2012 Orioles Opening Day

This was my second Opening Day at Camden Yards, thanks to the Mayor of Eldersburg. We were joined by the father of the Mayor of Eldersburg and another friend, Mr. Baseball. (This guy listens to taped baseball games while he mows his lawn. He admits it's a strange addiction, but claims he can stop if he wants to). It was a little chilly today, long sleeves and jeans. Not the opening day you'd get in Los Angeles. At least it wasn't snowing, I guess.

We started the day with lunch at Hooter's. We like going there because the food is good. And we like to read the articles. They were definitely crowded, but we managed to get a booth. Since I'm still on my quest to lose weight, I got a club sandwich, no fries. I focused on drinking iced tea (no calories) with 2 lite beers in the middle. And that's it! The sandwich was good, though it did take at least an episode of iCarly for it to arrive.

At one point a waitress was trying to get the sprawling crowd in order and yelled out to line up single file next to the bar. She said it was a fire hazzard to not have a clear lane for foot traffic to flow in and out. Mr. Drunk yells out, "What? There's a fire?" Not cool, but at the moment it was funny.

We made our way to Camden Yards and found our seats. We played the mighty Twins from Minnesota. Their team is lowly and looking lowlier. Let's start a rumor. They need a new stadium and if they don't get it they are looking to possibly move to Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Orioles were introduced and lined up on the field. The team is filled with names I've never heard. Looks like the team is a lot different than last year. Not that last year's team was full of stars. Hopefully this year's team is more like Billy Bean's teams.

Ten minutes after the Star Spangled Banner ended, this formation of Army helicopters flew over the stadium. The timing was slightly off. Not quite the same impact of an A-10 formation flying over.

It was a windy day at Camden Yards. Do you see anything interesting in this picture??? My son found it right away.

How many groundskeepers does it take to roll up a carpet? Apparently 18.

This is the 20th anniversay of the opening of Camden Yards, so it's a big celebration. Do you remember who threw out the first pitch that momentus day? It was Rick Sutcliffe. 20 years later, it's Rick Sutcliffe throwing to Chris Hoiles again. I may be off a year or two, but I think 1992 was the last time the Orioles won a game.

Scoreboard malfunction? Seattle is at Philadelphia with a 10:05 first pitch? I don't think so.

The game was fairly uneventful. The Orioles won. Jake Arrieta pitched a nice game. Nick Markakis hit a home run and a double with a bobbled ball which was recorded as a triple. He's now on pace to hit 162 home runs (which is almost as many as Barry Steroid Bonds hit in 2001) and 162 triples.

As we strolled out of the park we see the TV crews lined up doing the talking-head recap of the game. Channel 13 had Mark Viviano and Jessica Kartalia. Channel 11 had Pete Gilbert. Channel 2 was filming Mark Viviano and Pete Gilbert. I guess the budgets cuts were worse at Channel 2.

Yet begins another season for the Orioles in Baltimore. Will they end their streak of sub-500 seasons? Or will they flounder in the basement of the American League East? My money is on the basement. What do you think?

Orioles Ejected for Cheering

This article was featured in the Baltimore Examiner on May 23rd and has me steaming ever since. A friend of mine went to the game on Satuday and the Orioles are playing the Red Sox again. He said that the "Let's Go O's!" cheer was entired drowned out by the "Let's Go Red Sox!" cheer.

The jist of the article is that 17 Orioles fans were ejected from the game because they were cheering too loudly. Apparantly the section was loaded with Red Sox fans (no surprise there) and they complained that the Orioles fans were being too loud. At an Orioles game. In Oriole Park. In Baltimore. My first reponse is, "WTF?!!!" with all the verbiage spelled out. It's bad enough that the Red Sox have a home game in Baltimore. But this?

It's one thing for the Red Sox fans to complain. That I can understand. Everyone knows that Bostonians are an obnoxious bunch of whining pussies. It's the fact that the Orioles' ushers made the ORIOLES fans leave. When did it become a crime to cheer for your team? Apparently when you play Boston. I'm sure the same rule will be applied when we play New York.

So here's my advice to people that may attend an Orioles' game in the future (though I'm not sure why you would want to). No more cheering for the Orioles. Attend a game at your own discretion. Do not wear team colors. That will make you stand out in the crowd. If you cheer, make sure it is for the opposing team. If you hear obnoxious rude Bostonians and New Yulkers taunting our team, quietly leave your seat and make no sudden movements that will draw the attention of the Yankee and Red Sox-supporting ushers.

Finally, I did hear that there is some discussion going on about renaming the stadium. The proposal is "Yankees Red Sox & Oriole Park at Camden Yards". Peter Angelos has yet to reject that this proposal is being discussed.