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Congrats to Washington's Baseball Team on Clinching the Division!

DC is Orioles Country
September 17, 2014

I just wanted to take a moment to praise the region's oldest baseball franchise for clinching the toughest division in baseball last night. Despite ups and downs and injuries aplenty, The D.C.-area's most-storied franchise has put together a miraculous season and won a division replete with consistent contenders.

I'm talking, of course, about the Orioles.

In an odd twist of fate, the regional interlopers known as the Ex-Expos also happened to clinch last night, leading some to speculate on the possibility of a "Beltway Series." This is both a bit premature (history suggests either team making it to the World Series would be rather surprising). But if it did occur, the Orioles would obviously triumph over their, scoff, "rivals" to the south. Stats don't lie: The Orioles dominate the Nationals in runs, home runs, and OPS, suggesting that the Ex-Expos' modest advantage in pitching will do little to help them, especially in the batter-friendly confines of Camden Yards (a ballpark, it should be noted, is superior in literally every way to Nationals Park). Given that the AL has the home-field advantage in the Series this year (thanks All Star Game!), that's a rather big plus for the big bats of the Orioles. Regular season results back up the Orioles' superiority, as the birds have gone 3-1 against the Ex-Expos this year and have a 35-30 record against them overall.

So thank you Buck Showalter, Dan Duquette, and Peter Angelos. You've built a winning team every DC-area resident can be proud of. It's about time winning ways came back to the region.