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Baltimore Orioles Near The Top Of ESPN Sports Misery Index

By Nick Stevens

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - SEPTEMBER 10: Chance Sisco #15 of the Baltimore Orioles reacts after striking out against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 10, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - SEPTEMBER 10: Chance Sisco #15 of the Baltimore Orioles reacts after striking out against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 10, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
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The Baltimore Orioles rank near the top of ESPN’s Sports Misery Index.

While the Baltimore Orioles farm system recently received praise for being one of the top five most improved systems in baseball last season, according to MLB Pipeline, the major league Orioles are the cause of this organization making another top ten list, ESPN’s Sports Misery Index.

As published by ESPN’s T.J. Berka, the Baltimore Orioles came in at number eight on this list, a jump up of 11 spots from the 2018 version. The list includes all franchises from the four major sports (MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA).

The complete list of top ten teams includes just one other MLB team,

  1. Sacramento Kings
  2. Buffalo Bills
  3. San Diego Padres
  4. Cleveland Browns
  5. Florida Panthers
  6. New York Jets
  7. Miami Dolphins
  8. Baltimore Orioles
  9. Buffalo Sabres
  10. Detroit Lions

The formula used to determine these rankings includes recent championships, playoff births, playoff wins, heartbreaks, and rival comparison. For those teams currently on a 25+ year championship drought, they get a slight bonus.

After losing a franchise-high 115 games in 2018, the Orioles lost 108 last season, the second-most number of losses in a single season since 1954. Since the team’s last World Series victory in 1983, the Orioles have made the playoffs just five times, losing in the AL Championship Series in 1996, 1997, and 2014, the AL Divisional Series in 2012, and the AL Wild Card game in 2016. We all still remember that one very well.

With the Buffalo Bills finding their way into the 2019 NFL Playoffs and the Orioles destined to drop another 100+ games in 2020, Baltimore is likely to move up at least one more spot next year, but there’s a bit of hope in Birdland for a turnaround in the coming years.

The ESPN article is just a fun exercise in ranking really bad teams across the American sports scene, but there is truth in that it’s been a miserable run for the Orioles recently, however, there’s a plan in place to bring this franchise back to respectability and much of the fanbase is on board.

Save us, Adley Rutschman!

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