Glenn Davis was good back then: Orioles/Astros review
Photo: Greg Mac
It’s fun to compare teams from different years. Sure the Orioles were World Champions in 1983, but the teams before that (1979 and 1980) were better tclubs than the O’s team that won it all.
Now on to that team from Houston. Out here in Chicago, White Sox fans rejoiced over the 2005 World Champion team.
But that White Sox club couldn’t have stood a chance against the 1986 Astros. That team was loaded. Glenn Davis hit 31 homers and drove in 101 runs. Yes, he was the subject of one of the worst trades in Orioles history. We gave up great pitching in Pete Harnisch and Curt Schilling and every day outfielder Steve Finley for Davis. And Davis showed up injured and never panned out. I did see him pinch-hit in Chicago and he hit a rocket to the seats for a homer. He could have been a big star in Bird Land.
Oh, yeah back to that loaded 86 team. Look at the pitching. Mike Scott was the leader. He won 18 games and led the league in ERA. Bob Knepper was a tough lefty and he won 17 games. The third starter on that team? Some guy named Nolan Ryan. Oh, the hitters were Jose Cruz, Billy Hatcher, and Dickie Thon.
These Astros went to the playoffs against the Mets. Scott struck out 14 Mets in the first game and won, 1-0. Davis provided the only run with a solo homer off Doc Gooden. What a great series. Our old pal, Jesse Orosco, won three games. Two of the games went to extra innings. The final one went 16 innings before the Mets took the series.
So for this series with the minor league Astros, we brought back Chris Davis to the O’s lineup. Sure, we should have swept the Astros but this is Major League Baseball. And one of our two wins was truly heroic. The series with this team 13 games below the .500 mark, began Friday in Baltimore. We trailed early until our latest folk hero, Steve Pearce, homered in the third. And in better news, Manny Machado did the same thing.
Houston knotted the game up at 2-2 in the seventh. We answered back with doubles from JJ Hardy and Nick Markakis and we had a 4-2 lead. Closer Tommy Hunter had some ninth-inning trouble but survived in the 4-3 win.
Saturday’s win was one which teams can claim propelled them to a pennant. It was a sure win back to a sure loss and then a surprise win. Our offense did nothing until Adam Jones homered in the sixth. It looked like Nellie Cruz’s homer would be the game-winning blow. However, Hunter blew the save and a sure loss was afoot. And then with two outs and no one on, the O’s rallied again. The game was tied up at 4-4. Steve Clevenger’s double won it in 10.
Oh, the problem with Hunter? How about he goes to the eighth inning and Zach Britton with his 94-miles per hour sinker is the new closer.
Sunday’s game was in immediate trouble. Chris Tillman walked two and gave up a three-run bomb. Boo to that. Back we came via a two-run hit from Adam Jones. We fell 5-2 to the Astros. In better news for the first-place O’s, the Yanks, Jays and Rays all lost.
