The term “lucky” has never sit well with many (including myself) when describing the 2012 Baltimore Orioles. It sure seems like a lazy way to explain the team’s success, though that’s how they’ve been labeled by many after posting a historic 29-9 record in one run games.
Last season the O’s won just 20 of their 51 games decided by a single run, which some used as another indicator of how flukey the previous year had actually been — but don’t tell Buck Showalter that. Here’s what the O’s skipper had to say about winning close games when answering a question about the Birds 5-4 win over the Reds on Tuesday:
"We created that one run game last night. So every night is different. Someone was trying to tell me that last year was such a true indicator -- I guess we weren't as good last year, but we're still good, I don't know. It's certainly not the managing, I can tell you that. It's the players. We'd rather a lot of them be two or three run games. We'd love [if] that game had been 5-0, 5-1 [and] kept Zach [Britton] and Darren [O'Day] and those guys out of the game, but we didn't and at the end of the game we got a 'W' out of it. So you do what you got to do."
It’s such a perfect response.
The Orioles still managed to win 85 games last season despite going 20-31 in one-run games. This season their 28-19 in those matchups. Lucky? Nope, just a darn good team that finds a way to win, just look at the example Buck gives.
Nobody was saying anything when the Yankees built up their early season record with one run games. No one understands this is a TEAM.