Orange Koolaid Anyone?

Alright so I've been drinking the orange Koolaid for a while now this season, and I have got to know. If you weren't drinking it before are you drinking it now? If not then, WHY THE HECK NOT? Let me break this down for you. Right now the Orioles sit at 62-53. At this exact point last year we were 45-72, 2010 we were 41-75, 2009 47-67, 2008 58-62. Heck let's look back to when we last won the division in '97 at this point we were 73-42. That's only 9 games away from where we are right now and we finish that season 98-64. Look we have 47 games left in the season and we sit 5 1/2 games out of first place behind the Evil Empire and currently in the second wild card spot behind the Rays. Say we split the remaining games and go 85-77. When was the last time we finished in contention this late in the season and over .500? Heck tell me at the beginning of the season if someone told you we would finish with that record you wouldn't be laughing at them and saying "Yeah right". So I ask you again "Why aren't you drinking the Koolaid yet?"
Can this team tank the remaining 47 games? Sure. I mean they have a tough schedule left. Heck the rest of this month we have the Red Sox, Tigers, Rangers, Blue Jays, White Sox, and Yankees. Can we lose some of those games? Yeah, but I think we have proven this year that we can hang with these teams, and in years past we have finish strong in September playing the role of spoiler. Which lets face it that's all we had to play for.
The moves we have made this season aren't flashy, and big name signings but seem to be exactly what is needed. We needed to fix our fielding woes since we lead the league in errors. It seems we have done that in picking up and putting McLouth, Quintanilla, and Ford in the field. You add to that bringing up Machado and our fielding has been much improved.
That brings me to my next topic here. I was concerned with the bringing up of Machado because in years past we have brought guys up and they never panned out. Now I'm not about to crown the guy a Hall of Famer, but he has been quite impressive. In 4 games he is hitting .375 with 3 HR 7 RBI's and 5 runs scored. Heck in the 6 hits he's recorded he has the 3 HR's a double and a triple (which was his first major league hit). So 5 of his 6 hits have been for extra bases. There's been the haters saying yeah but it was against the Royals pitching. Yeah well who else put up those kind of numbers this past series? Yup keeping looking because no one did.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Orioles Magic is back. This team is in competition to make a push for the off season. Will we go far? Probably not but who knows. That's why they play the games right? I said it last post, I haven't even been following the Ravens training camp because I'm fixated on the O's. We have never had an Orioles team in competition and a successful Ravens team. It looks as tough we may have that now. Football season is right around the corner, but until then LET"S GO O'S!!!