Zach Wilt: A year later, recalling Clinchmas morning

Waking up in Baltimore a year ago today felt very much like Christmas morning for Orioles fans. Instead of racing to the tree to see what Santa had left us the night before, we raced to our phones and computers to check the standings to see if what we witnessed the night before really did happen. Was that champagne celebration real? Did Adam Jones really pie that fan? It was all very real and I'll never forget the way I felt all day knowing that the O's were American League East champions.

You know, maybe the Christmas morning comparison is a bad one. For children, the time between watching Mr. Claus conclude the Thanksgiving Day parade and waiting for him to squeeze down their chimney on Dec. 25 can feel like an eternity. Though, as I get older, I wish that month or so wouldn't go by so quickly. But Clinchmas morning, as it was called in Charm City on Sept. 17, 2014, was 17 years in the making. The Orioles hadn't hung an AL East champions banner since 1997. In fact, they'd had only one second-place finish over that span and finished last in the division four years straight.

As the day got closer, I knew I had to be at Camden Yards to watch this moment in person. I made the trip on Tuesday night and enjoyed watching the Orioles face the Blue Jays with a few close friends from the center field roof bar. It started a bit shaky for Ubaldo Jimenez, who was making his first start in a month after suffering an ankle injury and later losing his spot in the rotation. Jimenez surrendered a walk to Jose Bautista, who immediately scored the game's first run on an RBI double off the bat of Edwin Encarnacion. The Birds starter calmed down and struck out the next two batters to limit the damage.

When the O's came to bat, you had a feeling that it was going to be a special night. They were determined to celebrate a division title. Nick Markakis led off with a single, then after two quick outs, Nelson Cruz singled to set up Steve Pearce's three-run homer to center field. The roof bar was a beautiful place to watch that homer. And how fitting was it that Pearce, the surprise hero of the 2014 season, delivered in such a big situation?

The Jays would score again in the second, but never regained the lead. Jimmy Paredes blasted a solo homer in the second and the Orioles would go on the score four more runs in their 8-2 win over Toronto. It became the Orioles' ninth win in 10 games and clinched their second playoff berth in three seasons. Suddenly, 14 years of losing seasons seemed to erased from my memory as I watched the fireworks over Camden Yards and saw the confetti fall to field as the team celebrated behind second base.

As "2014 AL East Champions" flashed on the scoreboard in right field, I watched Nick Markakis take in the moment as the stared out and admired the accomplishment. It was the coolest part of the night for me, knowing that Markakis had spent nine years in the big leagues with the Orioles and was injured the last time they clinched a playoff berth.

Not surprisingly, Buck Showalter let the players be the center of attention when the division was won a year ago. Despite transforming a 66-96 team in 2010 to a 96-66 team four years later, Showalter always gives credit to the guys on the field. What was his favorite moment from that night a year ago? "I think just kind of sitting back and watching everybody after the game, coming back out on the field with the fans and how proud I was of them and everybody in the organization," Showalter told MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko.

After work, I raced back out to Camden Yards to purchase my AL East champions gear. I was one of many excited fans to be back at Oriole Park less than 24 hours later to drop money on the highly anticipated merchandise.

Though we likely won't get the chance to celebrate Clinchmas again this season, I hope that it'll come back around to Baltimore soon. It was a truly special moment that the fans had been anticipating for years. I'm eager to see it return a bit more frequently in the future.

Zach Wilt blogs about the Orioles at Baltimore Sports Report. Follow him on Twitter: @zach_wilt. 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.