– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BALTIMORE — With each passing victory, which there have been a lot of this season, this year’s iteration of the Baltimore Orioles continues to emulate the squad that came exactly four decades before it — the last to bring a World Series to the Charm City. On Saturday evening, many of the players who made up that title-winning squad stood and sat front and center to see the Baby Birds do their best impression of what a championship team wearing orange and black looks like.
Playing the role of Cal Ripken Jr., the tall, young shortstop with all the tools, was Gunnar Henderson, the 6-foot-3 rookie wunderkind of a shortstop who cracked a two-run home run in the first inning to get the Orioles on the scoreboard first tonight. In place of switch-hitting power hitter and fellow Hall of Famer Eddie Murray was Anthony Santander, the switch-hitter who hit his team-leading 20th homer of the season in the fifth inning, part of a 2-for-5 evening in which he also had a double.
The rest of the young Orioles also did their part on their way to a 7-3 victory over the New York Mets on the night that the 1983 Baltimore Orioles’ World Series champions were honored as part of the 40th anniversary celebration that took place just before the game this evening. Starting pitcher Kyle Gibson did his best Mike Boddicker impression, going seven innings while giving up three runs and striking out nine batters in earning his 100th career victory.
For the moment, the current iteration of the Orioles are one-upping their 1983 counterparts, as Baltimore picked up its American League-leading 69th victory in game No. 111, compared to the 119th game of the 1983 season in which the Orioles won their 69th game. While the ’83 O’s finished with an impressive 98-64 record, this year’s version is currently on pace to win 100 games, something the franchise has not achieved since back-to-back 100-win seasons in 1979 (100 wins) and 1980 (102).
Many members of the 1983 Orioles’ team are on the record saying that it was the 1979 season, in which the team made it to the World Series before blowing a 3-1 series lead to the “We Are Family” Pittsburgh Pirates and coming up short in the Fall Classic, that spurred the team on and eventually led to the ultimate triumph four years later. Today’s Orioles are also building something special, though they surely hope October glory will come much sooner. But first, it’s actually getting into the postseason, and with Baltimore now three games up in the American League East over the Tampa Bay Rays, a first playoff berth since 2016 seems less a matter of if it will be clinched as much as when that special day will come.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday evening’s contest, with all photos taken by DC-area photographer Rodney Pierce. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 35 pictures in total.
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