What a ride it was.

I’ve waited a while to write this post. Part of that is that I spent all of today running around at New York Comic Con as the Stig (my beautiful Simpson helmet can be seen here). The other part? I just didn’t know what to say.

Sure, the Orioles blew a lot of opportunities in this game. Sure, they definitely could have won it. I can’t possibly give this game a Morris Marina picture, though. It’s the last time we’ll see the Orioles play until they take the field in Sarasota next spring. It’s the end of a run that nobody even thought they’d have. They went farther than anyone expected them to. They almost won the American League East. They did win the American League Wild Card. They almost beat the Yankees in the ALDS.

We can criticize the Orioles later, once this loss has sunk in and we can really sit and think about it. For now, the best thing to do is simply appreciate the journey they took us, baseball fans everywhere, on this year.

Thank you, Orioles. I honestly appreciated the opportunity to write about you this year. You took me into the postseason, which I didn’t see coming at first but realized was possible when you kept up your level of play from April for a few months afterwards. You brought me on quite a crazy journey this season, with ups and downs more extreme than the ones on Millennium Force. I didn’t realize how emotionally invested you’d make me this time around, especially after those mere 69 wins last year. I know a sportswriter’s not supposed to get this attached, but you just made me love you this year because you had a never-say-die attitude and absolutely refused to give up.

Thanks for everything, you guys. You’ve made 2012 one of the most memorable years of my life, and I’ll never forget you for it.