Orioles have become the hottest team in the world

It was September 18, 1999. The oldest player on the current Orioles roster was 9 years old. Most were 5 or 6 years old.

Yes, it’s been a while since the Blackbirds have been the talk of baseball, at least for anything more than losing 100 games, a dubious feat accomplished by the O’s in each of the last three consecutive, sometimes excruciating, years. (We’re talking 162-game seasons, as the 2020 season was shortened by COVID).

But that streak could be coming to an end in 2022, thanks to a very different streak than this year’s.

“It’s been five years or so,” said one of the longest-tenured guys in an Orioles uniform Trey Mancini about the last time the O’s had any kind of sustained winning streak. “You forget what it’s like.”

The Orioles get reminders on a daily basis. The latest celebration came Wednesday, when they won their 45th game of the season, a 7-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs (last year, the O’s won their 45th game on Sept. 8). It pushed their winning streak to 10 and their record above .500 for the first time this year. It’s the latest in a season they’ve had a winning record since 2017.

Just before the most recent series sweep, manager Brandon Hyde indicated that his phone has been ringing, as friends around the league share their enthusiasm for his team.

“I hear from former Cubs, other people in the front office and all my friends,” said Hyde, who was the bench coach for the Chicago Cubs when they reached the postseason in four straight years last decade. “They’re happy for me and our team and to read something positive coming out of Baltimore, where it’s been tough over the years.”

When Hyde was hired to manage the Orioles’ rebuild in 2019, the team had finished in last place the previous two seasons. They had won just 47 games the previous year, their lowest total since moving to Baltimore in 1954.

Hyde knew what he was getting into. Still, it wasn’t easy.

“No, no, no, no,” Hyde said with a smile. “That first year here in Baltimore, a lot of things surprised me because I was so used to winning for the last four years.”

It seems to finally be paying off. Eight games under 500 on June 1, Baltimore has had a 23-14 record since then. The team hasn’t lost a game since July 2. Baltimore is only the fourth team in league history to win at least 10 in a row after finishing the previous season with the league’s worst record.

They are doing it on the mound, where they have the second-best ERA in the American League (3.17) during the streak, and they are doing it at the plate, sometimes in dramatic fashion. The Orioles are batting .366 with two outs and runners in scoring position. And they won three straight games after being down in the ninth inning or later for the first time since 1979.

“We had two tough losses in Minnesota right before this streak and we bounced back after that,” Mancini said. “But in those games, we were still competitive. We looked in the mirror and saw that we developed as a team. We’re playing well against good teams all year.”

Bench coach Fredi Gonzalez said he could tell in the early weeks of the season that something felt different, pointing to a mid-April series win against the Yankees. No one in the organization knew for sure what steps the Orioles would take in 2022, especially in the loaded American League East, but they were determined not to be easy prey anymore.

“When we played the Yankees, we played hard,” Gonzalez said. “And now, when they see us coming, they know … it’s going to be a battle. We compete with the big boys, day in and day out. Those first series made the difference.”

The early wins over New York and even Tampa Bay set the tone inside the dressing room for what the Orioles are doing now. Hyde credits his pitching staff for being the difference-makers. It’s a group of castoffs who are getting it done – having landed in Baltimore after being cut, released or simply sidelined by other teams.

“It’s a group of guys who want to prove they have something left in the tank,” righty Austin Voth said. “It’s time for them to come out here and perform and prove they can pitch in this league.”

Voth is one of those guys, as he was claimed off waivers last month from the Nationals, where he had a 10.13 ERA in 19 games this season. He made eight appearances for Baltimore, including five starts, and never looked better, compiling a 3.80 ERA and 1.266 WHIP.