Twenty Years Later, Why Not?

Celebrating a fairy tale season, minus the happy ending

by Matthew Taylor

One year after the Birds celebrated the 25th anniversary of their last World Series, the team will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 1989 "Why Not?" run.

Why Not?

"The Orioles today announced that they will kick off the 20th anniversary of their 1989 'Why Not' season with a reunion event at ESPNZone at the Inner Harbor next Tuesday, February 10. All fans are invited to attend the free event, which will begin at 7:00 p.m.

1989 team members LARRY SHEETS, MIKE DEVEREAUX and DAVE JOHNSON reminisce about that memorable year in a question and answer session led by emcee TOM DAVIS. An autograph session and showing of the 'Why Not?' video that chronicled the year will follow.

ESPNZone is located at 601 East Pratt St. in downtown Baltimore."

To some, celebrating the "Why Not?" season may be anniversary overload. The uninitiated killjoys will scoff that the team didn't even make the playoffs that year and wouldn't have done so even had the Wild Card system been in place. But to longtime O's fans, the 1989 season will always stand out in the mind's eye, a refreshing historical marker along the cobblestone roadway of life among the faithful. Just one season after spiraling downward to the wrong end of history, we went from laughing stock to laughing last ... almost. And that, my friends, is worth celebrating.

Here's an old Roar from 34 effort about one of the iconic moments of the '89 season. The real reading is at Birds in the Belfry and its comprehensive review of Why Not?.