This Has Been The Best Week Of My Life As An Orioles Fan
I say this with no sarcasm at all, this has been the best week any Orioles fan has had in 30 years. Strictly talking from a fan point of view, this week has been absolutely incredible. Obviously winning a World Series would top all of this, but we haven't been a part of that since 1983, 6 years before I was born. Hopefully that is the path that we're on currently but the events of this week have been the most significant moves that the Orioles have made in years. I've been racking my brain to think of things that have topped the events in Birdland this week and I truly cant think of more action packed weeks for Baltimore. I’ve seen divisions won, records set, a no-hitter, 19 game losing streaks, knocking teams out of the playoffs, but all those things can’t quite matchup to the events of this week. What a god damn time to be an Orioles fan.
It started Tuesday night when we got the BOMB dropped on us that John Angelos had agreed to sell the team for $1.725 billion to a group of private investors that included David Rubenstein, Michael Bloomberg, Cal Ripken Jr. and Grant Hill. Boom. Massive names who helped rescue us from the grasp of John Angelos. A dream come true, it really was. Years of incompetence by a front office, years of excuses as to why things cant be done, years of frustrating promises that never came close to being fulfilled. We are finally free from the never ending bullshit that was spewed from that man's mouth. Kevin Brown is free to talk about any stat he wants now, very happy for him. Now we enter a new era of Orioles baseball. Hard not to be excited about where this franchise is going.
If that was the only thing that happened this week it would have been a banner week for the ball club. But just 48 hours later on Thursday night GM Mike Elias pulled the trigger on a deal that we never thought would happen. A top 5 pitcher in baseball headed to Baltimore, Corbin Burnes for D.L. Hall, Joey Ortiz and the 34th overall pick. A fleecing like the world has never seen, an incredible move from Elias. It's a World Series move, I fully believe that. A lot of the baseball world does too. You look at the roster and there really are no holes, maybe another bullpen arm but this is a World Series team. The second they step foot onto the field in Sarasota they will be focused on winning it all. Anytime you can add a bonafide ace on your team you do it, and when you don't lose any of your top 5 prospects that makes the deal even better. The Orioles got so much better in these last few days, on and off the field. This offseason went from about a D to an A+ in the span of like 50 hours. Incredible.
One of the best pitchers in baseball added to a team that won 101 games last year with the best farm system in the league? With guys like Adley Rutschman, Rookie of the Year Gunnar Henderson, Grayson Rodriguez, Kyle Bradish, Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander. This team is fucking stacked. They'll win the division, no worries there. It's World Series or bust with this team and it's been years since those words have been muttered in Baltimore. It's not a pipe dream anymore, it's not hay fever. It's Orioles baseball. This is the new era we have been waiting on for decades. I've been to the ALCS in Camden Yards, I've been to massive playoffs games when the ballpark is SHAKING because of how crazy people are going. I've been to a game in April when there was 4,300 people in the ballpark, I've been to blowouts, I've seen the 30-3 losses, I've seen a team win 45 games in a season.
No more. No more of that shit. With John Angelos and the family selling, the black cloud is finally gone. You ask anyone my age and there is no doubt this has been the best week we've ever had as Orioles fans. Signs that the tide is changing, the tables are being turned. And it's so damn exciting. Everyone in Baltimore is ITCHING for Orioles baseball, it's never been like this but this should be the new norm. Twitter has been on fire with Orioles content, experts saying how good this team is going to be, how they're the favorites in the AL and it isn't close. Man it feels good to be an Orioles fan. They still have to play the games but this team is going to be a force this year, a true force. 10 years covering this team for Barstool and I'm more excited than I've ever been. These aren't your fathers Orioles, you guys. The new kids on the block are here and they aren't fucking around. What a damn week!
PS. The O's social media team realllllly cooked on this one. What an intro video for Corbin!