| 23 June 2011
* This was written for MASN's Oriole Buzz last week...
***
The cities of Baltimore and Pittsburgh have been through quite a bit with their baseball teams in the last decade. They are roughly four hours apart in terms of driving distance, and of course, have passionate fan bases when it comes to their sports.
As we all know, both cities have quite a few parallels; however, none of them mirror more closely than the futility of their baseball franchises.
The Orioles
have not had a winning season since 1998, and the Pirates have not had one since Barry Bonds left the franchise after losing the National League Championship to the Atlanta Braves - more than 18 seasons ago.
The two franchises are playing one another this week in interleague play, and last night, fans - who either watched the game on TV or were lucky enough to see the action in person - saw them partake in "Turn Back the Clock Night".
They wore replica jerseys from the 1971 season on Tuesday, and for one night, the game might have literally symbolized, "what things once were".
As it is in 2011, the Orioles and Pirates are trying to reclaim some lost glory and instill hope with their fan bases that they both may have a fighting shot to win in their respective leagues.
At this point, the winning process is going to take time and a whole lot of patience. The Orioles have been trying to rebuild for 13 years, the Pirates for 18, and they still are struggling to find the "magic formula".
The good news is this: so far, both teams are greatly improved from their respective situations from last year. We all know the impact that Buck Showalter has had for the Orioles; meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, another manager who has won the past - Clint Hurdle - had the Pirates over .500 as of last week.
The two squads have emerging young stars on the field and on the mound. We've seen what Adam Jones has done for Baltimore in the past few years, along with Matt Wieters; meanwhile, the Pirates have Andrew McCutchen, who looks like the next big thing, as he seems to be the prototypical five-tool player.
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