Again the season stretches into this:
The gap between the summer and the fall
Narrows at last. The space between the wall
Our backs were up against was an abyss.
Now, desperation blurs to hit-or-miss.
The days and weeks and months we fought are all
Being wiped out by one flight of the ball.
Some fates can be sealed only by death's kiss.

The season didn't want to go away
Either. And when the game was tied, it seemed
It might well do so. However, last stands
Will come to all of those who come to play
Just like the game itself. But we too dreamed,
And, diving, held the season in our hands.

You may recall a post from last year which detailed the seemingly annual migration of the Orioles to the bottom rungs of the American League East.

Well, they did it again this year. On the morning of August 18th, the Orioles sat at 60-63, in last place, but only 3.5 games behind the Blue Jays and 15 games out of first. From that point forward, they went 7-30 (and won a game that had been suspended from earlier in the year). This year's collapse rivaled the historic 4-32 finish of 2002.

And it was a total team effort too ....

Pitching

Offense

It's one thing to hear forty thousand boo:
Magnifying their sound at someone who
Left the team, and as a traitor comes here
Again. It's another to hear them cheer.

Sound overlaps sound, no two yells the same
But such is the game: it's big enough for
All of the players we want to adore.
The cacophony is more glorious
Than boos. Each of us gives a different roar
When a ball that I can't see tied the score.
Then I do see it, deep down the line in
Right. Yes. Can they win? I try to clap
But it's hard with a scoreboard on your lap.
I write down the triple, and then I stand
Noticing a hand outstretched down the row.
To get together with your friends and go
To the game is normal for them. Not for me.
And yet, tonight we let our high-fives blend
Into the maelstrom of noise, friend and friend.

A strikeout can put you on base
And yet, this still seems out of place:
To go down for the count
After such an amount
Of pitches is a minor disgrace.