Through all the Orioles' losing in the past decade-plus, amid all the statistics that accentuate recent baseball futility in Baltimore, there's one fact that seemingly stands alone in provoking utter disbelief:
The Orioles' consistently abominable records in recent Augusts and Septembers.
How bad has it been?
The Orioles' last winning August was in 1997, when they were 18-10, the most recent season in which they had an overall winning record and made the playoffs. Dating to 2000, the Orioles have had no winning Augusts and just one winning September/October (19-13 in 2004) in 20 tries.
In the 10 seasons before this year, the Orioles compiled a 218-352 record from Aug. 1 on. That's a .382 winning percentage, which, extrapolated for a full schedule, would amount to a 100-loss season.
"That is definitely something that has got to be rectified," said new manager Buck Showalter, who concedes that he didn't realize the depth of the club's annual ineptitude in the final two months.
"The common denominators of teams that are in the playoffs are that they finish strong and they play well on the road," Showalter said. "That's as common as a good ERA or good defense or whatever. Not many people back into the playoffs."
Showalter already has been heralded as a miracle worker of sorts since he took over the team with baseball's worst record Aug. 2 and immediately ticked off eight wins in his first nine games. His next walk-on-water moment could come this week.
Counting an Aug. 1 loss at Kansas City before Showalter took over, the Orioles are 12-9 this month heading into the final seven August games — three at the Chicago White Sox, three at the Los Angeles Angels and one at home against the Boston Red Sox.
If the Orioles win three of those, they'll guarantee their first victorious August in 13 years.
"It's important to win any month, but especially toward the end of the season when it is getting long and especially in the situation we are in," Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis said. "We've got a great group of guys, young talented baseball players, and everybody is here for a reason. And I think people are starting to see what we are capable of doing."
The reasons for the Orioles' late-season swoons are well-documented. Because of the unbalanced schedule, they play a high percentage of their final games against divisional rivals in the ultra-competitive American League East, clubs that are often pushing for a postseason spot.
Also, with a perennially thin roster, the Orioles traditionally call up minor league reinforcements well before rosters expand in September, and those young players are often running out of gas as the season advances. And, as much as players hate to acknowledge it, motivation and focus can wane when there is nothing to play for in the stretch run.
Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts, a 10-season veteran, hasn't experienced a winning year — or a winning August — in his career. He has heard the reasons and says there might be some merit to each. But he said the disastrous finishes ultimately boil down to one obvious cause.
"We just weren't as good as the teams we were playing. That's probably it as much as anything," Roberts said. "Other than that, yeah, there are always injuries or it may be this or that, but over a 10-year stretch, it has got to be something deeper. … We are playing in our division a lot those last few months, like we always do, and our division is pretty good. And if you are not good, you are going to have trouble."
Roberts believes a strong finish now could be essential for the future because it could show the younger players that they can compete with their divisional opponents, and that could have a carryover for next year.
He points to the San Diego Padres, who were 20 games under .500 and in last place in 2009 heading into August. They went 33-25 from that point on and kept the momentum going this year. They have the National League's best record and were leading the NL West by six games entering Monday.
"I think it is important [to finish strong], yeah, I definitely do. I think it is important going into the offseason. I think it is important leading into next year," Roberts said, "I think it is important for the younger guys, who haven't maybe experienced a full season, to play well at the end of the year and understand what it takes to do that."
To be a continually successful team, Showalter said, it should be a given that players expect to succeed in the season's last two months. As an example, he uses the young corps of New York Yankees in the mid-1990s — Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera — who assumed a pennant race and a postseason berth were the norms.
"Derek will tell you, he has said later, that's what we expected," said Showalter, who managed the Yankees in 1995, when they earned their first postseason berth in more than a decade. "That's what we are supposed to do, be in the playoffs in October, and we were supposed to play good baseball, especially in August and September. That's the job description. You don't give in."
Showalter was reminded that these Orioles will have to play exceptionally well to finish 2010 on a high note. They have perhaps the most difficult remaining schedule in baseball. Of their last 37 games, 27 are against winning teams, including 24 versus AL East clubs. The other 10 are against the Detroit Tigers and Angels, who are both just under .500 and were considered by many as preseason favorites to win their respective divisions.
This is Showalter's response to the reality of the coming schedule: "So what?"
"Nothing here has caught me by surprise," Showalter said. "Who won the world championship last year? The Yankees, I am pretty sure. Well, golly, you've got to be better than them anyway, whether you play in the East, the West, the National League. Look, there's our barometer. That's where you've got to get. And Tampa's run eliminated a lot of excuses. You can do it."
Whether the Orioles will be competitive in the next few years under Showalter is anyone's guess. And the odds are stacked against them.
But they are finally winning in August, which at least softens the blow of a season that, for months, was on pace to be the worst in club history.
"We got off to such a terrible start that we needed to put a better taste in the mouth of our fans," said Andy MacPhail, the club's president of baseball operations. "And one way to do that is to show promise in August and September, especially in September, when we face such a difficult part of our schedule."
Winning this month also has given the players a modicum of hope in this lost season.
"This year is a little different, in a good way, because you have a new manager, you have a lot of young guys that are fighting for their jobs. You have some [potential] free agents here that might want to come back," Roberts said.
"It would be nice not to have to answer those [late-season swoon] questions anymore, yeah. It'd be nice to be answering playoff questions," the veteran second baseman added. "Hopefully, this is that year that we put all that behind us and go out and play well all of August and September.
"I am not saying we are going to be 20 games over, but I think if we can be around .500 or a little bit above for two months, the last two months, I think that is a great thing going into the winter based on who we are playing. And based on what we are trying to accomplish here."
dan.connolly@baltsun.com
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Unhappy endings
In the 10 Augusts and Septembers/Octobers before this year, the Orioles had just one winning month. They are on pace for their first winning August since 1997. YearAug.Sept./Oct.201012-9*TBD200910-2010-20200811-175-2020079-1910-19200612-1410-19200511-1712-18200413-1519-13200311-2010-16200214-164-24200111-168-19200014-1514-15 * Seven games remaining in August 2010
Source: baseball-reference.com