The Red Sox wrapped up the road portion of their 2014 schedule over the weekend in Baltimore. Playing out the string is never fun for a big-league team, especially against a team coasting into the playoffs.

The Orioles had wrapped up the AL East a few days earlier, winning the division for the first time since 1997. Mike Bordick, the pride of Winterport and the University of Maine, was the shortstop on that 1997 team. Now he’s a broadcaster.

It’s been a long road back to playoff contention for the once-proud Orioles, a franchise that endured 14 consecutive losing seasons after that 1997 team was beaten by the Indians in the ALCS. Now they’re gearing up for what they hope is a deep run into October.

The Orioles are a pretty good choice for Red Sox fans looking for a team to cheer for this fall. There are plenty of local connections making them worthy of your time.

First of all there’s the local kid who’s become a fixture in the Orioles’ infield. Ryan Flaherty grew up in Portland and starred at Deering High before heading to Vanderbilt and the pros. I remember him as a 4-year-old running around Battle Creek, Michigan, when his dad, Ed, coached the University of Southern Maine Huskies to their first NCAA Division III World Series.

Flaherty grew up cheering for the Sox, and has relished playing against his hometown team. In 14 games against Boston this season he hit .302 with a .761 OPS, far above his .217/.640 season averages.

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Folks in Maine have stayed up to date on Flaherty’s progress throughout his career. Fans throughout New England may have forgotten about another, slightly older, favorite son.

Dan Duquette was the ultimate local-boy-makes-good story when he rose through the front office ranks to become general manager of the Red Sox in 1994. He held the job for eight years, getting them to the playoffs three times. When he was relieved of his duties in 2002 he had trouble finding his way back into a front office.

It took him 10 long years to get another chance. The Duke of Dalton, Massachusetts, finally got that opportunity with the Orioles in 2012. He led them back into the postseason as a wild-card entry that season.

Now Duquette has assembled an even better team. One that resembles the 2013 championship team from Boston – a team that relied on depth to win it all.

“That depth to our position players came in when we lost (Manny) Machado and (Matt) Wieters to injuries,” Duquette told me in a NESN interview Sunday. “We recently lost Chris Davis (to a 25-game suspension for PED use) but have been able to compete on the strength of our pitching and good defense.”

Duquette admitted he is enjoying this baseball rebirth even more than he enjoyed the ride 10 years ago. A baseball brainiac, he’s surrounded himself with former Red Sox employees he trusted in Boston. Dave Wallace is the team’s pitching coach. Lee Thomas, Ray Poitevint, Fred Ferreira and Gary Rajsich are big parts of his scouting unit. Kent Qualls is his minor-league coordinator and Chris Correnti is a trainer.

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They are all names that laid the groundwork for the team that ultimately ended the supposed Curse of the Bambino in 2004. Now, they’re trying to end a 31-year championship drought in Baltimore.

After watching the Sox win it all last October, it might be tough to watch any baseball playoffs this fall.

But if you’re looking for a club to cheer for, you could do a lot worse than the Orioles. The team trying to bring its first championship celebration to Camden Yards looks an awful lot like the team that had Fenway rocking just a year ago.

Tom Caron is the studio host for Red Sox broadcast on NESN. His column appears in the Portland Press Herald on Tuesdays.


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