What An Embarrassment

[Stacey]

I get so tired of hearing this every time the Yankees and the Red Sox are in town. I've gone to games this year (and in years past) vs both the Red Sox and Yankees, and with the exception of the opening series they've been miserable.

I love the Orioles. I spend more money on them than I probably should. But I'm not going to pay money to be miserable. If the Orioles want people to go to their games and show some loyalty, they need to put a product on the field that can compete with the Yankees and Red Sox. I KNOW, they're getting there, but they're not there yet. I work hard for the little bit of money I have and I'm not going to spend it having one of the most awful evenings I can imagine.

I also find that more often than not this argument is made by people who aren't local fans (not in the case of the OP, I know, just generally), people who haven't been to games vs these teams every single year.

Baseball is entertainment. If it ceases to be entertaining then I'm not spending my money on it. I don't feel that I owe anything to a team that hasn't fielded a competitive team in over a decade.

[varugby]

IMO, some of the attitude expressed in this thread is disgusting. I can't believe that people who say they are fans want Matusz and Tillman and etc. to have this kind of experience be their intro to Baltimore. People talk big about things like pride... until it counts... then, we find out it's all hot air.

I completely agree. I live just outside of Bluefield so I get to see the little O's play but only get to see Baltimore twice a year. Those two times are the highlight of my year. It kills me when I hear that Oriole fans in Maryland don't want to go to the ballgame.

[Stacey]

I completely agree. I live just outside of Bluefield so I get to see the little O's play but only get to see Baltimore twice a year. Those two times are the highlight of my year. It kills me when I hear that Oriole fans in Maryland don't want to go to the ballgame.

THIS is the argument I always hear, usually along the lines of "I live XXX miles from Baltimore so every time I'm near there I go. People who live locally take it for granted."

If I lived far away that'd be the case for me too. But I don't. I have 81 games to choose to go to, and I've been to about 15 of those games this year. I'm so tired of getting judged for not going to see the Yankees and Red Sox.

IT. IS. MISERABLE. It's awful. It puts me on edge all day just knowing I'm going to be there that evening in the middle of all those people. Why would I do that to myself? Why would anyone expect me to? Like I said in my last post, I owe nothing to the Orioles, who until this year (sort of) they haven't given me anything worth rooting for since I was in high school.

[theonestevewh]

It's simple really. Going to a Sox/Yanks game is generally a miserable experience for an O's fan. I'm not going to PAY for a miserable experience. Forget pride! All pride will get you is a yelling contest with a drunk Sox/Yanks fan and maybe arrested after you deck him. Is that worth it, especially when you can watch the game on TV? :scratchchinhmm:

[Boston Dave]

I realize there is another thread on the same subject. I know there are strict rules about duplicate threads, but please bear with me because I want to say this as a fan who does NOT live in Baltimore, so technically its a slightly different thread.

The idea that Yankee fans and Red Sox fans can so outnumber Oriole fans at home is so abhorrant to me I must call it inexcusable.

Heres why:

The distance traveled and money spent by Yankee and Red Sox fans dwarfs the distance and money spent by Oriole fans. Dont make excuses that the ticket prices are too high... not any more they arent.Dont blame the weeknight or traffic or the cost of concessions.

Dont blame the level of play either. The Orioles have a young, rebuilding team that, despite their horrendous record, has many attractive players and these players deserve to see and hear support from its fan base.

True, the Orioles havent been good for a decade, but tons of other fans in other cities support inferior teams and uplift them when they are down.Milwaukee outdraws Boston. The Cubs average 4O,000 a game.The Mets 38,000 a game. Even the Giants are drawing well. You tell me those are great teams?

Its a huge cop out to say "I will be there when they compete".

MEMO:THIS IS THE COMPETITION.RIGHT NOW.

When players around the league hear or see the drowned out fans at OPCY by other fans, they can only dismiss the franchise as a loser market. They wont ever want to come to Baltimore as a Free Agent.

YOU HAVE NO OBLIGATION TO GO TO THE GAME. I GET THAT.

But as a fan, I believe if I were in Baltimore, I would make it my business to attend as many Skanks and Sux games as I could. The mere idea that these fans outcheer, and outspend and outsupport(is that a word?) our fans is a hugely dissapointing reality. Its depressing to even watch it and hear it on TV and radio some 3,000 miles away.

As corny and ridiculous as it sounds..a crowd of 35,000 cheering Oriole fans might have uplifted these players tonight. It raises adreneline levels. its proven.

Simply put. How do you think our guys feel when they hear the cheers for the Yankees all night long?

It stinks.

Dont blame anything on the Orioles this time. Get off your butts and put your butts in a seat at OPCY.And scream your butt off. Even if we lose we outnumber them.Thats a small victory. And from small victories...larger ones arise.

GO O'S.

Completely agree. Thank you for posting. We fly down from Boston a couple-few times a year just to go to OPACY. We stopped going when the Sox are in town, it's just too sad.

I recall once my daughter- who's been to more Sox games than Os, poor child- walked into OPACY, sat down 5 minutes to game time, looked around somewhat bewildered, and said "Daddy, where are all the people?!" To that point she had not been to a baseball game that didn't have at least 45,000 screaming fans. I told her it used to be that way with the Os..and perhaps it will again. Or not.

[varugby]

THIS is the argument I always hear, usually along the lines of "I live XXX miles from Baltimore so every time I'm near there I go. People who live locally take it for granted."

If I lived far away that'd be the case for me too. But I don't. I have 81 games to choose to go to, and I've been to about 15 of those games this year. I'm so tired of getting judged for not going to see the Yankees and Red Sox.

IT. IS. MISERABLE. It's awful. It puts me on edge all day just knowing I'm going to be there that evening in the middle of all those people. Why would I do that to myself? Why would anyone expect me to? Like I said in my last post, I owe nothing to the Orioles, who until this year (sort of) they haven't given me anything worth rooting for since I was in high school.

I do live a few hundred miles from Baltimore. And maybe if I lived close I would only go to a few games. But I go to all the Bluefield Oriole home games and I travel to Pulaski and to princeton almost every road game. I try and support the O's anyway I can.

[Mackus]

I go to as many games as I can throughout the year, which is usually about 15 or so. I get to more early in the year, as my summers tend to get busy with work, class, and boozing with my friends.

I don't avoid Yankee and Red Sox games, and I probably actually seek them out a bit more than other games, but I don't feel compelled to go to the games just to even out the crowd. The crowd will never be even until the O's start winning consistently again. That's just the way it is, most sports fans are fair-weather at best. They only really pay attention when the team is good. We here are the exception, not the rule.

I disagree completely with people that are saying that going to Sox/Yankee games are worse than other games. The Orioles fans that do go to those games are always much more riled up than your typical game, mostly I think because they want to show the foreign fans that do come that not everyone has abandoned the O's. It does suck when we lose and there are a ton of opposing fans in the stadium, but it also makes the winning better. All the Yankee and Red Sox fans at Camden Yards do is make it more interesting, in both good and bad ways. But ultimately, once the team starts winning, those fans will diminish greatly. There will still always be large contingents of Yankee and Red Sox fans, just like there were in '96-97 (moreso Yankees than Sox) but the O's fans will definitely outnumber them once things get better in the standings.

[notfast]

We need to resurrect Mr. Hagy.

We need to resurrect a winning team.

[Tx Oriole]

Hey, shocker...this isn't about the O's!

It's about the fans. Yup, Baltimore, what a disappointment. This may be a rant, but it deserves t be seen by most in the main Orioles Talk section.

According to Roch Kubatko, tonight's attendance was 25,063. He joked that there were "063" O's fans. You know what? He was closer than you could guess. As soon as I walked past the corridor and into the seating area, I let out a "Crap. They're everywhere". A sea of navy and white. You know what I'm talking about-- Yankees fans.

It was embarrassing. Try 80% Yanks, 20% O's. That bad. There may have been all of 10 O's fans in my section (totally filled). What I don't get is this city's fans ***** and moan about the Yankees and Red Sox fans coming into town and making it "their South stadium" but we do nothing about it. Hellooo, go to the game! The prices aren't bad....get a couple of friends to go and head down to the Yard. Until you stop being a hermit and refusing to go to Yankees or Sox games, or until the O's are winning, they will still be there. Doing there "Let's Go Yankees" and "Jor-Ge" chants.

And you know what? It's just disappointing. I could see Tillman, Matusz, and Hernandez talking and looking around the stadium. They looked shocked at how few O's fans there were. Barely any orange in the whole place.

Like it or not, they will all be there tomorrow and the game after that. Until we show some fightin' back power.

Well I guess it can be disappointing to you, but i just odn't know the answer. Maybe some figure why waste thier time. But I bet you if the Yankees sucked as abd as the O's do their fans would not be supporting them either. IMO

[Tx Oriole]

So I should shell out roughly $100 to be surrounded by jerkoffs while watching my perennially losing team play another meaningless game in September?

Screw off.

Wow that was so nice of you.:rolleyes:Telling another poster to screw off.

[Tx Oriole]

The Orioles need to jack up the prices of all prime games to the equivalent of a Yankee/Red Sox ticket at their home stadiums when you factor in travel and hotel etc. It should be more expensive to see a game in Oriole Park for a Yankee fan than to see one in Yankee Stadium. Hit them hard in their wallets and maybe they'll think twice about coming to Baltimore.

And then drop the prices of all the non-prime games for those Orioles fans to make up for the hike. I doubt there are many Orioles fans that just go to Yankees and Red Sox games.

Thta is really not fair at all. You can't be pissed at Yankee fans or Red Sox fans because the O's stink adn not many fans go to the games. It is not their fault. So charging them more just to get back at them becasue of the way they support their team is wrong. How would you feel if you went to an O's game in another city and were charged more simply because you supported the O's?

[Tx Oriole]

The best nights to go are when the steroid induced yankee and red sox are there and then give it to there stupid fans who dress there kids up in yankee and red sox gear so that the entire family can cheer on the biggest cheaters in the game.

What a way to teach kids the differance between right and wrong.

There is nothing wrong for parents to buy thier children Yankees or RedSox gear. They cheer for thier team. Just like the fans of the O's. And not all the Yankees or BoSox use roids. You are painting with too broad brush.

[Tx Oriole]

Despite the hype of how it's so much cheaper, I think the two real reasons the fans of those teams show up in the forces that they do has to do with location and availability more than anything else.

I've had plenty of fans from both tell me that not being able to get tickets at all, let alone at reasonable prices, is the major factor.

I think raising the price would help some, but some, if not most, would still see it as a vacation and be willing to pay it in my opinion.

Lower the availability so that they just can't get the tickets, on the other hand, and they simply can't come at all.

Doesn't that hurt the city of Baltimore? These fans have to buy Hotel or Motel rooms. They ahve to rent cars or take public transportation plus buy food. Thta to me is like cuting off your nose to spite your face.

[Mackus]

I think people drastically underestimate how many of the Sox and Yankee fans that come to games are from this area. My guess is a very small portion of them actually come down from Boston and NYC. I'm sure many come in from an hour or two away and they probably stay in hotels, but O's fans drive that far to come to the games, too.

People are putting too much emphasis on the ticket price and the "its cheaper to travel, get a hotel, and come to OPACY than to see a game at Yankee Stadium" stuff and not enough on just how god damned big and widespread both of these team's fanbases are. Plus its not like we're half a country away, there are plenty of permanent transplants to the area from Boston and the tri-state area.

[TiredofLosing20]

The Orioles need to jack up the prices of all prime games to the equivalent of a Yankee/Red Sox ticket at their home stadiums when you factor in travel and hotel etc. It should be more expensive to see a game in Oriole Park for a Yankee fan than to see one in Yankee Stadium. Hit them hard in their wallets and maybe they'll think twice about coming to Baltimore.

And then drop the prices of all the non-prime games for those Orioles fans to make up for the hike. I doubt there are many Orioles fans that just go to Yankees and Red Sox games.

I am not sure if MLB would allow this or not but I like it. Why not charge more for these games? They are more in demand thus they should have a higher price. Since attendance is down the O's need to find ways to increase revenue why not charge more for games they know are going to be more popular. You could raise the ticket prices considerably and still be cheaper than going to Yankee Stadium and Fenway.

Let's help fund our revitalization on the backs of Yankee and Boston fans!!!!