Another Comment On The 2018 Orioles

The 2018 Orioles not only have a worse record than the 1988 version but are in serious danger of being outdrawn by them as well. The attendance for the 1988 team was 1,660,738. The 2018 Orioles current attendance is 1,494,822. The current team has four more home dates - they'll need to average more than 41,479 for those games to beat the 1988 team. Can they do it? Considering their last four home games drew an average of about 12,000 per game I'm going to say it's unlikely.

A Comment On The 2018 Orioles

Last night the Orioles lost to the Red Sox and were mathematically eliminated from winning the AL East.  Being eliminated on August 10th ties them for the earliest elimination date ever with the 1962 Mets and the 1932 Red Sox.   They had 46 games remaining after last night - that's the most games left by an eliminated team in the divisional play era in MLB history (since 1969).

In contrast the 1988 Orioles weren't eliminated until Labor Day, September 5th (and also at the hands of the Red Sox).  This year's Orioles were 35-81 when eliminated - the 1988 team was only four games better (39-77) after 116 games.  The difference is that the first place team this year (the Red Sox) are playing at a historically high level - they were 82-35 after last night's game, a .701 winning percentage.  The AL East champions in 1988 (also the Red Sox) had a much lower winning percentage of .549. 

So it's not just that the Orioles are historically bad this year - they have the misfortune of playing in a division with a team that's historically good.

I do need to point out that they have not been eliminated from the Wild Card yet.  They are currently 27 1/2 games behind Oakland for the second Wild Card spot.  Their "wild card elimination number" is 13.  I don't know the earliest date that a team has been eliminated from the Wild Card but I suspect we will find out in another 10 days or so.

Stories on the 1988 Orioles

My friend Dan tipped me off to the fact that MLB posted a 15 minute video "celebrating" the 30th Anniversary of the Orioles season opening losing streak:



I also discovered today that Grant Brisbee over at SB Nation did an article on the streak as well.