For the latter half of the 20th century, the Baltimore Orioles were among the elite in the sport. Almost from the time that the team moved to Baltimore from St. Louis before the 1954 season, it became one of the signature teams in the major leagues. It wasn’t the most dominant nor was it the most gaudy, but it was almost always a force to be reckoned with, showing up with the metronomic consistency of the team’s best-known player, Cal Ripken Jr. Then things changed. But even now, after years of being a punch line in the sport, or, even worse, an afterthought, there still is the expectation somehow of being something more. It’s a fan base with tradition and pride.

Every time that a third baseman misses a scorching line drive or misplays a ground ball taking a bewilderingly bad hop, a low grumble is heard from the stands at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. “Brooks would have had it,” a reference to the late and legendary Brooks Robinson, a defensive virtuoso who is still spoken of in the same tones in Baltimore that Ludwig van Beethoven is discussed in Viennese concert halls.