There was a time when Baltimore Oriole fans would love to "just win a series". Now, that's almost not good enough. Fans want sweeps and not just winning two out of three.

The other day, I was in an upstairs room in our house west of Gilby, N.D., when I heard a familiar bird song. "Baltimore oriole," I thought. A glance out the window proved me wrong. The bird ...

Yet the orchard oriole found singing in the yard that first day did not look anything at all like this. Instead it showed a bright yellow head and breast, a black throat and an olive back.