Concerned that the Orioles finished the year with a loss? Or that our bats went cold in the final two games?

Hey, they are truly downhearted in Texas. The Rangers led their division by five games with nine left to play until the Oakland A’s literally swept the rug out from under their feet.

Let’s not forget the Rangers dropped the last two World Series. That has raised expectations in Texas and, at the same time, created a burden of inevitable disappointment.

I mean, we’re still thrilled just to make the playoffs after a decade-and-a-half drought. Right? The only question tonight in Baltimore is what neighborhood and which bar to watch and cheer. Game time is 8:30 p.m.

We all know by now that the numbers aren’t on our side: Joe Saunders, our starting pitcher, has never beaten the Rangers in Texas, getting shellacked while posting a 9.36 ERA.

Ranger starter Yu Darvish, on the other hand, is 5-1 with a 2.35 ERA since mid-August. And the O’s have never faced...

Classic cars, Rockabilly bands, a vintage swap meet, tattoo art shows and a pinup contest — what's not to love about the annual Mobtown Greaseball?

Presented by Charm City's Karb Kings Car Club and benefitting the Baltimore Zoo, the 15th annual event attracted some 600 cars this year outside the Dundalk Moose Lodge Saturday afternoon. Inside the lodge, the music and swing dancing continued late into the night.

Somehow this long-running, quintessential Baltimore car culture festival still flies under the radar, but it's one-of-a-kind. Keep an eye out next September.

Last year at this time, Orioles gear was the 20th most popular in the majors.

This month, according to ESPN, they have the third bestselling merch in baseball, behind only the New York Yankees and the San Francisco Giants.

Their stellar play and feel good story is obvioulsy a huge factor. (Did you see that game last night? No? Me neither. Sooooo sleepy. But holy $#!@!—that's 14 straight extra inning wins!)

But there's another contributing factor: Our gear is AWESOME.

It really was just a matter of time before the Orioles brass woke up and noticed that the fans vastly preferred the adorable three-tone cartoon bird cap over the serious "ornithologically correct" bird logo. ("We're ornithologically correct!" is hardly a great rallying cry.) So the fact that the Orioles went all-cartoon-bird-all-the-time this year was inevitably going to boost sales.

...

Much of the football talk up and down I-95 this week revolves around Joe Flacco and Michael Vick, and the different directions their careers appear to be headed.

Vick, who returned to the game with a splash in 2010 after serving time on dog fighting-related charges, is coming off a mediocre season last year and a four-interception performance in last week’s season opener against the Cleveland Browns. To be fair, Vick did rally the Eagles for a late-game win, 17-16.

However, Vick’s 32 now, and some wonder if his incredible athleticism has waned a bit.

Flacco, on the other hand, earned rave reviews after masterfully directing the Ravens' new no-huddle offense in a 44-13 romp over the Bengals. Completing 21 of 29 passes for two touchdowns and 299 yards, suddenly NFL observers believe he might be one of the elite quarterbacks in the league — as he said so himself last year.

The trip to Philly for the 1 p.m. Sunday...