The Baltimore Orioles won the American League East Division championship for the first time in nine years.
Baltimore won 2-0 against the Boston Red Sox held at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland, USA on the 29th (Korean time). Baltimore, which reached its 100th win with this victory, confirmed its division championship.
Baltimore has won the World Series three times (1966, 1970, and 1983), and this is its 10th district championship. Previously, they won district championships in 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1979, 1983, 1997, and 2014.
Baltimore, which reigned as a strong team in the 1970s, has recently had a strong image as a weak team. In particular, this image became stronger as the team failed to advance to the postseason for 14 consecutive years until 2011 after winning the district championship in 1997. In the 2010s, this image was somewhat washed away by advancing to the postseason three times, but after losing in the American League wild card game in 2016, the team failed to advance to the postseason for six consecutive years, strengthening the image of a weak team.
However, Baltimore, which underwent intensive rebuilding to the extent of recording 115 losses in 2018, 108 losses in 2019, and 110 losses in 2021, steadily gathered top prospects and recorded 83 wins, 79 losses, and a winning percentage of .512 last season, winning for the first time in six years. He showed his potential by creating a season.
Nevertheless, not many experts predicted that Baltimore would win the American League district championship this season. MLB.com, the official major league media, said, “Despite leaving an impressive record of 83 wins and 79 losses in 2022, Baltimore was not considered a candidate to win the district. “I thought we could challenge for a wild card, but not win the district,” he said, noting Baltimore’s amazing performance. American statistics site FanGraphs also predicted before the season that Baltimore would record 80 wins and 82 losses. These expectations were spectacularly wrong as Baltimore produced its sixth 100-win season.
Baltimore’s performance was possible because its top prospects grew as expected. Adley Lutchman, who was selected first overall in the 2019 rookie draft, recorded a batting average of .277 (161 hits in 582 at-bats), 20 home runs, 79 RBIs, and an OPS of .810 in 152 games in his second year in the major leagues, becoming the leading catcher in the American League. He grew up to be one of the
“Honestly, our goal before the season was just to do the best we could in every game and see how it goes,” said Lutchman. “It was a tough season because our district is really strong. “It was difficult to have that goal because we haven’t won the district title in a while,” he said, expressing his joy over the win.
“No one thought we would win,” Baltimore coach Brandon Hyde said. All media outlets predicted that we would regress. And I wanted our players to know that. “They took that prospect personally and fired up their will.” 레모나토토
Baltimore, the only team in the American League to achieve 100 wins, secured first place in league winning percentage and received the No. 1 seed. In the upcoming postseason held in October, Baltimore will skip the Wild Card Series and advance directly to the Division Series.
Fans have high expectations as to whether Baltimore, which produced an amazing season, will be able to advance to the World Series for the first time in 40 years since winning the World Series in 1983.