I’ve asked this one before. I’ll ask it again.
We believe in recycling here at Connolly’s. At least we’re in a different place. Better décor.
Seemingly every year when the Washington Nationals and Orioles mash up, I have the same question. And I think the answer is changing, gradually anyway.
I want to know if the Nationals are just another team to you. Sort of like the Phillies or the Astros.
We know the rivalry isn’t the same as the ones the Orioles have with the Yankees and Red Sox and Blue Jays. Those teams are all fighting for the same prize, the AL East crown.
The Nationals are just the team that is geographically closest. But the fans do seem to get into it. Mark Trumbo, who had never played in an Orioles-Nats contest before, noticed.
“It was exciting. I don’t know all the history, obviously, but it seemed like there was a lot of energy at the stadium today,” Trumbo said. “I’m sure there is a lot of bragging rights on the line. Glad to get that win.”
The game drew an announced crowd of 31,660 to Camden Yards. The stands were mostly orange, but when the Nats did something, their fans could be heard. And when the Orioles did something positive, the roar seemed a little louder than it has for much of the season.
“It was an energy that was needed. You always lean on your fans sometime when you come off a long tough trip in August. It’s a pick me up,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “We’re having to make a lot of adjustments with batting practice and work schedules trying to keep our legs under us. That’s why (an) atmosphere like this is nice.”
So there are obviously Orioles fans out there that get a little more into the Nats-O’s games than any other non-division tilt. Are you one of them?
Tap-In Question: Does a game between the Orioles and Nats mean something extra to you?
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From the perspective of a lifelong O's fan based in Northern Virginia, HECK YEAH, it means a little something extra! I can't understand how so many people that spent their entire lives rooting for the Orioles, so easily threw them under the bus as soon as the Nats came to town. They chap my behind.
And another thing that peeves me is when the O's are on MASN#2 while the Nats are simultaneously being broadcast on MASN#1? It should be the other way around .....gggggrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! O's 1st I say.
And that stupid "Curly W" ... what kind of silly logo is that?
And I'm tired about hearing about Zimmerman being the original Nat...who cares?
And why in the world did Frank Robinson 7 Davey Johnson manage that stupid franchise? That really bothers me too ....
And Jason Werth's beard is a rat's nest ....
And did you know that Nat's Parks sits adjacent to the DC Sewer Authority?
And the color Red ...I REALLY hate the color red.
Heck yeah the Os/Nats games mean a little something extra to some of us anyway ...
I like Espinosa's beard myself. Looks like a Soggy Bottom Boy.
And Claude, 2 drink chips for the 'O Brother' reference. Classic.
Boog: Drink chip for the enthusiasm. Love it as always.
Although I'm not a fan of interleague play (I don't even like the DH!)I guess we're lucky to at least have a legitimate regional "rival". Imagine being the Red Sox, for whom Atlanta plays that role (also gifting those chowderheads with some extra wins).
There really does seem to be a certain energy at these games. Why, the semi-legendary yet fictitious MASN cup is at stake! Cups are important in sports, right?
I will say this: Nats fans are far less objectionable than the AL East rival fan bases that regularly infest our yard. Polite, friendly, rarely clutching two adult beverages while losing track of their offspring... A breath of fresh air!
No question that the O's-Nats thing seems to be a rather civilized meshing of fans -- at the stadiums anyway.
Yep. Gotta agree with Boog on this one. I grew up in NoVa in the 80s, watching the O's on whatever local channel carried them, then HTS or O'sTV or whatever. They were my home team. I fell in love with the Orioles.
What gets me about the Nats is that kids who are growing up where I grew up are Nats fans, not Orioles fans. And I don't buy the crap about liking both teams "But one is my AL team, and one is my NL team!" No. Does anyone root for the Yankees *AND* the Mets? The Cubs *AND* the WhiteSox? Nope. It's a zero-sum game. Every fan that the Nats have is a fan that the Orioles DON'T have. I don't hold it against the kids. Hell, if the Nats had been around when I was a kid I'd be in their camp too. But those who shifted loyalties from O's to Nats? To hell with them.
Another thing that irks me is that the Nats were too successful too soon. Orioles fans of my age suffered through a MISERABLE stretch of baseball from 1986 or so to 2011. Acknowledging the outliers of '89 and the first half of '05, that's 25 years of sh*tty baseball. Then the Nats come along and they're in the playoffs in their 8th season. I admit that there's a certain amount of jealousy in play here, but it seems to me that their fans got quickly puffed-up and annoying what with all that #natitude crap. They fanbase didn't suffer enough. They didn't pay their dues. They've been rewarded with a good team too quickly. My stance softened a little bit on this front when they had that gut-punch loss in the 2012 NLDS. That's the kind of thing that earns true fans their stripes.
To be clear, I'm talking about the Johnny-Come-Lately Nats fans. Those that were Expos fans and stayed loyal to the franchise when it moved Yeah, they've paid their dues. (Incidentally, I'm' a fan of the Houston Oilers cum Tennessee Titans, so I have some animosity toward the Ravens, but I digress.) Also getting a pass from me are the old-timers who were fans of the Senators and waited patiently for a new team in town. They've certainly paid their dues, too; I'm cool with them. I'm NOT cool with the fans who adopted the Nats as their NEW favorite team and were immediately all cocky and entitled.
Oh, and Bryce Harper is a prick.
I think that's all I got.
AB, I probably should address your O's-Nats comments. But I'm more psyched about your Oilers comments. I grew up an Oilers fan in Balmer. You should check out my podcast last week with Astros writer Brian McTaggart where we talk Luv Ya Blue. Anyway, drink chip.
I'll check out that podcast for sure, Dan. I have family roots with the Oilers. My grandfather, John Breen, was the first guy hired by Bud Adams in 1960. He was "Director of Player Personnel," I think. Basically was responsible for putting the first team(s) together.
He was eventually the GM for a couple of the really dark years in the early 1970s before "retiring." Pretty sure he was encouraged to retire....
Then he did a radio sportstalk show on KTRH in Houston for several years with Jerry Trupiano.
How/why were you an Oilers fan, and did you stick with them when they moved to TN?
Bartender ... drink chips for claudecat and abreen17!
Claude for making me laugh with the double-clutching, offspring losing comment. (you made me laugh)
And Abreen for the Bryce Harper comment! (you made me nose-drain my Natty-Boh)
I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!
No nasal spray in the tap room.
Meh. Washington just seems like another National League team to me. It's like asking if the Padres series gets me fired up. Plus, most of the fans are ex-Orioles fans and still hold a place for the black and orange in their hearts, so it's mostly just polite banter when they sit in my general area. Now, were they to go on a multi-championship run and become obnoxious d**ks (looking at you, Boston) that could change, but they will never move the hate meter in the way the New York-Toronto-Beantown triumvirate does.
One thing I always wondered, since MLB seems to want to capture the whole rivalry aspect that football has, and since they long ago dispensed with the notion that the AL and NL were two different organizations, why not swap Washington and Tampa's respective divisions? Then you'd have Washington and Baltimore at each others throats in the AL East, and you'd be able to drum up some interest in Florida between Tampa and Miami in the NL East. They did this before with the Houston league jump, and its not like either the Nats or the Rays have the traditional presence in the their division the way the O's do. I doubt it ever happens, but its not the worst idea I've had today...
Dang that IS a good / smart / interesting idea! I like it. Barkeep ... soap up this man's moustache with a frosty cold one please!
You kidding? I just came up with a way to get more than 5000 people to attend a baseball game in Tampa. That oughta make me a dark horse candidate for Rob Manfreds job.