For some of us, 1983 doesn’t feel that long ago. But in baseball terms, 35 years is a vast expanse.
Cal Ripken Jr. was a baby-faced 22 when the Orioles’ last World Series season kicked off. He’s been in the Hall of Fame for 11 years now. The steroid era came and went in that period. The Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs ended the game’s most famous curses. Adam Jones, a veteran leader on the current Orioles, was still almost two years from being born when the franchise last ended its season with a champagne celebration.