The legend, Earl Weaver, once said, “Just put it on my tombstone: The sorest loser that ever lived.” I haven’t been by Earl’s grave to know whether this old wish was honored upon his passing, but I do know that Earl was right on. Losing sucks. When the Orioles lose in the playoffs and their season is over, that really sucks.
What makes last night’s Wild Card game loss even worse is that it’s instantly one of those games on the pantheon of most painful losses, indelibly etched on the consciousness of Birdland.
For me and people who are about my age, there will never be any topping the Jeffrey Maier Game or the whole Armando Benitez experience the next year.