The comments are a fertile place for discussion topics this morning. This one comes from rockthered1286 in the And That Happened thread, giving kudos to Orioles’ GM Dan Duquette for pushing buttons to give this team Nate McLouth, Jim Thome, Omar Quintanilla, Manny Machado, Randy Wolf and Joe Saunders.

I’ll grant him Machado as a good move before it was made and after, and one that some GMs wouldn’t have made. And I’ll note that not all of those guys have performed well for the O’s (i.e. Wolf), but man, how often do a series of moves involving guys like that, either in age or talent, bring about a playoff appearance? Who said when any of those guys were acquired that yes, now, the Orioles are going to the playoffs? No one, obviously.

I don’t want to oversell the “Orioles are lucky!” angle because (a) it doesn’t matter now because the wins and the playoffs are in the bank; and (b) it’s been beaten to death. However, to say that the 2012 Baltimore Orioles have not been the beneficiaries of good fortune and all manner of happy shiny phenomenon would be to miss the essence of the season. And as far as I’m concerned, it’s what makes it all the more special and fun.

In other news: if your team isn’t playing the O’s in a playoff series, how can you not root for them?