Birds on a Wire

Over at his website, David Simon reprints an entertaining piece he wrote last year for Sports Illustrated about rooting for the Orioles:

Last fall, when the revived Baltimore Orioles made their first journey to the playoffs in fifteen years, I was contacted by Sports Illustrated and asked if I had anything in the way of an essay. As a matter of fact, in the closing days of season, with the O’s on the heels of the hated Yankees for the division title, I was about ready to open a vein. What follows appeared in the October 1, 2012 edition of the magazine, which featured a cover shot of the Oriole outfielders jump-bumping in celebration of a victory. I was a proud fan indeed, though terrified as well that I had provoked the dreaded SI cover jinx.

In any event, the deep-seated fear in the hearts of all Baltimoreans — that 2012 was a one-off and the O’s would transform back into pumpkins and mice the following spring — seems at this point to be unwarranted. They are again contending in the AL East and still playing a smart, fresh brand of baseball. Therefore, this essay is no longer curse-vulnerable and its re-publication here on this site now will serve as a reverse keine hora. Those who understand a little Yiddish know that in saying so, I am cleverly removing any residue of bad juju and flipping it over onto the Yanks and Sox.

This is reprinted with the kind permission of Sports Illustrated, which does not ordinarily offer its content on the internet to non-subscribers. But there are times when all good and true men must endeavor to stand with Baltimore, Maryland. And in that spirit, the SI editors have graciously sidestepped their policy. From Birdland, I thank them.