Sunday marked not only the end of the worst season in Orioles history, but potentially the end of an era. Still, in the final day of a lost season, the atmosphere at Camden Yards was one of of mixed sorrow celebration, a final opportunity to embrace a pair of key figures who helped bring winning baseball back to Baltimore in brighter days.
Few cities embrace their sports heroes the way this one does, and saying goodbye to them is difficult, but the largest non-doubleheader crowd at Camden Yards in more than a month gathered to send the team’s longest-tenured player and face-of-the-franchise Adam Jones and manager Buck Showalter out in style in the team’s 4-0 Game 162 win over the Houston Astros.