Up until a couple days ago, the Baltimore Orioles hadn’t qualified for the playoffs since the days when Cal Ripken, Jr. was still manning the left side of their infield.
After a 15-year hiatus, the Orioles are back. They don’t know whether they’ll be going in as the AL East champion or as one of the American League’s wild-card teams just yet, but the important part for now is that they’re going to be playing postseason baseball one way or the other.
Does the Iron Man himself have any thoughts on this year’s Orioles team by any chance?
Heck, of course he does. For that matter, Ripken has plenty of thoughts on the 2012 postseason in general that he doesn’t mind sharing.
On Tuesday, I got a chance to talk one-on-one with the former Orioles great and current TBS analyst. Ahead of you lie his thoughts on the Orioles’ World Series chances, pitching staffs that will be dangerous, which players fans should be watching in October and more.
Note: Any stats that appear within are courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.