Tom Boswell on the Battle of the Beltways

The column kind of rambles between praising the Orioles and taking shots at them:

So is it time for the Nationals to take their annual spanking from their slightly, but nonetheless distinctly, inferior baseball neighbors in Baltimore? Four games this week will tell the tale.

On Monday night, as has so often been the case for the previous 10 years of this Battle of the Beltway series, the teams were evenly matched, the score was close, but Baltimore, perhaps a little more intense about the rivalry than the Nats, and maybe toughened by their rugged American League East foes, won, 4-3.

"Some teams match up well against others even though that's not what their records might [indicate]," said Ryan Zimmerman, who has been with the Nationals for all the years of these meetings. "For some reason, they always seem to be a tough matchup for us."

Understatement. Since 2010, Baltimore has dominated the rivalry, winning 23 of 34 games. And most of that has been under Manager Buck Showalter (19-9), who took over in mid-2010 and knows the Nats' weaknesses far better than the four Nationals managers during that period have had time to learn the Orioles'.

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Yet all of this Orioles bravado blows the top off the baseball irony scale. Since Showalter arrived, the Nats have had a better overall record all seven seasons -- except 2014, when they tied at 96 wins. Since the Expos came to D.C. in 2005, the Nats have had better records than the O's nine times out of 12, plus that tie.

The Nats have also gotten the best of the attendance battle throughout this era, topping the O's in nine of those 12 years and barely missing by 84 fans one year (not that anybody's counting). This season, for the seventh straight season, the Nats draw bigger crowds (31,763 to 27,141). And the Nats charge higher prices so, as Orioles GM Dan Duquette noted Tuesday, "They always operate with bigger revenues. So we have to be more resourceful."

"Good atmosphere," Nationals Manager Dusty Baker said of his first experience of the Parkway Battle. Then he added that he expected a bigger crowd (than 31,660). "But I guess kids are back in school," Baker said. "Might have been better [for Baltimore] to have it on the weekend."

Dusty didn't mean it as a dig. But if you put the comment on a T-shirt -- "Too bad the Baltimore kids were back in school" -- and sent it to the B&O Warehouse c/o owner Peter Angelos, you might hear an explosion.

Angelos knows perfectly well which franchise wins more games each year and which franchise wins its division. Nats' NL East odds: 99 percent; Orioles' AL East odds: 6 percent. Peter knows that attendance, too.

Since the day the new Nationals were born, the Orioles and their ownership have loathed the Washington team, frustrated that, after many years of blocking every attempt to bring a team to D.C., the Nats had the audacity to exist. And just 40 miles away from Camden Yards.

Some doubt the intensity of this "rivalry." Nationals players, and Baker, barely seem to have any sense of it. But, each year, Showalter and his players -- as well as many vocal Orioles fans who come to Nationals Park for games like those that will be played in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday -- certainly seem to get it. Everyone here who loves the O's knows which town can afford a $210 million free agent (Max Scherzer) or a $175 million contract extension (Stephen Strasburg). It's not Baltimore. Except for a seven-year, $161 million extension to two-time homer champ Chris Davis, the O's just don't go crazy.

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The "resourceful" Orioles of Showalter and Duquette continue to get almost as good results on the field in terms of wins and losses as the Nats over the past five years while coming close to "owning" the Nats head to head. For now, there really hasn't been a "Battle of the Beltway." It's still just a concept or a marketing tag. Because you can't have a battle or a rivalry if, year after year, only one team shows up.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/in-the-battle-of-the-beltway-its-advantage-baltimore-over-the-nationals/2016/08/23/3615aca6-695b-11e6-99bf-f0cf3a6449a6_story.html

I left out some parts where Boswell pointed out some of the player acquisitions the O's made relatively cheaply, like Alvarez, Kim and Trumbo.

Boswell also failed to mention the far inferior division the Gnats play in as well. The Orioles have won a ton of games since 2012 playing in a tough division. While the Gnats pad their numbers playing in a division that consists of two really bad teams, a .500 team, and a team that's hit or miss.

Read it this morning. Kind of brought up some anger if I'm honest when he talked about affording big name players. Guess I should just forget about a Manny extension now

Boswell also failed to mention the far inferior division the Gnats play in as well. The Orioles have won a ton of games since 2012 playing in a tough division. While the Gnats pad their numbers playing in a division that consists of two really bad teams, a .500 team, and a team that's hit or miss.

He sort of mentioned it at the beginning about the AL East being a power house.

Read it this morning. Kind of brought up some anger if I'm honest when he talked about affording big name players. Guess I should just forget about a Manny extension now

The Gnats would love to forget the Werth deal. They also didn't get much return on the Zimmerman deal, and I think they'll regret the Strasburg extension also.

The Gnats would love to forget the Werth deal. They also didn't get much return on the Zimmerman deal, and I think they'll regret the Strasburg extension also.

That's true. Right elbow soreness just sent shivers up their checkbooks I'm sure.

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Sounds like butthurt Yankee fans that can't believe it when they lose to an "inferior" team.

Boswell also failed to mention the far inferior division the Gnats play in as well. The Orioles have won a ton of games since 2012 playing in a tough division. While the Gnats pad their numbers playing in a division that consists of two really bad teams, a .500 team, and a team that's hit or miss.

AL "Beast" >> NL "Least"

He paints the Nats as the superior team but I think that is very debatable. The NL East is really bad compared to the AL east

Boswell is so bitter that the Nats are in an inferior division, and just can't hang with the Orioles when playing them, it's kind of pathetic.

He paints the Nats as the superior team but I think that is very debatable. The NL East is really bad compared to the AL east

Right now the AL East is +30 and the NL East is -17.

The Gnats would love to forget the Werth deal. They also didn't get much return on the Zimmerman deal, and I think they'll regret the Strasburg extension also.

Lerner is the richest owner in baseball. The Nationals will be able to absorb bad contracts a lot easier than other teams.

Cry me a river, Tom.

The Orioles have won more games over the last 5 years because they have been the better team. If they had the luxury of being in the NL East, they would be atop the division year after year.