Orioles' Showalter: 'We reminded the country what a great baseball city ... Baltimore is'

Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter was attempting to find a silver lining following his team's elimination from the postseason on Wednesday.

"My emotion is for the players and the organization and the fans, because I keep thinking about something I or we could have done differently. That's what you think about," Showalter said following Game 4's loss to the Kansas City Royals.  

"But through it we got some good things done. We reminded the country what a great baseball city and city in general Baltimore is. ... I guarantee you, we'll do everything possible to try to give them and the organization and our fans this opportunity again. I can promise you that."

A surprise to many, the Orioles concluded the regular season with a 96-66 record and claimed their first American League East division title since 1997. Despite season-ending injuries to catcher Matt Wieters and third baseman Manny Machado, plus a 25-game suspension to first baseman Chris Davis, Baltimore persevered and ended up sweeping the Detroit Tigers in the ALDS before faltering a round later.

"As a team, we played our (butts) off to get in this position," center fielder Adam Jones said. "We weren't expected to. According to Sports Illustrated, we were supposed to be out of it by June. We've been playing with house money for a long time.

"All the games were close and all the games were good. That's the beauty of baseball. Just, we fell a little bit short. It wasn't from the lack of effort."