POLL: Why I'm Excited About Baseball, Are You?

I can still remember it vividly—sitting in my living room on the edge of my couch as my wife slept upstairs, watching the most epic finish to a Major League Baseball season I've ever witnessed. 

It was a little after midnight and the Orioles were facing the Red Sox. Simultaneously, the Tampa Bay Rays were in the middle of a 7-0 comeback against the New York Yankees. 

After the conclusion of a rain delay, the Orioles fought hard to try and win the final game of their disappointing season while the Red Sox tried to clinch their place in the postseason with a win. It was a tense 3-2 game, with Boston leading, going into the ninth inning. But as the Rays battled back against New York in Florida, things in Charm City heated up just a little bit more.

With two outs and two strikes, the Orioles leftfielder Nola Reimold stroked a double into right-center, bringing in the tying run to make it 3-3. With Reimold on second base, Robert Andino stepped to the plate and stroked a base hit to left field. 

Carl Crawford bobbled the ball, threw home, but not in time to stop Reimold from scoring the game-winning run. The Orioles defeated the Red Sox, 4-3, forcing Boston to depend on the Yankees for a playoff birth. Yes, you read that correctly, the Red Sox were actually rooting for the Yankees.

As a Baltimore fan, the night had already become the best ending to an Orioles season during our 15 years of losing baseball. But after Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria stroked a home run to defeat the Yankees in extra innings, the almost statistically impossible night came to an end. (You can watch a video tribute to the Red Sox's epic collapse in the YouTube video posted here). 

Remember how I told you my wife was sleeping upstairs? After Andino won the game and Longoria hit the home run, she wasn't sleeping anymore. Mainly because I ran around my small apartment screaming with excitement.

Cut me some slack, as an O's fan, I rarely have reason to celebrate. 

After waking my wife, apologizing and debreifing from the hysteria, I realized this was why I love baseball and why I desperately want the Orioles to be contenders again. 

For every team in baseball, pitchers and catchers reported for spring training last weekend, marking the official start to the 2012 baseball season. Many local fans know that the Orioles are likely to finish dead last in the American League East, but that doesn't mean we can't be excited for the season.

Right?