Dan Connolly

Buck up O’s fans, some franchises have had it much worse

By Dan Connolly

Posted on October 14, 2016

Whenever I was upset about something as a kid, my mother would explain to me that there were many children less fortunate than I was. That no matter what I was upset about, others had it worse.

Frankly, that rationale ticked me off.

I didn’t really care about those other children. I was more concerned about what I didn’t have or why I couldn’t do something. Hey, I was a kid.

Well, I’m my mother’s son. So I’m here to give you a similar reminder, Orioles fans. There are some cities and fan bases worse off than you.

The 2016 playoffs are a reminder of that. The Orioles made this year’s postseason – for one game. And then they were done after that frustrating loss in Toronto.

Yes, they have made the postseason three out of the past five seasons; the first time the franchise has accomplished that since making the playoffs five times in six years from 1969 to 1974 (when they had to win the division every year to advance to the postseason).

But, yes, the Orioles’ streak for not getting to the World Series – or winning it – has stretched to 33 years.

Thirty-three years — that’s a long time. That’s a title drought that is married and has two kids, a mortgage and a SUV payment.

So I’m sure when the Orioles bowed out of the postseason in early October, the here-we-go-again, woe-is-the-Orioles mindset took over for many.

Now here I come with that bitter taste of reality on a proverbial spoon.

There are nine franchises that have gone longer than the Orioles without winning a World Series. That includes your frenemies in Pittsburgh.

The last time the Pirates have been in – or won – an October Classic?

You guessed it. Back when they were a family – in 1979, when they beat the Orioles in seven games. Call it, “The Curse of Sister Sledge.”

Of those nine franchises I mentioned, six – assuming you include the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals as one – have been around since before the Orioles’ last title in 1983 and have never — as in ever — won a World Series. That sad-sack group: The Texas Rangers, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners and Nats/Expos.

Two additional franchises, the Colorado Rockies and Tampa Bay Rays, have never won a World Series. But they came into existence in the 1990s and made it to a World Series in the 2000s.

The other two franchises that have been in existence longer than the Orioles’ drought and haven’t captured a championship since then are now in a good position to make a little history: The Chicago Cubs, who haven’t won it all since 1908 and haven’t made it to the World Series since 1945; and the Cleveland Indians, who stopped the Orioles from reaching the World Series in 1997, but haven’t been World Champs since 1948.

The Orioles are one of five franchises that haven’t won a World Series since the 1980s. The others: The Detroit Tigers (1984), the New York Mets (1986), the Los Angeles Dodgers (1988) and the Oakland A’s (1989). Besides the Orioles, the Dodgers are the only other one in that group to have not made another World Series since winning a title ring.

In fact, of the teams that have made at least one World Series appearance, only the Cubs, Brewers and Pirates have stayed away from the October Classic longer than the Orioles.

The Toronto Blue Jays, by the way, haven’t been to a World Series since Joe Carter touched them all in 1993 – 23 years ago. So the Blue Jays’ drought has a student loan payment and a beat-up old car.

Maybe that makes you feel a little better. Or a lot worse.

I’m really not sure what my intention – or my mother’s back in the day – was in providing you this perspective.

But, hey, now you know about the less fortunate.