Oriole Magic: The O's of '83 »

The 1982 baseball season ended in bitter disappointment for the Baltimore Orioles. After a brilliant stretch run put them in position to claim the Eastern Division title, the entire campaign came down to one game -- winner take all. But the Oriole Magic ran out on the final day of the season, and the team's World Series dreams were put on hold for the duration of a long winter. It was during that winter that the Orioles named Joe Altobelli their new manager, replacing retired legend Earl Weaver. Altobelli had enormous shoes to fill come spring training, but he also had a veteran ballclub that had something to prove. With everyday players like Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray, Ken Singleton, and Rick Dempsey, and a pitching staff that included Mike Flanagan, Scott McGregor, Mike Boddicker, Dennis Martinez, and Jim Palmer, the Orioles were poised to achieve the glory that had eluded them the previous season.

It wouldn't be a walk in the park, though. In fact, from the season's Opening Day -- an embarrassing loss to start the "Altobelli Era" -- to the final out of the World Series, the Baltimore Orioles' 1983 season was a virtual roller-coaster ride. Together the team experienced dramatic highs and lows and held on during the many twists and turns on the way to their ultimate goal. What made the 1983 championship all the more special -- though nobody knew it at the time -- was that it would be the franchise's last title to date, marking the end of a proud era that dated back to 1966. Younger players like Ripken and Boddicker, as well as the legions of Baltimore fans, naturally expected to be in another World Series before long, as the franchise had been to six Series in the past 18 years.

But things didn't turn out that way, and the franchise bottomed out five years later after starting the 1988 season at a record 0-21 en route to a franchise-worst 107 losses. Years later we are finally seeing signs of that Oriole Magic again and feeling what it was like to be linked to the Orioles in the summer of '83. Oriole Magic is the first book that introduces us to all of the subplots and personalities that contributed so greatly to that unforgettable summer. Orioles fans will not only relive one of the proudest times in Baltimore's sports history, they will also get a true, inside look into the machinations of the franchise's last world championship.