was at home, and I was entirely distracted from everything except baseball.

Monday's victory came in the sixth of 162 games that the Orioles will play in 2016. Why did it matter? After all, none of us needs to be reminded that they don't print World Series tickets during the season's first week. The O's win streak that remained intact by the time fans departed Fenway on Monday would itself depart into the cool Boston night two days later. Regardless of our respective levels of investment in the team, past performance is no guarantee of future results, so why should we care all that much right now about the outcomes of individual games?

Here's why. We'll spend approximately half of a year following pitch counts, injury reports and box scores. There's about as much joy to be had in waiting in a restrained manner to see where our favorite team will place in the final standings as there is in being a fan in Mudville, which is to say none. We fans need more CD in our baseball lives. No, not Chris Davis; carpe diem. Seize the day.

I made the mistake in 2012 of waiting for the bottom to drop out on the suddenly rejuvenated Orioles. I had experienced so much losing baseball during the previous 14 seasons that I didn't know what to do with winning. The solution, to enjoy it, was a simple one, but it took me a while to get there - too long, if I'm being honest.

Baseball is built on great moments like Davis' game-winning homer. The World Series champs will have them during the season as will the last-place clubs and everyone in-between. (Be patient Braves fans and Twins fans.) They're fun, they're memorable, and they make it worthwhile to be a fan.

I'm reminded of one of my all-time favorite players, Sam Horn, and the 1990 Orioles. Horn hit two three-run homers in his O's debut that season to power the team to an extra-inning victory on opening day in Kansas City. Horn ended up batting .248 with 14 homers, but for a moment he was Ruthian, and for a day - the only day that season, in fact - the Orioles were in first place.

Then there's the 17-inning game on May 6, 2012. Davis couldn't hit (he went 0-for-8 with five strikeouts), but he sure could pitch. His two innings of relief work earned him the win. That special victory was a sign of things to come in 2012, but even if it hadn't been, it was still a fun moment to be embraced.

Speaking of fun moments, Curse of the Andino anybody?

Horn's heroics came in April, Davis' deliveries were in May and Andino's antics avoided the team's 94th loss. Nevertheless, those memories will always stick with me.

How about you? What are some of your favorite early-season baseball memories? Was there an exciting moment during a losing season that sticks with you? Share your recollections of either type in the comments section below.

Matthew Taylor blogs about the Orioles at Roar from 34. Follow him on Twitter: @RoarFrom34. His ruminations about the Birds appear as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our site. 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.