The day began 20 years ago with overcast skies and wisps of fog, a Friday.
Despite the fact that the weekend is not expected to brighten, Baltimore baseball fans bask in a warm glow that has been building since April.
Their team, the American League cellar-dweller just a year earlier, has a chance to win the pennant. Just one game back of the Toronto Blue Jays with three to play, the Orioles need a sweep at SkyDome to make everyone forget about the previous season, the one that began with 21 losses and ended with 107.
"From the beginning, everybody figured they didn't have a chance," recalls Peter Angelos, still nearly four years away from becoming the owner. "But before you knew it, they were in the thick of it and almost made it."
Their assets? A legitimate star, Cal Ripken Jr., and a supporting cast of characters with an average salary of $324,000. A manager, Frank Robinson, who as one of the most feared hitters of his era dared pitchers to knock him down. And a region of believers who ask, "Why Not?"
"When an underdog stays in the mix, the longer you keep him in the mix, the more he believes and the more the fan base believes," says Bill Ripken, the second baseman. "I believe everyone on the club believed, 'Somebody's got to win, why not us?' "
After the season, Moss Klein marvels in The Sporting News: "How they managed to go so far is a complete mystery."
Maybe. But on Sept. 29, 1989, the Baltimore players and their fans know their fate boils down to one stark mathematical statement: One-hundred fifty-nine games down, three to go. Snatch all three, and the Orioles secure a place in the playoffs. Win two, and it's back to Baltimore for a one-game showdown at Memorial Stadium.
"I'd rather be in Toronto's position, but I'll take where we are," Robinson says. "I know five other ballclubs who would like to be where we are."
No one can foresee the Birds dropping the first two games, falling three runs short, when their bullpen can't stop Toronto's hitters. Still, the "Why Not?" Orioles end the season with a win - Ben McDonald's first - and remain in this era of diminished expectations one of the most exciting teams in the region's rich sports history.
On that final weekend in Toronto, Jays fans are plenty nervous. Despite wresting first place from the Orioles in early September, the team can't seem to get Baltimore off its rear bumper.
The Birds are loose. They aren't supposed to be here. They are nobodies.
