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At the Intersection of Sports and Culture

Photo Credit for Header: Alex Foucre-Stimes

That Time I was Booed at Camden Yards for Cheering On the Orioles

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In honor of the 3 game series opening this evening in Camden Yards between the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles, I figured this was an appropriate time to pass along the story of how I was heckled and told to sit down for rooting for the O’s in BALTIMORE!!!!

For years now, well really since the Orioles last winning season in 1998, and especially after Cal Ripken retired in 2001, the club has struggled to draw fans to Camden Yards. The appeal of the still gorgeous looking, trailblazing retro ballpark has not been able to overcome rosters full of overpaid (Albert Belle), over the hill (Miguel Tejada the 2nd time) players and an owner in Peter Angelos who Orioles fans loathe with a passion akin to maybe only the budding relationship between Jerry Seinfeld and Donald Trump. Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, with its various attractions, restaurants, and aquarium, still attract tourists to the downtown area but these crowds do not always migrate the 6 blocks or so west to the Warehouse to catch a baseball game. That is unless the Orioles are hosting either the Boston Red Sox or the New York Yankees.

Like a swarm of locusts they descend upon the Charm City devouring anything that crosses their path. Merchants and hotels love it when these two teams are in town because it means a tremendous boost in sales. Orioles season ticket holders enjoy the return on their investment as Yankee and Red Sox fans are more than willing to shell out the extra dough for a game at Camden Yards because it still cheaper, travel down the northeast corridor included, than taking a family of four to a game at either Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park.

All of this being said, having so many Sawx and Yanks fans in OPACY does not make for an enjoyable experience if you happen to support the home team. Now to my tale. It had to have been around 5 years ago that my girlfriend, now wife, and I made what has become our annual trip down to Baltimore to catch a couple of Oriole games. For us, we go all in. Fancy Hampton Inn 25 minutes outside of the city? Done. Nothing but the finest dinners at places like Pizzerio Uno and Hooters? You got it! We live for the entire experience. That was until the moment where I was belittled in my own ballpark.

I think it was right after I stood up to celebrate a Jeff Conine home run against the Yankees that a New York fan in the Eutaw Street bleachers told me to “sit down and shut up”. If this were Yankee Stadium, I understand a fan defending their turf but this was Oriole Park and as an Oriole fan I thought I had a right to root for the home team. My reaction to this verbal chiding? Nothing. Zero. Bupkis. And here’s why, when the Yankees and Red Sox are in town, their fans outnumber Oriole fans 5 to 1. I must have been surrounded by an entire section of Staten Island’s finest. In this moment of spiritual survival I couldn’t locate a single ally.  A verbal and/or physical altercation would not have worked out for me. Speaking up also would have put my girlfriend in jeopardy of verbal abuse and I wasn’t about to bring that sort of ridicule and embarrassment onto her.

5 years, and as many losing seasons later, I have had to live with the shame of being booed in Camden Yards for cheering on the Orioles. I must also live with my wife constantly reminding me and anyone else who will listen that when confronted by a Yankee fan in Oriole Park, I stood down and did nothing. Of course pride is often the highest form of self indulgence so I can keep my head high while continuing to avoid Camden Yards anytime the Red Sox and Yankees are in town.

view from Camden Yards courtesy of @vtbeach

Monday Morning Musings

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Here’s your weekly wrap of all the big baseball news with an additional pinch of culture and irreverence.

Hey Tulo, Transformers II was a terrible terrible movie.

Something about Troy Tulowitzki has always bothered me. After watching Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps I realized the reason: he looks just like Shia LaBeouf and I can’t stand Shia LaBeouf. With Shia, my feelings are based on perception more than anything personal as he has always struck me as a smug, precocious mangenue who seems to land choice roles in sequels – Wall Street 2 and Indiana Jones 4 – which aren’t even close to as good as the original. For Tulo however I really had no idea how good of a baseball player he was until I watched him tear up the Mets this past week. He can flat out mash! Of course it helps that the Mets pen is filled with a bunch of has-beens who, for some odd reason, continued to pitch to Tulowitzki even with first base open. Questionable indeed.

view from Coors Field courtesy of @shalek

Achy Joints or Potential China Syndrome?

What exactly is “bilateral weakness”? Here I was thinking it referred to something really really serious like perhaps one of the many problems facing the Fukushimi Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan or maybe something to do with Democrats and Republicans waiting until the 11th hour to pass the federal budget. But, as it turns out, bilateral weakness is an actual medical condition, serious enough, that has forced Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer to the 15 day DL. The bigger issue facing Mauer, and the Twins, is when will they come to the joint (no pun intended) decision to move the all star out from behind the plate to a different position like say OF or 1B? Clock is ticking and the more time Mauer spends on the shelf with bilateral weakness the more imminent a change of position becomes.

view from Tropicana Field courtesy of @stormytpa

Cleveland and Kansas City prepare to play first meaningful series……ever.

First place in the AL Central is at stake when the Cleveland Indians open a four game series tonight against the Kansas City Royals. In the words of Chris Tucker: “do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?”. I have to hand it to the Tribe, they completely dismantled my Baltimore Orioles this past weekend and I’m starting to think two things: A) Cleveland – with the likes of Carlos Santana, Travis Hafner, and a healthy Grady Sizemore – has a pretty adequate lineup and B) the Orioles are only as good as their young starting pitching staff and so far this season they have been inconsistent to say the least. Still love Zach Britton, even after he got roughed up by the Indians, and hope Brian Matusz to return from injury sometime soon.

view from Progressive Field courtesy of @mukherjee7

Too Early for Flapjacks?

Here come the Red Sox. I knew as soon as I started bashing Boston on twitter last week that it would come back to bite me right in the derriere but I had no idea it would be this soon. The Sox enter today’s Patriots Day matinee winner of 2 in a row and their starting pitching is the reason for the small turnaround. I should have waited to anger the baseball gods until after the first Sox/O’s series of the season. When will I learn?

view from Fenway Park courtesy of @IamJroc

Leave the $12 Beer. Take the Roast Beef Sandwich.

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Last night at Yankee Stadium was my first time experience at a baseball game where I sat in a cushioned seat. I always deride the “haves” that sit below “the moat” at the new Yankee Stadium for being out of touch corporate entities that care more about the martini service than the actual game. However, after having experienced life as a member of the bourgeoisie I have an easier time understanding and relating to the Silver Spoons who occupy the upper reaches of the seating chart social pyramid. For a few fleeting hours, that was my cushioned life and those were my privileged people.

Zoom!!! Back to reality. Chris Tillman wasn’t fooling anybody last night. As I commented to one of my friends, it doesn’t look like Tillman has a single “out” pitch, something he can throw at any time, on any count, to retire a batter. The Yankees weren’t falling for either the 89 MPH fastball or the 81 MPH curveball that was breaking five feet in front of the plate. After two measly innings the score was already 6-0 Yankees and I was ready to drown my sorrows in an $11 Bud Light. AJ Burnett was strong once again for New York and if it wasn’t for a few late home runs by Matt Wieters and Brian Roberts I would have left the Stadium in a very depressed state. Alas, the season it still young and the Oriole offense is significantly better than it has been since the late ’90s. If Baltimore can get anything out of their young pitching -Britton, Matusz, Tillman, Arrieta – they should finish above .500 this season.

A few other quick fungos from last night:

– It’s April and the weather was gloomy but Yankee Stadium still felt like a ghost town. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the extra space, but I was just surprised to see so many open seats. Credit the Yankees for offering attendees free bleacher tix to a future home game.

– The ball was really jumping off the bat last night. ARod’s 1st inning oppo blast off Tillman looked like it was still rising when it hit the seats and the Wieters two run bomb in the 7th looked like it was shot out of a cannon. Do people still think it’s too easy to hit a homerun at the new Yankee Stadium? Haven’t heard much of this discussion since year 1.

– Highly recommend the Lobel’s steak sandwich. How often do you find stadium food served with plastic gloves? Well worth the mess if you ask me.

– I have some serious issues w/ Major Deegan – the expressway not the person. On the way home, we were stuck on 87 North for a good 25 minutes before switching over to a different artery. The one positive, listened to the end of Game 1 of the NHL Playoffs between the Rangers and Capitals. Caps came back to win 2-1 in overtime. Don’t know much about hockey but unlike the NBA playoffs, in the NHL an #8 seed has a legitimate chance of upsetting a #1 seed. Apparently it’s all about which team has the hotter goalie and with the Rangers/Caps series, Lundqvist > Neuvirth.

Looking forward to my next trip out to the ballpark. Hopefully Citi Field in early May. I hear there are plenty of good seats still available.

The Pulse of a 2-9 Nation

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Before heading out to Yankee Stadium this evening for my first MLB baseball game of the season, I thought it was appropriate to spend a few moments commenting on the state of the last place Boston Red Sox after a dismal 2-9 start to the season. I’m not a Sox fan and if there is one thing “The Nation” dislikes it is non Sawx fans having any sort of opinion on their team whatsoever. So, I asked VMS contributor, and rabid Boston sports fan, Abe what he thinks is going on with the Sox and whether or not he has already given up on the Carl Crawford “experiment”.

Abe was in Fenway for the Sox 4-0 Sunday night victory over C.C. Sabathia and the Yankees. He said that heading into the game most Sox fans remained optimistic and unwilling to push the panic button too early but cautioned that the next ten games could go a long way in determining the course of the 2011 season. Our conversation was three days and two home losses at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays ago. Now, at 2-9, are Sox fans ready to push that panic button?

For me, it boils down to two things: pitching and chemistry. When Tim Wakefield is your most reliable starting pitcher, and he he hasn’t started a game all season, you know your staff is under performing. Watching the Dice-K Monday night meltdown was a bit like being in the audience for a high school musical when the lead actors forgets all their lines. Judging by the cheers for Francona as he pulled Matsuzaka from the game in the 3rd inning, Sox fans have seen enough and are ready for a change.

The chemistry issue is not all that uncommon a problem. Any time you introduce new stars – Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez – to an already established veteran lineup/clubhouse you must account for a small grace period while these players are acclimated to their new surroundings. No worries, Crawford and Gonzalez are going to be superstars in Boston for a long, long time.

So relax Red Sox Nation, your team is going to be alright. Unless they lose tonight and fall to 2-10.

view from Fenway Park courtesy of @jbomengo

5 Reasons Why the 2011 MLB Season Might not Suck

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1) Phillies Rotation….Best Ever?

A lot has been said and written about this Phillies rotation: Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Oswalt. This group will go down in the annals as the best set of starters ever put together. The four combined last year for a 2.84 ERA, which is better than both the ’71 Orioles (Cueller, Dobson, Palmer, McNally, 2.89 ERA combined) and the ’93 Braves (Maddux, Glavine, Avery, Smoltz 3.14 ERA combined). Obviously they are currently only good on paper, and the big question mark of course is age, but if they can all stay healthy, they might go down as the best ever, especially in this hitter dominant age.

2) The Return of the Mustache

This has been going on for a while now, but last night watching the Blue Jays and seeing Travis Snider saunter to the plate with his stache made me smile. Baseball used to be all about moustaches, and certain players had some great ones. Don Mattingly, Wade Boggs, Goose Gossage, Rod Beck, Keith Hernandez – those were some great staches. Guys are bringing them back! This could be the best year for mustaches in a decade.

3) The Baltimore Orioles are Back (not just b/c Jon says so)

Don’t sleep on the O’s this year. It has been a long, long time since the Orioles did anything productive in an off-season, and it has been even longer since they have been a legitimate AL East threat. I believe this years Orioles will scare the other teams in their division who play with Monopoly money. One down year and people have forgotten that Nick Markakis is an excellent player. Adam Jones is getting better. Weiters is getting better. Matusz is legit. Add the power (and K) threat of Mark Reynolds and the still intimidating Vlad Guerrero and this team is for real. Even as a Red Sox fan I can say this is very good for baseball. Baltimore has good fans and they deserve a good team.

4) The Reinvigoration of Giants vs. Dodgers

It took the Giants returning to championship form, but one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports seems to be reinvigorated. These teams used to hate each other. Back when justice and disputes were resolved on the playing field these guys were the masters at sliding spikes first, throwing at the head, and charging the mound. Sal Maglie was a head-hunter, Jackie Robinson was never afraid of a scrap, and Duke Snider was as tough as the came. Many in this new generation of Giants and Dodgers are home grown, and I have to believe that they are learned in the rich history between the two franchises. They may have transplanted coasts, but I believe the bad blood is still coursing through the Giants’ and Dodgers’ veins.

5) Albert Pujols wins First Batting Triple Crown Since Yaz

It has been 44 years since it has been done, but I think Albert’s unique skill set, and pursuit of a contract extension, will combine with the alignment of the stars and he will finally lead the league in average, home runs, and RBI. What makes him the Elite among baseball’s superstars? A few things of note: he has an career contact rate of 89%, last year he had a fly ball rate of  44%, in 9 years he has never had fewer than 100 RBI, he is a career .331 hitter. The Cardinals are not strong offensively this year, and he may not see many pitches to swing at, but he rarely swings at balls anyway, so this will only improve his average. As long as some guys get on base in front of him, he will drive them in. It will take a lot, but it is time for Albert, at the ripe age of 31, with one big contract left in his career, to have one of the greatest hitting seasons ever.