Big Time Failures

Baseball 2009, Game 89: Baltimore Orioles 11, Washington Nationals 1

Baltimore Sloppiness: 5
Washington Sloppiness: 5
Most batters in one inning: 13
Hitter of the Game: Adam Jones, Baltimore (rating: 41)
Pitcher of the Game: Brad Bergesen, Baltimore (rating: 96)
Time of Game: 2:59
Mid-game temperature: 84 degrees
Attendance: 45,024 (Level I sporting event)

The Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals are both members of Big Time Sports. Their players have all come from Small Time Sports however, and have finally reached the one level of baseball that most sports fans perceive as Big Time. Unlike the Small Time guys, the Orioles and Nationals' members are very wealthy. The average player in this game is making more than 2 million dollars this year. Both teams average over 20,000 fans a game.

But this isn't good enough in the world of Big Time Sports. The Orioles are in last in the AL East, and the Nationals are by far the worst team in Major League Baseball as over 70 percent of the time they lose. At the highest level of Major League Baseball, players make over 5 million and over 40K fans are in attendance.

Yet the Orioles and Nationals are still considered Big Time. The Orioles have been representing the very large metro area of Baltimore since the 1950s, winning three World Series titles between 1966 and 1983. In 1992 the Orioles built Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and the attractive modern stadium based on old-time Ebbets Field sparked nearly every other Big Time baseball team to rush and build a new stadium to boost their attendance figures. This phenomenon has reached Small Time Sports as well, since Minor League teams often rely upon the ballpark (and not the team) to lead it to profit.

But in MLB, this isn't working. The Orioles' success with the park in the 1990s began to fade in the 2000s, as team play took a drop. Meanwhile nearby in Washington 40 miles away the Nationals had relocated from Montreal where they were on the verge of becoming Small Time in a Big Time league. While the Nationals have had more fans in the nation's capital, their attendance numbers are still bad as the team continues to get drubbed by baseball's most successful teams.

But on this Friday night with a fireworks' show and the city alive, Camden Yards was about to come alive again. Over 90 percent of the stadium was filled to see the two local rivals play, despite their awful records. Only the overpriced club seats in the middle of the stadium were a fair number of empty seats found in 48,876 seat stadium. The Orioles' started out on top with Aubrey Huff's sac fly in the first to drive in Adam Jones with the first run. The Nationals quickly tied the game up in the 2nd, but the Orioles would dominate the rest of the way. Two runs in the 4th and eight runs in the 8th would put the Nats away. The entire O's lineup was effective in getting hits and knocking in runs, especially in the 6th when 13 Orioles came up to bat, the most in the past 41 games I have seen. The Orioles cruised to an 11-1 win, and the Nationals' showed why they are as bad as they are. The Nats' only hope is to get more Small Time Sports stars such as San Diego State and #1 draft pick Stephen Strasburg, and next year high school phenom Bryce Harper.

Well, so how does this compare to Small Time Sports? Going to a game like this can be fun for a few reasons for even Small Time junkies like myself. One is the comparison in atmospheres. I got a seat behind first base 10 rows from the field, just like my seat at highly attended Blowfish games. Except that this ticket was 50 dollars, not five. While many fans were hyper and late-arriving like your typical minor league park, they actually cared about the game as the Orioles' carry Baltimore's pride even though the players are only being paid to temporairily live there. No mascot races (other than where the two teams' mascots ran against themselves and an Orioles staff member showing off his speed) or zany on-field promotions. This is because:
A. they don't need it, and
B. millionaires do NOT want ordinary fans scurrying around on their field between innings.
Of course there is a lot of hype in a major league park. The scoreboards are high-definition with quality video and graphics detailing both the score and other game details. Just like many small time venues however the scoreboard on the base paths' was frozen during the top of the 6th inning. Many vendors went down the aisles, such as one beer guy who appeared to have received the steroids that the players once used. He was very muscular and looked like he was auditioning for a beer commercial as he delivered beer. It should also be noted that the high ticket prices turn away many regular folks at these games. While Baltimore is over 60 percent black, most of the people at Camden Yards Friday night were staff members such as the beer guys. The crowd was predominantly white although casually dressed for the most part.

It is also nice to see games with low Sloppiness totals and a high quality of play. Yet it must be remembered that in much of Small Time Sports you can see high quality ball, with some players coming here. I saw Brian Roberts of the Orioles play in college 10 years ago at South Carolina, and Aubrey Huff play for the AAA Durham Bulls. And now they have finally gotten Big Time support and millions of dollars. Yet baseball players at the Small Time level don't get the respect they do in college basketball and football, and this needs to change.

And now for the next month it is back to Small Time Sports, all the time!