Worst 10 From 2013

After we finished our Top 10 from 2013, it seemed only fitting that we should make a list of the WORST that 2013 had to offer. Here is our list:

10. Brian Roberts Injury (Again)

Brian Roberts suffered another injury 26 innings into the 2013 season. The hope was that a healthy Roberts would be a major upgrade over the Orioles’ 2012 second base platoon. Instead, we saw more stopgaps, and were treated to the image of a grimacing Brian Roberts being carried off the field. Roberts was decent upon his return, and it stands to wonder what contributions he could have made with a full season.

9. Alexi Casilla’s Base Running Blunder

The July 15th game against the Red Sox ended in frustrating and embarrassing fashion, as Alexi Casilla (who had been inserted as a pinch runner for his speed and base running prowess), ran from first-to-third on Ryan Flaherty’s fly-out to right field. Casilla never stopped, assuming the ball would get down (or, possibly, he forgot how many outs there were). He was easily doubled up, and the O’s found another way to beat themselves.

8. Jim Johnson Blows Save vs. Munenori Kawasaki

Jim Johnson, after blowing his last three save opportunities, couldn’t hold a 5-2 lead, which became a 6-5 loss when Munenori Kawasaki hit a walk-off double. How did the Orioles keep getting beat by Munenori Kawasaki? He OWNED Baltimore in 2013. Getting regular playing time because of Jose Reyes’ injury, Kawasaki should have been the Blue Jays’ weak link. Instead, things like this happened. Johnson gave us so many lowlights this past season, but this was one of the more frustrating.

7. Failed Trades

I can’t count the number of important contributions that Michael Morse and Francisco Rodriguez made to this club. Because there weren’t any. The Orioles were just managing to hang on to playoff contention by the trade deadlines, and these moves were meant to push them over the hump. Instead, Morse failed to get a hit at Camden Yards, and K-Rod was largely used in junk time. The organizational losses were few, but it would have been nice to see a prospect like Nicky Delmonico bring a meaningful piece back to the Orioles. Instead, he netted more fan frustration.

6. One-Run Game Record

The talking heads said it all season in 2012: overwhelming success in one-run games is simply unsustainable. Statistically speaking, a team will eventually fall back to the norm. Well… the Orioles overshot the “falling to the norm” part. Instead, they finished 2013 with the worst MLB record in one-run games (20-31). Instead of late, exhilarating wins, 2013 had soul-crushing losses. These games were a microcosm of the season itself: so close, yet so far away.

5. Late-Season Struggles with RISP

It was a sickening feeling: the O’s would get runners on second and third, with nobody out… and you still didn’t feel confident that they would score. And it seemed like they never did. The Orioles’ production with runners in scoring position faded late in the season, basically putting the nail in their season’s coffin. Just as the starting rotation managed to put together some decent starts, the offense went cold.

4. Bullpen Blows 3 Straight Saves in Arizona

This series was brutal: three losses snatched from the jaws of victory. Jim Johnson blew two straight saves in this series, as the Orioles lost 3 games to a team they “should have beaten.” Down the stretch, as the Birds did just enough to stay mathematically relevant in the AL Wild Card race, those three losses in Arizona would haunt them – and O’s fans who stayed up to watch them.

3. 18-Inning Loss to Tampa Bay

This is the loss that took the fight out of the Orioles. Having taken a series from the Red Sox, the Tampa series was make or break. In the first game, the Orioles took the eventual AL Wild Card team to a 17-inning draw, before losing in the 18th. The game conjured visions of the 18-inning win in Seattle during the 2012 campaign, but the result showed what a difference a year can make. This was a grueling game – both physically and emotionally. The Orioles came up short, and went on to drop the next four ganes, eliminating themselves from playoff contention.

2. O’s Officially Eliminated from the Playoffs

A year removed from a magical run at the playoffs, Orioles fans went from “simply happy to be here” to “full scale expectations.” For some, the barometer of success was Playoffs or Bust. In many years, simply playing meaningful games in September would have been enough, but after having experienced the playoffs last season, it hurt that much more when they were denied in 2013. The Birds were eliminated on September 24, leaving only Fan Appreciation Weekend to play before the season ended. The Red Sox series was a nice sendoff for the team and fans, but it couldn’t completely soften the blow of knowing what might have been.

1.  Manny Machado’s Injury

It seems silly to think that this could have been the worst moment for the Orioles in 2013, but it was – without question. When Machado went down, with an obvious knee injury, fans (and part time internet doctors) had to stew in the worry that this injury could affect him in the present and the team in the future. This is not hyperbole. Machado is one of the building blocks of a winning foundation here in Baltimore. Since arriving in August of 2012, his presence in the lineup and on the field have made him indispensable.  To lose him for considerable time, or to risk him never getting back to his full potential, would have set the franchise back in its resurgence.  Luckily, the injury appears to be “minor,” as knee injuries go.

Well… this was fun, right? A look back at all the moments that broke our hearts, made our blood boil, and took the joy from Birdland. With that, here’s hoping for fewer of these in 2014!

Where did we go wrong? What horrible moments did we miss?