ESPN ranks the Orioles #15 in their Ultimate Franchise standings rankings

Baltimore Orioles

Overall: 15

Title track: 55

Ownership: 68

Coaching: 3

Players: 26

Fan relations: 36

Affordability: 14

Stadium experience: 7

Bang for the buck: 15

Change from last year: +8

How 'bout 'dem O's, hon? After peaking last year with their highest overall number in Ultimate Standings history, the Birds soared even higher this time around. They cracked our top 20 for the first time and outranked every MLB team that didn't win a World Series last year or have a name that rhymes with Schmexas Schmangers.

What's good

Britton Gate notwithstanding (see: wild-card game), B'more loves it some Buck Showalter (ranked third overall and best in MLB). After he led a left-for-dead squad to the postseason, the 60-year-old skipper -- whose quick wit, Southern drawl and stream-of-consciousness chatter have turned his postgame pressers into must-see TV -- is a favorite to win his fourth Manager of the Year award, which would tie Hall of Famers Bobby Cox and Tony La Russa for most ever. Despite hosting just 26,819 fans per game (among playoff teams, only Cleveland drew worse), Camden Yards (seventh overall in stadium experience) gets mad love, which confirms that whatever attendance issues the O's had this year, the park wasn't the problem.

What's bad

It's hard to find fault with an organization that's so on the Ultimate up-and-up, but hey, proprietor Peter Angelos is always a candidate. Although he got better marks (ownership is up 24 spots) for dropping more than $200 million in the offseason to retain Chris Davis, Darren O'Day and Matt Wieters, he's still in the bottom half of his peer group because he taxed fans for it (game-day cost is up 13.3 percent, third highest in MLB), told them about it too late (releasing season-ticket prices in February?) and still refuses to pay for the one thing that matters most (pitching).

What's new

The Orioles' fan relations ranking jumped 12 spots this year, but you wouldn't know it by looking at the stadium. During a crucial September series against the division rival Red Sox, Camden Yards averaged fewer than 22,000 fans per game, driving home the reality that folks just aren't Bird watching like they used to -- at least not in person. As for TV, that's a different story. According to Forbes, the O's ratings ranked fourth in MLB and were up 36 percent over the 2015 season. Clearly, fans are feeling their fine-feathered club (No. 15 overall and fourth in MLB). Now, the Orioles need to figure out how to get them to feel firsthand.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/17838461/baltimore-orioles-continue-climb-ultimate-standings-another-playoff-year

This is fair.

Looks to me like we've got it pretty good. Wouldn't think so sometimes...

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Looks to me like we've got it pretty good. Wouldn't think so sometimes...

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Yup. Well said.

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Took me a little bit to figure out this was for all sports, not just baseball.

3rd best coaching and 7th best stadium experience....

Awesome.

I was wondering how we possibly placed above all-star franchises like the Cubs, Red Sox, and Giants. Then I saw, at the bottom of the article with the full rankings, the percentages they assign to each category score:

Affordability (12.2%): Price of tickets, parking and concessions 



Coaching (2.8%): Strength of on-field leadership


Fan relations (27.2%): Courtesy by players, coaches and front office toward fans, plus how well a team uses technology to reach fans

Ownership (12.8%): Honesty; loyalty to core players and the local community

Players (14.7%): Effort on the field, likability off it

Stadium experience (11.7%): Quality of arena; fan-friendliness of environment; frequency of game-day promotions

Title track (3.9%): Championships won or expected within the lifetime of current fans

Bang for the buck (14.7%): Wins in the past two years per fan dollar, adjusted for league schedules

I wonder how they decide on those percentages. The fact that affordability, bang for the buck, and stadium experience are all above title track surely helped us get such a high rating.

I was wondering how we possibly placed above all-star franchises like the Cubs, Red Sox, and Giants. Then I saw, at the bottom of the article with the full rankings, the percentages they assign to each category score:

I wonder how they decide on those percentages. The fact that affordability, bang for the buck, and stadium experience are all above title track surely helped us get such a high rating.

Affordability being more than three times as important as championships does seem arbitrary.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/17838461/baltimore-orioles-continue-climb-ultimate-standings-another-playoff-year

Wait a minute. The O's didn't send season ticket plans out until what - February? Jumped ticket prices 20%. Took away 6 games ticket plans and attendance dropped but fan relations rose?

Wait a minute. The O's didn't send season ticket plans out until what - February? Jumped ticket prices 20%. Took away 6 games ticket plans and attendance dropped but fan relations rose?

How much effort do you think ESPN put into this?