Diffusing Red Sox Fans/Cheers at OPACY

[Stacey]

Seriously, what are they going to do with them? They could have simply said "No thanks" and walked in to the stadium so the shirts could have been given to an O's fan (kids especially.) All they are going to do is put them on ebay.

I don't know. I'm not a Brewers fan but when I was in Milwaukee I was thrilled about my Racing Polish Sausage Bobblehead. And when I was in Kansas City I loved getting my free camouflage KC hat. Especially if you're from out of town, it's nice to have a souvenir from the stadium you visited.

[Goop]

Better yet, don't sell tickets to someone from a New England zip code/area code.

The problem is most of them aren't from New England.

That being said though, last night I sat next to a real nice couple for MA who were very respectful during the game. We talked some and both told me they were surprised that the O's aren't better than they are. It was nice to actually talk baseball instead of taking crap from their fans. And they liked my Southern accent

[Goop]

I don't know. I'm not a Brewers fan but when I was in Milwaukee I was thrilled about my Racing Polish Sausage Bobblehead. And when I was in Kansas City I loved getting my free camouflage KC hat. Especially if you're from out of town, it's nice to have a souvenir from the stadium you visited.

True. If that's the case, I can't fault them for that.

[Domenic]

Don't sell tickets to someone with a New England zip code? You do realize this is a business, right? The Orioles don't exist to give you team or civic pride. They exist to make $$.

I hate the Red Sox fans as much as the next person, but they have as much right to be there as you. They bought a ticket, just like you.

I know, you're right. But I guess I'm sort of a throwback in the sense that I see having a football and baseball team as part of civic pride. I said this in a previous post, but I probably take seeing our beautiful stadium turned into their ugly playground a bit more personally than the next guy, but that's how much I love the Orioles.

It's about making money, but who's to say that the same amount of money (or close to it) wouldn't be made? I fail to believe that Oriole fans won't go to these games. As it stands now a lot of people don't, because they don't want to be harrassed by the Boston fans. But if the team did something more than "special pricing" to keep them out, I think Oriole fans would show up. A lot of Oriole fans (myself included) probably make plans to go either that day or the day before. These Boston fans have to plan their trips to Baltimore, and they're on the phone/internet buying the tickets the day they go on sale so they can get a reasonably priced hotel room, and take the time off of work if need be. So the few Oriole fans that choose to go (and be subjected to the harrassment) have a hard time getting tickets because they're already sold. If there was some way to stop them from getting the tickets in advance, I have no doubt that the O's fans would show up for the games.

[Domenic]

Seriously, what are they going to do with them? They could have simply said "No thanks" and walked in to the stadium so the shirts could have been given to an O's fan (kids especially.) All they are going to do is put them on ebay.

A lot of these Boston fans have a warped sense of morality at times. They get a power rush by knowing that they're preventing some true Oriole fan from getting a shirt. Same thing with getting O's fans tossed out of the game...it's a power rush. And plus as you said they can put it on ebay.

[O's Fan83]

I wonder what would happen if you were forced to buy a ticket to another random game if you purchase non-season tickets to a Red Sox or Yankee game. Instead of a charging a premium price, make you buy a slightly discounted ticket to another game against say the Royals.

I know the Arizona Cardinals did something similar b/c they were tired of Cowboy fans buying up their game, so if you bought tickets to the Cowboys game, you had to buy a ticket to a preseason game as well.

[Domenic]

The problem is most of them aren't from New England.

That being said though, last night I sat next to a real nice couple for MA who were very respectful during the game. We talked some and both told me they were surprised that the O's aren't better than they are. It was nice to actually talk baseball instead of taking crap from their fans. And they liked my Southern accent

If you go to a game on the weekends a lot more of them are New Englanders. During the week you get the pink hat bandwagoners, but still some from Mass. I sat next to some folks from Boston at a game last year and they were very nice as well. They had never been to Camden Yards, and they really liked it. They're the exception to what I've seen and dealt with though.

[Goop]

If you go to a game on the weekends a lot more of them are New Englanders. During the week you get the pink hat bandwagoners, but still some from Mass. I sat next to some folks from Boston at a game last year and they were very nice as well. They had never been to Camden Yards, and they really liked it. They're the exception to what I've seen and dealt with though.

You're right about that.

[Domenic]

I wonder what would happen if you were forced to buy a ticket to another random game if you purchase non-season tickets to a Red Sox or Yankee game. Instead of a charging a premium price' date=' make you buy a slightly discounted ticket to another game against say the Royals.

I know the Arizona Cardinals did something similar b/c they were tired of Cowboy fans buying up their game, so if you bought tickets to the Cowboys game, you had to buy a ticket to a preseason game as well.[/quote']

Yeah I heard about that thing with the Cardinals, and I'll be interested to find out how that works for them. What the Orioles need to do is to figure out the approximate cost of taking a family of four to a game at Fenway Park. Then they need to put together some sort of package for Red Sox games, and figure in the cost of gas from Boston to Balt., hotels, etc, and make sure that it costs more in total than the Fenway Park experience. That's supposedly why a lot of these people come here, because it's cheaper than seeing a game at home. So if the experience at our park ceases to be cheaper, then some of them will be priced out. In the mean time, individual game tickets for those games could be sold at normal face value ONLY at the Camden Yards box office.

[Odenton O]

Yeah I heard about that thing with the Cardinals, and I'll be interested to find out how that works for them. What the Orioles need to do is to figure out the approximate cost of taking a family of four to a game at Fenway Park. Then they need to put together some sort of package for Red Sox games, and figure in the cost of gas from Boston to Balt., hotels, etc, and make sure that it costs more in total than the Fenway Park experience. That's supposedly why a lot of these people come here, because it's cheaper than seeing a game at home. So if the experience at our park ceases to be cheaper, then some of them will be priced out. In the mean time, individual game tickets for those games could be sold at normal face value ONLY at the Camden Yards box office.

Massively jacking up the prices of tickets bought online or over the phone will not encourage me to attend any games anytime soon. I haven't bought a ticket from the box office in a about 6 years, back when I was still going to school in downtown Baltimore.

And remember that a lot of the out-of-towners make a weekend trip of it. I see them sightseeing with their kids in DC on the Thursday and Friday of weekend series. So it isn't just for the cheaper game experience that they come for.

[Domenic]

Massively jacking up the prices of tickets bought online or over the phone will not encourage me to attend any games anytime soon. I haven't bought a ticket from the box office in a about 6 years, back when I was still going to school in downtown Baltimore.

And remember that a lot of the out-of-towners make a weekend trip of it. I see them sightseeing with their kids in DC on the Thursday and Friday of weekend series. So it isn't just for the cheaper game experience that they come for.

Well, what I'm suggesting would take a bit of "under-the-table advertising." First of all, they'd only do this for Boston/NY series'. All other games would have normal pricing. My point is that if these people find out that they need to buy tickets to three other games to get the Red Sox tickets (or Yankees), that combined with the gas and hotels to get here will probably outprice the cost of going to Fenway, or seeing the Sox play in some other ballpark (Toronto for example). Then on local TV/radio, the Orioles could advertise that individual ticket sales for those games would be conducted at the Camden Yards box office. As for not wanting to buy tickets for three other games, if you're an Oriole fan that won't be a problem for you.

You make a good point about all of the touristy stuff to do around here being attractive to people along with the games. Next year I think that the AL East plays the NL East in interleague play, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the number of Sox fans at Oriole Park might well decrease just a bit. They can do their tourist stuff in DC, see the Red Sox play there, and not have to drive back to Baltimore. Nats fans like to tease us for the visiting fan phenonenon, but those games next year (which will be in DC since they played in Boston a few years ago) will probably be 60 or 70% Sox fans. I know a few Nats STH's, and they're already wondering how much they'll be able to get for their tickets. After the Yankees played in DC a couple years ago, I had a few Nats fan friends call me and say that they'll never tease the Orioles fanbase again after being invaded by Yankee fans like that. So it's not just us...

[blid]

I was at the game last night, and I have to say, I felt more at home when the O's were playing at Nationals Park. There looked to be a lot of O's fans really, but the Red Sox fans still were overwhelming and chanted nonstop. Of course, anyone is going to cheer on their team when they make good plays, but Let's Go Red Sox, singing Sweet Caroline in the 7th and 8th also, the Fenway South signs, the giant championship banners, and Red Sox loudmouths are pretty annoying to see at our park. I wouldn't mind how many Red Sox fans came in if they didn't act like they own the place and deliberately try to outdo the home fans.

With the game already not being a fun one for Orioles fans, it made for a pretty lousy experience. I should have stuck to games against the Rangers and the Tigers and the like but wanted to get out there for 50,000,000 fan night and my birthday.

A couple of anecdotes: When Sox fans ran up to the fence to hang their championship banner out into the field, a good O's fan pulled it back. They kept trying it though and an usher came down and kicked them back to their seats. I thought that played out well until I saw them celebrating on their way back and the Red Sox fans giving them a resounding cheer. On the way out after the game was over and the Orioles had lost, I saw a guy who appeared to be Tim Wakefield in the concourse with a bunch of people around him. Seeing my O's hat as I was walking by, he turned to me if I wanted an autograph. I kind of ignored him, then he said "10 bucks!" I just walked away. I just wish the O's could have won to make it worth it.

[Goop]

I was at the game last night, and I have to say, I felt more at home when the O's were playing at Nationals Park. There looked to be a lot of O's fans really, but the Red Sox fans still were overwhelming and chanted nonstop. Of course, anyone is going to cheer on their team when they make good plays, but Let's Go Red Sox, singing Sweet Caroline in the 7th and 8th also, the Fenway South signs, the giant championship banners, and Red Sox loudmouths are pretty annoying to see at our park. I wouldn't mind how many Red Sox fans came in if they didn't act like they own the place and deliberately try to outdo the home fans.

With the game already not being a fun one for Orioles fans, it made for a pretty lousy experience. I should have stuck to games against the Rangers and the Tigers and the like but wanted to get out there for 50,000,000 fan night and my birthday.

A couple of anecdotes: When Sox fans ran up to the fence to hang their championship banner out into the field, a good O's fan pulled it back. They kept trying it though and an usher came down and kicked them back to their seats. I thought that played out well until I saw them celebrating on their way back and the Red Sox fans giving them a resounding cheer. On the way out after the game was over and the Orioles had lost, I saw a guy who appeared to be Tim Wakefield in the concourse with a bunch of people around him. Seeing my O's hat as I was walking by, he turned to me if I wanted an autograph. I kind of ignored him, then he said "10 bucks!" I just walked away. I just wish the O's could have won to make it worth it.

I saw the commotion going on out there but I had no idea they were trying to hang their banner. I was already mad enough. If I had seen that, it probably would have put me over the edge.

[Bemore]

i can't remember the last time i had fun at a sox game.

by the time i got to my own ball park, the tickets were gone. i bought standing room only and then tried to sit anywhere i could find a seat. a group of 4 of us were bounced from place to place.

on a positive note, every time the usher came to kick us out (twice for other people arriving, once for us heckling every sox fan near us.) there were some o's fans hollering at the usher saying "that's not right" and telling us to "keep up the fight".

i know there had to be some OH'ers in that group. if it was you...thanks.

one other thing I'd like to add. i was with a red sox fan. he's not a band wagoner, he grew up in Boston and was on their grounds crew. he actually got a world series ring from 2000 (?). he's a good friend and we've often discussed how much i hate his kind. he is tired of going to see them play when they are here because as he notes, most are bandwagon fans and most are obnoxious. even a real Boston fan is fed up with others.

food for thought...or food for rage.

[Domenic]

i can't remember the last time i had fun at a sox game.

by the time i got to my own ball park, the tickets were gone. i bought standing room only and then tried to sit anywhere i could find a seat. a group of 4 of us were bounced from place to place.

on a positive note, every time the usher came to kick us out (twice for other people arriving, once for us heckling every sox fan near us.) there were some o's fans hollering at the usher saying "that's not right" and telling us to "keep up the fight".

i know there had to be some OH'ers in that group. if it was you...thanks.

one other thing I'd like to add. i was with a red sox fan. he's not a band wagoner, he grew up in Boston and was on their grounds crew. he actually got a world series ring from 2000 (?). he's a good friend and we've often discussed how much i hate his kind. he is tired of going to see them play when they are here because as he notes, most are bandwagon fans and most are obnoxious. even a real Boston fan is fed up with others.

food for thought...or food for rage.

I guess I do feel badly in a way for the true die-hard Boston Red Sox fans who are now being lumped into the category of bandwagoners. But that aside, when you go on the road with your team you represent that team, that city, and your entire fanbase. Even if you otherwise have no affiliation with that city other than the fact that you root for it's baseball team, you represent the city and the people.