Turn Around on the Beltway

For years and years, baseball in our country’s capital has been absent. The D.C area is home to two baseball teams, the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals. Both have finished at or near the bottom of their respective divisions for the past decade. Shocking the baseball world, both teams turned it around and brought life back to their stadiums this season. Each organization made the playoffs, but their magical runs ended abruptly in the first round. Either way, the energy and excitement for baseball has been brought back to D.C. Here is an overview of the fantastic season these two clubs had.

Washington Nationals (98-64): First in the NL East
Manager: Davey Johnson
Best Hitter: Adam LaRoche .271 33 HR 100 RBI
Best Pitcher: Gio Gonzalez 2.89 ERA 21 Wins 8 Losses 207 Strikeouts
Playoffs: Lost in 5 games to the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS

This team came into the season with hope that their young ball club could finally put it together and produce a winning season. Their superstar pitcher Stephen Strasburg had a breakout year with 15 wins but his season was ended with just weeks left in the regular season. He did not have an injury but the management ended his season at 160 innings to preserve him for years to come. The other big story was calling up the 19 year old Bryce Harper halfway through the season. Harper had so many amazing plays in the outfield and at the plate as well. He became only the second teenager ever to hit a home run in the post season. Overall, this team should be so proud of the way they performed this season and look for this ball club to be in contention for years to come.

Baltimore Orioles (93-69): Second in the AL East

Manager: Buck Showalter

Best Hitter: Adam Jones .287 32 HR 82 RBI

Best Pitcher: Jim Johnson 2.49 ERA 51 Saves

Playoffs: Beat Rangers in one game playoff, Lost in 5 games to the Yankees in the ALDS

The Baltimore Orioles came into the season expecting to lose 100 games and not have a winning record for the 16th straight year. After the first few months, the Orioles were performing and were towards the top of the AL East but no one thought they would hold on. All of a sudden, with weeks left in the season, the Orioles had only a 3 game lead for one of the two wild card spots. Again, no one believed they would hold onto it. Against all odds, the Orioles made it into the playoffs, beat the Rangers in the one game playoff and then came up just short against the Yankees in the ALDS. This team had no number one pitcher or an elite hitter. They all just loved to play the game of baseball and with one of the top bullpens in the league, this team won 16 straight extra innings games and went 29-9 in one run games. Just like the Nationals, this young team has a very bright future and with a couple of key additions, they could contend for the championship next year.