The DMV’s favorite MLB teams, the Washington Nationals and the Baltimore Orioles made it to the 2014 MLB playoffs and fans of both teams were elated.
Unfortunately for the Nationals, the team washed out in the first round, despite having clinched a top spot in the playoffs with a record of 96-66, awarding them home field advantage against the San Francisco Giants, and the NL East Championship.
Nationals’ fans at WS were initially excited to see their team perform well.
Sophomore Andrea Rivero is a loyal Nationals fan of four years.
“It’s exciting,” Rivero said about the Nationals making the playoffs. “I think they can go all the way if they organze the lineup and play smart”
Junior Jaxon Clark, who has been a Nationals fan since he was in 5th grade, also had high expectations for his team.
“I’m not surprised that they made it because they’re on fire right now,” said Clark.
Clark had high expectations for the Nationals this postseason.
“I expect them to play their best and go to the World Series,” said Clark, before the Nats were knocked out by the Giants.
Good hitting is fundamental for teams who want to get to the World Series. The Nationals, however, did not accomplish either, as the lost the series 3-1 to the Giants. Clark and sophomore Joshua Baines both agree that the Nats could have hit a lot better.
“I’m disappointed in our hitting. The only person who was doing anything was Harper,” said Clark.
Baines said the Nats’ big bats just weren’t there for the playoffs, with the entire front of the batting order hitting the snooze button both in Washington and on the road in San Francisco.
“They didn’t show up. Harper and Rendon were the only ones getting hits,” Baines said.
The DMV’s other baseball team, the Baltimore Orioles, finished the regular season with a record of 96-66. The Orioles played the Detroit Tigers in their first division series at Oriole Park in Camden Yards. They dominated the Tigers in a clean sweep.
But then the Orioles faced the Kansas City Royals, who haven’t been in a World Series in 29 years. So, guess who ended up going to the Series, which started Tuesday in Kansas City?
Not the Birds from Baltimore.
Sophomore Nick Karlinchak, a big O’s fan, got the whole team to sign his baseball bat seven years ago and he’s been an Orioles fan ever since. Karlinchak was proud of the Orioles’ performance, to a point.
“I like how they kept their head in the game and played as a team. It was a good team effort. As long as the keep hitting and pitching, they’ll be good,” Karlinchak said. about the games against Detroit.
Sophomore Koi Griffin, another Orioles fan thinks that it’s good that the team made the playoffs, and was elated with their performance against the Tigers.
“They played great. They hit, played defense, and were just great,” Griffin said.
Griffin has been an Orioles fan ever since he first saw them play when he was four years old. Griffin expected the Orioles to make the playoffs, and was hopeful that the Orioles would do well in the postseason.
“As long as they keep hitting home runs they’ll be fine,” Griffin said between the Detroit games and the series with Kansas City.”It was one of the best hitting teams in the league versus one of the best pitching teams in the league,” Griffin said.
Unfortunately, the Orioles got swept to advance the Royals to to face the Giants in the World Series.
Karlinchak is one of the many Orioles fans disappointed in their team. He gave up on them halfway through the playoffs.
“I don’t care much; I didn’t watch half the series. They should’ve hit in the situations that they needed to; they have to play better in the postseason,” Karlinchak said.
Griffin is also disappointed that the Orioles didn’t advance.
Fans of both DMV teams are optimistic that their teams will not only make the playoffs next season, but go even farther and do even better than they did this year.
This year’s post-season was a lesson in not getting one’s hopes up too far.. When the big bats fail to come alive, there’s nothing much the fans can do.
“They [the Orioles] got swept. The series was hard to watch. They played decent, but the Royals played better,” said Griffin.