Red Blood Boiling

[lovetoaster]

Say what you will about Red $ox Nation at Camden Yards, they do have a better song than we do. Tradition or not, I hate "Country Boy". Always have. Always will.

To each their own...I love "Country Boy." As soon as it starts, I get a little tingle and no matter where I am I start thinking about the O's and mostly going to Memorial Stadium when I was a kid. Good times.

[ATO UMD]

Here's an idea for the front office: Wild Bill Hagy should be given free season tickets for life. If section 34 has seats the team would rather sell than give away, put him in 334. Get him to rile up the crowd like he used to. Make cheering for the Orioles fun again by putting him on the video screen for however many Oriole faithful turn out. Let only Orioles fans sit in his section (don't know how that gets designated). Do something!

[lovetoaster]

You really want to solve the problem?

Don't make Yankee$ or Red $ox tickets available outside of season ticket plans.

Should at least keep out the ones who can't afford Stubhub prices. If they want to get in here, they should at least bleed from the wallet.

That would not stop them from hitting EBay, which is where a lot of them buy them from. There is just not an easy answer that I can think of.

[CrimsonTribe]

This was kinda the point I was trying to make, but you did it much more eloquently. I seem to remember "Sweet Caroline" being played during a Sox game at OPACY at some point recently. That is an outrage to me (if I remember correctly, that they did indee play it). I know that the Braves play "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" when we play down there. That is cute because their park is not overrun by opposing fans. But when it is 90% percent Sox fans, I don't want to hear anything that will make those a-holes jubilant.

They started playing "Sweet Caroline" on Friday night, but then shut it off to taunt the Sox fans. It was pretty funny actually.

[Rockford]

At one point in today's game they did a closeup of the warehouse. There was a young kid looking out the window on one of the higher floors. Wouldn't you know it, even he had a Red Sox hat on.

[esmd]

I hope everyone is seeing the sea of red.

I hope everyone is hearing the ovations being given to the opposing team.

I hope everyone is hearing the announcers making fun at the fans' expense for the Res Sox fans at the park.

Look, this hasn't been a good team for a while. You know that, I know that, I don't think there is a person who would deny it.

The front office has made mistakes, too many, and for the most part has not really given Orioles fans a reason to go to the games.

However, despite all of that, we as fans should be embarrassed by the way that ballpark looks and sounds today. Truly embarrassed.

We already know the players are embarrassed. Whether the front office cares or not is irrelevant; they make the money either way, so just not going to the games out of principle is a poor rationalization of the issue.

I don't know when we will be good again, and I'm not making this plea here as a criticism like in other threads. This is simply a request from one fan to the rest.

Let's all start buying the tickets to these games again.

The players will appreciate it for sure, and maybe if it happens it would get the front office's attention more then a 1,000 person walkout at a meaningless game ever would.

Even if you don't want to buy tickets to other games against lesser teams, at least be willing to buy them against the Yankees and the Red Sox.

That is all I ask.

When the FO and ownership stops being obtuse and treating it's fans like idiots, when the PR department starts to do it's job rather than be the attrocious mess that it is, and when the team on the field is improved enough to be a legitimate contender, then and only then will most of the fans return.

I've been to two games this year, I used to go to 2 per month, sometimes more. I just have no interest in going through the time, expense, and effort to go watch a substandard product, and I'm obviously not alone.

The fans aren't the problem, B-Terp.

[DynamicDuo]

I'm going to the game this afternoon and I am not really looking forward to it. Something about being around disrespectful Red Sox fans makes my blood boil and causes my hot Irish temper to bubble to the surface. There is a certain level of decorum that one should abide by when rooting for the visiting team and Sox and Yankees fans just don't have it. I have seen the O's play in visiting stadiums a couple dozen times and I have never cheered their success with anything other than a few claps. Nor have I worn Orioles paraphernalia to the games besides an O's hat. No yelling players nicknames, no clapping chants, really no auditory encouragement of any kind. I recognize and respect that I am a visitor and wouldn't want to rub my team's success in the face of the home team.

The exception has to be when the Orioles play the Nationals in DC. I still consider DC home territory.

[WhoRU]

The problem is there aren't enough good O's fans left around that care. We have been bad for so long that fans from the good old days have either died, quit caring or gotten sick of PA's BS. Combine that with the price of tickets, companies gobbling up tickets and people with money buying them for "a nice evening out" and it leads to small disinterested crowds. We almost have to start building a fan base from scratch that cares. I know when I have been at games at crucial times in the game fans don't stand and most of the crowd noise is pumped in through speakers. Its sickening to see the amount apathy at the yard. I long for the good old days at memorial stadium when fans would chant Eddie...Eddie and it wasn't pumped in through speakers. How about Fantastic Fan's night when over 50,000 strong showed up with towels a waving and scremed like hell for a team that had just returned from a road trip with a 1-23 record. I am afriad most of those fine baltimorians have been chased away in one way or another. It is a shame.

[BaltimoreTerp]

When the FO and ownership stops being obtuse and treating it's fans like idiots, when the PR department starts to do it's job rather than be the attrocious mess that it is, and when the team on the field is improved enough to be a legitimate contender, then and only then will most of the fans return.

I've been to two games this year, I used to go to 2 per month, sometimes more. I just have no interest in going through the time, expense, and effort to go watch a substandard product, and I'm obviously not alone.

The fans aren't the problem, B-Terp.

Actually, attitudes like this ARE the problem.

The, "I dislike the ownership, and therefore will take it out on the players, while the team gets the money anyway," attitude.

Your principle is admirable (to a point), but the execution is irrelevant to this whole argument. The games will sell out whether it is Orioles fans or Yankee/Sox fans.

So, all you are left with is your principle while other cities laugh at us. I hope you enjoy your humiliation.

[esmd]

Actually, attitudes like this ARE the problem.

The, "I dislike the ownership, and therefore will take it out on the players, while the team gets the money anyway," attitude.

Your principle is admirable (to a point), but the execution is irrelevant to this whole argument. The games will sell out whether it is Orioles fans or Yankee/Sox fans.

So, all you are left with is your principle while other cities laugh at us. I hope you enjoy your humiliation.

No, the "problem" is the organization. And I'm not just talking about ownership. I'm talking about a FO that can't shoot straight, I'm talking about an absolutely attrocious PR department, I'm talking about a substandard cable network, and I'm talking about fundamentally unsound players who at many times seem like they're just going through the motions. Pointing the finger at other fans is just ignoring the root of the problem. Treat the cause, not the symptom.

Seriously, how much of a glutton for punishment do you expect all of the fans to be?

[DrLev]

Considering one poster saw Red Sox gear being sold at OPACY souvenir stands I'm not going to a Sox/O's game until the Orioles stop catering to the opposing fans. The Orioles need to do something to stop this and they are fully capable of doing this. If anything it should be more expensive to see a game at Camden Yards than Fenway if you are a Sox fan. IMO it's the fact that the O's as an organization aren't doing anything about it and actually welcoming Sox fans that really gets to Oriole fans. They have to admit that it is an embarrasment and come up with someway to keep RSN from overtaking the yard. Obviously fielding a team that can beat the Sox would be the best solution. If they aren't willing to do that then they have to find some other way of keeping the Sux fans out...

Point Number 1: The Orioles do not run the concession or souvenir stands. Aramark is contracted to run them and can elect to sell whatever they want. If they choose to sell Red Sox merchandise (which, by the way, is a profitable decision) then they can sell it. The Orioles management can protest or disagree with the choice, but they really can't do anything about it because Aramark is under contract.

Point Number 2: Of course the Orioles want Sox fans to come. They put butts in the seats, which O's fans aren't doing to any great extent. Butts equal money. It's business, and nothing more.

[jeffstonefan]

However, despite all of that, we as fans should be embarrassed by the way that ballpark looks and sounds today. Truly embarrassed.

The O's fans are embarrassed, that's why we don't attend the Boston/NY games anymore.

The front office obviously ISN'T though. They could care less.

Personally I can't wait for the Tampa Bay series at the end of the month.

[TonySoprano]

If the fan-base bought tickets regardless of the team on the field, it would send a message that they are satisfied with mediocrity. It would enable ownership to sit back and keep costs (payroll) low knowing their coffers would be filled no matter what. Some will argue that PA has a sincere desire to build a winner. While I don't doubt this, it's reasonable to assume that desire has its limits and it's all about money. A man with the enormous wealth of PA could absorb a huge deficit every season if that's what it took to match up with the MFYs and Red Sox. Like practically every other owner, PA is a businessman first, and a baseball fan second.

Considering one poster saw Red Sox gear being sold at OPACY souvenir stands I'm not going to a Sox/O's game until the Orioles stop catering to the opposing fans.

Back in the days of Memorial Stadium, one could buy a baseball cap and pennants from every other team in baseball, and other souvenirs from some of the more popular teams.

[TonySoprano]

A majority of the fans who have come to the Camden Yards have supported the opposing team. Angelos said he has noticed the trend, but is not as bothered by as some of his Orioles contemporaries.

"We don't mind that," he said. "The fans who come to support their team bring their children with them. They are not a bunch of rowdies. Many bring their entire family to the ballpark, and I think that's a compliment to the game of baseball. They patronize the merchants and the local business. And soon we'll get the fans back, because we'll make the necessary moves and acquisitions to compete favorably."

- Peter Angelos, September 28, 2005

[Mashed Potatoes]

Actually, attitudes like this ARE the problem.

The, "I dislike the ownership, and therefore will take it out on the players, while the team gets the money anyway," attitude.

Your principle is admirable (to a point), but the execution is irrelevant to this whole argument. The games will sell out whether it is Orioles fans or Yankee/Sox fans.

So, all you are left with is your principle while other cities laugh at us. I hope you enjoy your humiliation.

Problem: more Red Sox fans at OPACY than O's fans.

Solution: put a better product on the field.

Who is more deserving of blame, the people who don't put in the effort to see a terrible organization for a decade, or the people who made that organization terrible for a decade? If you believe the former than you have passed Silent James as biggest lollypopper.

Baltimore has undoubtedly proven at Cooperstown that they will go to great lengths to support a worthy team. So to rectify this situation you make a worthy team. It's beyond simple. Don't yell at the fans for acting rationally, guide your anger to where it belongs.