The classic old Saturday afternoon ABC Sports program “Wide World of Sports” used to open with this voiceover: “Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. The human drama of athletic competition. This is ABC’s Wide World of Sports!”
Well, Baltimore sports fans got to witness that and then some in the short span of roughly 24 hours this weekend.
On Saturday night, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of Cal Ripken Jr. breaking the legendary Lou Gehrig’s record of 2,130 consecutive games played.
The pregame ceremony was a wonderfully executed 30-minute show that included the return of two long-missing icons in modern Orioles history. Jon Miller, the 14-year voice of the Orioles, was invited back by the club. Rafael Palmeiro, one of the greatest hitters in Orioles history whose second stint in Baltimore ended poorly, was also back.
Additionally, the club invited back Chris Berman, who was on the call that night on Sept. 6, 1995, on ESPN. Several of Ripken’s closest teammates — Brady Anderson, Al Bumbry, Bobby Bonilla, Ben McDonald, Eddie Murray, Mike Mussina, Jim Palmer and B.J. Surhoff — were on hand as well. Bonilla and Palmeiro were the ones who pushed Ripken out for his trot around the park back in 1995. One last invitee was Ken Griffey Jr., who got a rousing round of applause.
Miller, who was clearly thrilled to be back in front of Orioles fans, made some brief comments and then Ripken came along and made a short, sweet speech with on-point comments.
Then the game began. Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto outdueled Trevor Rogers, who finally allowed more than one run in a start for the first time since July 20 in Tampa.
Yamamoto tossed 8.2 innings of no-hit ball and held a 3-0 lead until Jackson Holliday hit a two-out solo home run that broke up the no-hitter and shutout. Yamamoto had just passed his highest pitch count of the season. Manager Dave Roberts quickly rushed out, fearing Yamamoto’s arm might fall off with a few more pitches.
In came Blake Treinen, who promptly gave up a two-out double to Jeremiah Jackson, hit Gunnar Henderson with a pitch and then walked both Ryan Mountcastle and Colton Cowser. The walk to Cowser brought home the Orioles’ second run, at which point Roberts had seen enough. The manager brought in ex-Oriole Tanner Scott.
Scott needed to retire one batter, but Emmanuel Rivera didn’t let that happen. Rivera promptly hit a hump-back liner to center field and drove in two runs, including the game-winner.
It was an amazing ending befitting the history celebrated at Camden Yards.
Not long after, the same fans who witnessed the Orioles’ miracle win tuned in to watch their beloved Ravens open the season in Buffalo.
I’ll make this a good bit shorter, because it was exactly the opposite ending as the O’s game in Baltimore. We all know what happened. The Ravens coughed up a 40-25 fourth-quarter lead and lost, 41-40. It was as bitter a defeat as you could imagine. The Bills had not come back from a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter since 1967.
Yes, that’s sports and why we watch the games — the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.
Now on to this week’s MLB power rankings. This week, I detail a wide-open field and what seems to be holding every contender back from greatness. I’m not totally sold on the Milwaukee Brewers, but they are as many as 10 games better than other shoo-in playoff teams.
1. Milwaukee Brewers (89-55, No. 1 last week): As improbable as it sounds, the Brew Crew are standing pretty tall and have a real chance to run the postseason gauntlet. One note of concern is rookie phenom Jacob Misiorowski, who had a 2.70 ERA through his first 33.1 innings with 47 strikeouts and a 0.96 WHIP. However, he has a 8.59 ERA in his last 14.2 innings since a two-week injury stint. If he fails to be a meaningful arm in the postseason, they fall back to the pack.
2. Philadelphia Phillies (83-60, No. 4): The Phillies are already suffering through the loss of Zack Wheeler and the inconsistency of Aaron Nola in his return from a long stay on the injured list. Now they are dealing with a Trea Turner hamstring injury. The severity of his injury could well decide the Phillies’ real chances of making it to the World Series.
3. Toronto Blue Jays (82-61, No. 3): Slow and steady often does win the race. Part of the reason they jumped up so high was the way Max Scherzer was pitching and how Shane Bieber looked in his season debut. Not sure those performances are as sustainable as I had thought 10 days ago.
4. Detroit Tigers (82-62, No. 2): The Tigers are hanging in top five more because of the failings of teams slightly behind them rather than the strength of this team. Not sure in a short postseason series if they have the goods to outplay Boston, New York or Toronto.
5. Chicago Cubs (81-62, No. 6): Since the All-Star break, the Cubs are just one game over .500 at 24-23. I have written before about offensive swoon from the clubs’ top three: Kyle Tucker, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki. I have also made the point that they didn’t show the necessary urgency at the deadline in adding to an injury-depleted rotation. It sure seems those chickens have come home to roost.
6. New York Yankees (80-63, No. 7): There were times over the past several weeks that I thought this Yankees team was dead in the water, but they are showing a lot more resilience than I thought possible. The late innings are still problematic, but starters Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil and Cam Schlittler may be enough. The lineup is plenty potent enough to return to World Series for a second straight season.
7. Los Angeles Dodgers (79-64, No. 5): Just got to see the Dodgers up close this past weekend. After losing three in a row in Pittsburgh, they came in here and lost the first two against the O’s before Clayton Kershaw righted the ship on Sunday. I have long admired the Dodgers in the past decade. Sure, they still can win. Yes, they have lots of impactful players. But few are playing up to their pay grade and talents. They left me unimpressed as they left town.
8. Boston Red Sox (79-65, No. 8): They look to be in a pretty solid place to either make a late run at the Jays or earn a wild-card berth. Any chance for a deep run is greatly dependent upon the top trio of Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito. The club already struck out on Walker Buehler and Dustin May. And it appears that the big leagues may be too tall an order for young Payton Tolle.
9. New York Mets (76-67, No. 9): I wrote earlier in the season about the irony of Craig Counsell wanting to leave for greener pastures and better pay in Chicago. But like Counsell, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns left Milwaukee to make more money (nothing wrong with that) and to have the financial clout to make bigger moves. With Steve Cohen’s huge wallet behind him, Stearns is sitting 12.5 games behind the Brewers.
10. San Diego Padres (78-65, No. 10): President of baseball operations A.J. Preller’s moves at the deadline in picking up Mason Miller, Ramón Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn have all worked out, but starting pitching additions Nestor Cortes and JP Sears have been misses. I just don’t see enough quality starting options right now to get the Padres over the top. Michael King has been sorely missed.
11. Houston Astros (78-66, No. 11)
12. Seattle Mariners (75-68, No. 12)
13. Kansas City Royals (73-70, No. 14)
14. Texas Rangers (74-70, No. 13)
15. San Francisco Giants (72-71, No. 16)
16. Arizona Diamondbacks (72-72, No. 19)
17. Cleveland Guardians (72-70, No. 15)
18. Cincinnati Reds (72-71, No. 17)
19. St. Louis Cardinals (72-72, No. 18)
20. Tampa Bay Rays (71-72, No. 20)
21. Baltimore Orioles (66-77, No. 26)
22. Los Angeles Angels (67-76, No. 22)
23. Athletics (66-78, No. 23)
24. Miami Marlins (66-77, No. 21)
25. Atlanta Braves (64-79, No. 25)
26. Pittsburgh Pirates (64-80, No. 24)
27. Minnesota Twins (63-80, No. 27)
28. Washington Nationals (58-84, No. 28)
29. Chicago White Sox (55-89, No. 29)
30. Colorado Rockies (40-103, No. 30)