Not only are the Orioles the only team in the league without a homer from a first baseman, but the Arizona Diamondbacks (.271), Milwaukee Brewers (.270) and Cincinnati Reds (.263) also all have higher cumulative slugging percentages from their pitching staffs than the Orioles are getting from first base.

Agony oh AAAGGGOOOOOKNEEEE!

Next up is the great hobby of reenacting. Rule one, only reenact with people who won’t really shoot you. I always thought this was an important rule.

Lastly we have my beloved Orioles who are coming off a truly dreadful season without prospects for much better anytime real soon. In many ways it was a typical season for them, an early hot streak to get the fans excited followed by a complete fade post All Star Game but this year was made worse for me by Tampa Bay doing great and a comment as the fade started by Brian Roberts along the lines of ‘We can’t play every game like a playoff game.’ This is certainly true, baseball’s long season is a marathon not a sprint, however that mindset spoken out loud gave me the impression that nobody was ever playing any game like it was for real so I stopped watching. Worst season for me as a fan ever. Anyhow, the Sun grades the players here, I am harder in my grading on the veterans than they are as I feel a lax attitude from them this year has hurt the many young players the O’s brought up and will slow them down even if they improve.

Edit: Just had to add that Wondermark today sums up my view on the rush to a financial ‘solution’ that the usual idiots are pushing.

The owners needs to be doing more outreach. They need to be aggressive in getting baseball tickets to kids. The Orioles have a kids club that gives away tickets and sends kids free stuff. The Nats might have one, but I have never seen it pushed anywhere when I have been to games with my son. The Nationals organization needs to be working harder than other teams in the MLB to push baseball in DC, both its own organization and all other forms of baseball. They should be running youth camps in coordination with Little League and the schools focused in the city and the suburbs. Here is the community outreach page on their website, do you see anything there that will help build the base? It is all good stuff, but it is the sort of things that teams in established markets do, nothing there is about building baseball as a value in DC.

The players should kick in as well. I am sure they would say it is the ownerships job to do outreach but the long and short of it is that they get more money if the market here grows, and less if it stays in the gutter. Self interest should say that the players must be out there as ambassadors as much as they possibly could. That is hard work, especially during the season but a couple of hours a week from most of the players would go a long way to getting the community to appreciate them.

Overall I was shocked at the numbers but I guess I shouldn’t be. My family in the area are baseball fans, I admit I am an Orioles fan before I am a Nats fan, but I am one of the 9,000 when they aren’t playing opposite the O’s. One of my brothers in law has a ticket plan and goes regularly. I did hear some of the parents on my son’s little league team talking about how little impact the Nats have had on the local little league scene, no bigger since the team came to town.

The article mentions fielding a winning team can change the team’s local profile and that is true but the Devil Rays have had a 30% increase in viewership since taking first place this year, that would translate to 12,000 viewers for the Nats. The foundation is missing here in DC, the Nats would be investing wisely if they spent some time, care and money on the local baseball scene to help grow tomorrows fans or they may find they still have plenty of seats available even if they start to win.

Oh, and the Yanks are still in last place in the American League East. I know they won’t finish there, but I like to savor life’s best moments when they come.

Nationals Park, originally uploaded by gleefulgecko.

OK, I did the Orioles the other day now it was the Nationals turn for a great baseball game. The game was great, tied 1-1 into the 12th when the Braves went up 2-1, The Nats came back and won the game 3-2. Very fun. My first trip to the new stadium and I think it is pretty nice. Easy walk from Metro, good seating layout and overall a nice feel to the park. It was pretty quiet, it was an afternoon game with a smallish crowd but everyone seemed to pull for the team and we got to see the Braves fans leave early after their pitcher walked in the tying run in the 12th.

Ballpark food was pricey and the service was pretty poor, but hopefully they will get better as the season goes on. I was unaware of how difficult is really is to get a hot dog into a bun, apparently a team of three was needed. Who knew?

Overall I still prefer Camden Yards, but I have to say Nationals Park is pretty nice. Thanks to John and Mattie for having Charles and I along.

Orioles Park at Camden Yards, originally uploaded by gleefulgecko.

We had the worst trip to and from the stadium last night that you can imagine. The bus had raised their prices and were running less buses then got stuck in traffic on the way in, we barely made the game before the opening pitch despite getting to the bus stop more than an hour before the game. It was appalling. On the way home we got to Greenbelt on the BW Parkway and got in a huge traffic jam. They had closed the Parkway. A horrible night for driving.

The game on the other hand was wonderful. The Orioles won for the second night in a row vs the Yankees, which feels nice even though I know it is April. Charles was paying attention to the game most of the night, he used to get bored pretty early. The weather was perfect. The only way it could be better was if the game had been in August and mattered for the play offs.

The report is all accusations of course, nobody has been convicted from that list, but it is a really ugly day to be an Orioles fan. Then again, since 1997 when we fired the Manager of the Year who took us to the Championship Series for the AL, there have been many ugly days to be an Orioles fan.

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