The Orioles Win the Pennant ... in Lutherville-Timonium

In Lutherville-Timonium, even the Orioles can win the pennant.

In fact, in the Lutherville-Timonium Recreation Council's Over-30 Baseball league, the Orioles are a powerhouse.

"They're like the Yankees of our league," league commissioner Peter Jackson said. "They are year-in, year-out solid. They have decent players. The pitchers throw strikes. They have very good timely hitting. They've won the most championships."

The Orioles have won the league title seven times between 2000 and this year. Last week they won their latest championship by defeating the Dodgers in a dramatic three-game series whose last game was called for rain during a tied ninth inning that was finished nearly a week later.

It was not a rematch of the Baltimore Orioles' lopsided, four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the franchise's first World Series title in 1966. There was no Jim Palmer, Brooks Robinson or Frank Robinson. And the Over-30 team isn't led by under-30 stars like Nick Markakis and Adam Jones.

Instead, these Orioles are led by 50-something pitchers Keith Beck and Angel Mata and made up of former high school and junior college ballplayers named Hudak, Beck and Mata.

And unlike those Orioles downtown, Timonium's Orioles haven't suffered through 13 straight losing seasons. Quite the opposite.

"A lot of people say that," said team manager Andy Hudak, 35, a former junior college pitcher. "It's pretty cool just to get to wear the home team uniform. Even if the team isn't good."

Hudak is hopeful that new manager Buck Showalter can turn things around.

Buck could gain inspiration from Hudak's squad.

This year the Timonium Orioles won the regular-season American League pennant with a 14-3 record, and beat the A's and Rangers by a combined three-runs before drumming the Indians, 12-0, in the American League final.

On the National League side of the recreation council league, the Dodgers finished third in the regular season. In the playoffs, they defeated the No. 2 seed Brewers and eliminated the No. 4 seed Rockies -- who had eliminated the top-seed Longhorns -- to face the Orioles in the championship round.

In the three-game championship series, the Orioles won the opener 2-1. The Dodgers took the second game 4-1. The Aug. 15 tiebreaker was, aptly, tied after nine innings before rain forced a stoppage in play.

After several days' worth of e-mails and difficulty finding a field to use, the two teams finished the game on Aug. 20 at Dundalk Community College's field. The Orioles took the title, 6-5, furthering their dominance of a league that once didn't include them.

The LTRC Over 30 Baseball League was started in 1991 with four teams — the Royals, Black Sox, Indians and Cardinals.

It now consists of 180 players on 12 teams, split between American and National League lines. 

Games are played on weekends from April to August at Orchard Park, located on the corner of Bellona and Lincoln avenues.

"It really started as a recreational league, but over the last five or six years it became more competitive," Jackson said.

With only 180 spots, the league has a waiting list. Jackson said he routinely receives mid-season e-mails with groups of seven or eight players looking to start a new team. He estimates the league could easily expand to 20 teams.

Jackson estimates 90 percent of the participants played through high school, 30 percent played in college and maybe a handful of players have played professionally.

Jackson, 39, is in the final season of his two-year run as commissioner, and is getting ready to hang up his spikes after playing with the Tigers. He launched the league website — www.over30baseball.com — but is now busy coaching Little League. He has four children between the ages of 5 months and 9 years old and a full-time job with a local medical publishing company.

With the age range for players in the league, turnover is inevitable. In fact, only one player — Keith Zumbrun of the Rangers — has been on a roster since the league launched 19 years ago.

As the league has grown, more rules were needed to govern its teams. There is now a tryout day, a draft and a system in place for teams to protect their best players.

For now, though, there haven't been any rules established to break up the mighty Orioles.

"Most people get along with the Orioles," Jackson said. "It's not like everybody hates them. They're a good solid team."

In Lutherville-Timonium, that is.