Unlike 2001, the Orioles were rained out on Wednesday of Opening Week...so on Thursday, they played the Sox again, with J.J. Bautista on the hill for the Birds. Jose quickly gives up three runs, and it looks like "same old Birds"...but then Anderson steals third, Larry Sheets singles, and it's 3-2. Rene "Gonzo" Gonzales doubles, Anderson bunts him over (there was a time when Brady remembered how to bunt), and Worthington singles him home. In the seventh, Mickey "Froot Loops" Tettleton bops a homer to cap off a 6-4 Orioles win.
Mickey receives a standing O, but so did the bunters earlier in the game. The 22,000 fans who showed up (comprising the second largest second day crowd in Orioles history, to reconfirm Kerry's points about the O's lack of attendance over the years) were appreciative of all the efforts being made after years of watching veterans go through the motions.
The Birds have already won more games than they did during April 1988.
Next, the Birds hit the road to face the powerful Twins. The Homerdome has been an inhospitable home for the O's over the years, similar to the current O's woes in Jacobs Field, the Orioles' current first stop on the road for 2001.
In 1989, Bob Milacki shut the Twins down for five, but came unhinged and lost 8-3. On Saturday, the Birds put up a five spot for Dave Schmidt in the second, but he doesn't have a thing, and he loses 6-5. On Sunday, young Jeff Ballard goes against the Twins' Cy Young winner, Frank Viola. But instead of a sweep, the Baby Birds whollop the Twins, 8-1, behind Ballard's complete game.
As the second week begins, it's from the fry pan into the fire, as the O's face off against the team they lost all 12 contests to in 1988, the Royals. How will the Birds respond?
Next time: the rest of the road trip.