Could the O's leave town?

[JTrea81]

I'm just giving the outsider's perspective and from what I can see, Baltimore no longer cares about the Orioles. They are irrelevant when compared to the Ravens, and granted that is due to the losing, but you still see that they come in second.

I'm glad to hear that is isn't neccessarily the case, but that's the feeling I get everytime I am down in that area.

[McNulty]

I'm just giving the outsider's perspective and from what I can see, Baltimore no longer cares about the Orioles. They are irrelevant when compared to the Ravens, and granted that is due to the losing, but you still see that they come in second.

I'm glad to hear that is isn't neccessarily the case, but that's the feeling I get everytime I am down in that area.

Go away dude! You have no idea what you are talking about, and you are pissing me off.

[RenegadeOsFan]

I am looking at it as an outsider I will admit, but seeing Boston and the Red Sox and seeing Baltimore and the Orioles, I can tell you Boston embraces the Red Sox 200% more than Baltimore embraces the Orioles.

In the city, I see business catering to Red Sox and Yankees fans, employees wearing Red Sox and Yankees gear. You never see that in Boston, never.

And the hotel business was really the biggest indicator when they didn't even take into account the surroundings of OPACY and sightlines when they built the Hilton.

This city to me has lost their pride of hosting the Orioles IMO. They've given up on the team.

The Ravens are what matter now and are the team that is most embraced. Baltimore is a football town with a baseball team.

You couldn't be more wrong, and this isn't coming from *just* an actual Oriole fan. From business meetings I go to, school functions, events, I am almost always wearing an Orioles hat (not the business stuff of course but the Orioles always come up) and people always come up to me and talk about the Orioles. Yea, they may say how the Orioles stink, but each one of those conversations end with the fact that if the Orioles were at least competitive, each person would follow them again like they use to.

Don't think that because Baltimore is following the Ravens more that it is because we are a "football" town. Not at all. We are a town that right now, prefers to following a winning franchise. If the Orioles were competing, you know damn well that the stadium would be mostly full each night and the Baltimore Sun would have more Oriole content because that is what people would want to read about.

But reality sets in, and the Orioles aren't there yet. But I guarantee you, and any other Oriole fan that does not live in this wonderful city, that once we start winning the fans will come.

If you win.......they will come...

[Frobby]

I'm just giving the outsider's perspective and from what I can see, Baltimore no longer cares about the Orioles.

You are utterly wrong about that. There is a lack of enthusiasm that comes with 13 straight years of losing (yes, I'm counting this as a losing year). The instant this team is even halfway competitive, fans will be all over it. The fact that they still draw 20,000+ per game is amazing to me. There is only so much negativity you can take.

[NewMarketSean]

I'm just giving the outsider's perspective and from what I can see, Baltimore no longer cares about the Orioles. They are irrelevant when compared to the Ravens, and granted that is due to the losing, but you still see that they come in second.

I'm glad to hear that is isn't neccessarily the case, but that's the feeling I get everytime I am down in that area.

I am willing to bet Baltimore is no different than Pittsburgh or Kansas City when it comes to their losing teams.

Losing creates empty seats and fan apathy but I do believe a lot of fans are pissed off at the Orioles because they care about the team and it hurts them to see the team be this bad.

If we are different from Pittsburgh or KC, it's in that regard: those cities may not care about baseball any more but I still believe Baltimore does.

[Orioles West]

I'm just giving the outsider's perspective and from what I can see, Baltimore no longer cares about the Orioles. They are irrelevant when compared to the Ravens, and granted that is due to the losing, but you still see that they come in second.

I'm glad to hear that is isn't neccessarily the case, but that's the feeling I get everytime I am down in that area.

In other words, you have no idea what the city "feels" about ANYthing.

-Don

[RenegadeOsFan]

I'm just giving the outsider's perspective and from what I can see, Baltimore no longer cares about the Orioles. They are irrelevant when compared to the Ravens, and granted that is due to the losing, but you still see that they come in second.

I'm glad to hear that is isn't neccessarily the case, but that's the feeling I get everytime I am down in that area.

I understand Trea, and I apologize if I did overreact. For the most part I respect your posts and what ideas you bring here, and it was not you, but just the way you viewed the city that upset me the way it did. I hear it all the time from people that are not from around here that state the city does not care about the Orioles when they couldn't be more wrong.

So again, sorry if I over-reacted.

[DrungoHazewood]

I am willing to bet Baltimore is no different than Pittsburgh or Kansas City when it comes to their losing teams.

Losing creates empty seats and fan apathy but I do believe a lot of fans are pissed off at the Orioles because they care about the team and it hurts them to see the team be this bad.

If we are different from Pittsburgh or KC, it's in that regard: those cities may not care about baseball any more but I still believe Baltimore does.

I don't think there's any difference at all. Maybe there are places that really don't get baseball (or some other sport) but attendance in any city is going to be directly proportional to two things: accessability of lots of people to the stadium, and winning. Winning being most important.

KC and Pittsburgh and Baltimore and Montreal all drew well when winning. They will again, if they ever win again.

[Yardball85]

Frankly this might not be a bad thing. I think Baltimore is no longer attached to the Orioles as much as they once were.

The city caters to visiting fans and they ruined OPACY by building a hotel which took away part of the design of the park - the Bromo-Seltzer tower. I bet that would have never happened back in the 1970's.

Perhaps the city needs to go without a team for awhile. Everybody seems to be in love with the Ravens, so I doubt the Orioles would be missed much to start.

And for the Orioles, I think a new city and owner might invigorate the franchise.

Eventually Baltimore could land one of the Florida teams or an expansion team, or maybe everybody would just become a Nationals fan and baseball would never be missed.

I don't post very often, but I actually agree with you about a lot of things, JTrea. I agree that MacPhail has done a very poor job and that he has ignored the crucial need of supplementing the young hitters with a veteran power bat. But JTrea, you are dead wrong about this.

Any time there is a glimmer of hope, the excitement shows. Why do the O's still sell out on opening day? And Orioles articles on The Sun's website are always top hits. This city wants the Orioles to be a winner so badly. But we are hurting. Why would we spend money to see this crappy product on the field? But the feelings are still there. Back in the first half of the 05 season, all anyone ever talked about were the Orioles. If and when this team gets back into playoff contention, the Orioles will electrify the city of Baltimore. Just talking to fellow Baltimoreans, you can just see it. Its like a ticking time bomb - it'll be crazy. If only we had management half as dedicated as the fans

[waroriole]

You are utterly wrong about that. There is a lack of enthusiasm that comes with 13 straight years of losing (yes, I'm counting this as a losing year). The instant this team is even halfway competitive, fans will be all over it. The fact that they still draw 20,000+ per game is amazing to me. There is only so much negativity you can take.

Just look at the excitement with Opening Day. The largest crowd in Orioles history. Against the Blue Jays, and it was the 4th game of the year.

[DrungoHazewood]

The 1991 and 1992 Yankees each finished 11th in attendance in the American League, a mere three years from a winning season and five years removed from a 90 win season. This in the biggest media market in the world, 10M+ people a subway ride away from Yankee Stadium. They were easily outdrawn by the Mariners, Twins, and Royals.

Don't tell me Baltimore isn't a good baseball town. Every town stops rooting for a losing team. Baltimore hangs in there much longer than so-called great baseball towns like New York.

[Ohfan67]

It's the same all over. I doubt the Red Sox had great attendance in their down years.

[JTrea81]

I'm sorry if I've offended anybody with these comments, but I just call it like I see it.

Frankly the passion and information you folks have shared in your response gives me hope that the fanbase is just dormant right now and hasn't left all together. And I am an outsider, I never claimed any different as those who live in and around Baltimore see the Orioles influence more than I do obviously.

But I tell you, you wouldn't know the support of the city as a visitor walking around Baltimore before an Orioles game these past few years.

[Tony-OH]

Frankly this might not be a bad thing. I think Baltimore is no longer attached to the Orioles as much as they once were.

The city caters to visiting fans and they ruined OPACY by building a hotel which took away part of the design of the park - the Bromo-Seltzer tower. I bet that would have never happened back in the 1970's.

Perhaps the city needs to go without a team for awhile. Everybody seems to be in love with the Ravens, so I doubt the Orioles would be missed much to start.

And for the Orioles, I think a new city and owner might invigorate the franchise.

Eventually Baltimore could land one of the Florida teams or an expansion team, or maybe everybody would just become a Nationals fan and baseball would never be missed.

There's a thing called a pie hole. You might want to consider shutting your virtual pie hole about this city unless you live in this area.

[PrivateO]

I'm just giving the outsider's perspective and from what I can see, Baltimore no longer cares about the Orioles. They are irrelevant when compared to the Ravens, and granted that is due to the losing, but you still see that they come in second.

I'm glad to hear that is isn't neccessarily the case, but that's the feeling I get everytime I am down in that area.

And this thread has been all about the fans' reaction, Baltimore's reaction. Get outta here...this is crazy.

How some of you can say you'd be happy if the O's bolted is just insane to me. The average person on this website probably spends like 2 hours on here, discussing the Orioles. You're willing to lose that, just because they blow this year?

It's crazy what losing will do to people's minds. I wasn't alive yet, but I wold be livid, then eternally depressed if my favorite team skipped town, like the Colts did.