Baseball 2016

O's fans? Obnoxious? Que?

 

I ain't the only one who has noticed this trend, google "obnoxious Orioles fans." Beautiful stadium, good team, but the fans can be some of the most annoying fans ever.

 

Takes one to know one?

 

Here's a story in honor of Mr. Brooks Robinson, who turns 79 today.

I was about 8 or 9 when I met Mr. Robinson. My father and I made a trip to the Annapolis Mall for something that I have no memory of now. When we got there we hear over the PA system that Brooks Robinson will be signing autographs for 5 more minutes. My dad turns to me and says, we HAVE to get his autograph. At this age, I have no idea who the guy is, but I can tell he's a famous, VIP or something by my dad's anxiousness to get to a sporting goods store to buy a baseball for this guy to sign. We get to the sporting goods store and there are exactly ZERO baseballs left in the store, not even little league baseballs were available. There were these "SAFE-T" T-balls left. My dad shakes his head and says this will have to do as we hear the last call over the PA. We, finally, get to the autograph area but they were packing up and my father and I were the last ones standing there. I can't even remember who was saying that we were too late but I remember this very friendly older guy say "It's ok." My father just had this stunned look on his face. It was Brooks Robinson, he smiled at me and told me to come on over to the table they were just about to cart off. I remember him asking me if I played and what position. I was a super shy kid so I was just mostly nodding my head yes at his questions. We didn't need a baseball for his autograph after all. I ended up with a signed photo of Mr. Robinson that read "To Heather, -Brooks Robinson" My father must have managed to tell him my name.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Robinson.

 

really; the only competition Bosox fans have for smug self-atisfaction is Yankee and Cubs fans.

 

And how many times have Jimsig and I acted smug about our team here? I seem to remember some story about not liking Sox fans based on one fan you encountered? If I encountered an O's fan that keeps disparaging Red Sox, Cubs, and Yankee fans on a forum multiple times over the years while acting as if their fans are without fault, I think I have room to think their fans are obnoxious.

 

touche!

Having said all that, when I lived in the Baltimore/DC area, there was only one baseball team and one NFL team in the area. I watched dyed-in-the-wool Colts fan become Redskin fans as soon as they started winning. Oriole fans at this point were the only game in town -- much like the Spurs. Their main rivalry was the Yanks. There was no Washington team to be "the other." Now that Washington has a MLB club -- and one that is on the edge of success -- there's obviously more partisan rooting in the region than there was.

My problem with Cubs and RedSox fans is that so many I've met KNOW that all baseball fans are thrilled at every success they achieve and suffer with each of their setbacks. My problem with Yankee fans is ... well, I've been rooting against the Yankees for more than 60 years now, and I've not seen anything in all that time to make me more sympathetic to them.

 

This is part of the problem with O's fans now. There's a number of them that want to hold onto the idea that they are the only game in town and seem to be blocking a part of baseball history in their minds. That or they're just ignorant of it. Plus, the current O's owner as been a complete, pardon my language, asshole when it has come to having a competitor in the region and some of the O's fans drink his kool-aid.

See here on some of the current beef between the two clubs: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ls-of-revenue-share-agreement-with-nationals/

That and Angelos saying, "there are no baseball fans in DC," is just some of the most obnoxious trolling he's done in the past few years to DC baseball fans. It's funny because when the Senators were the only local team in town they had no objection to Browns moving to Baltimore.

I used to like the O's and their fans. My very first baseball game was a Red Sox v O's game at Memorial Stadium in the 80's. I loved Eddie Murray and Cal. But once Angelos took over and has been an ass ever since, I've soured on them. Even O's fans have been lukewarm to their Birds ever since he's been the owner and have only recently started going to the games again since Buck has them playing good ball. Camden Yards is filling up with a new generation of fans who act like they were here first and Nats supporters north of VA line and outside of DC are traitors. It's extremely annoying and arrogant. Also, I used to have very little problems going to Camden Yards with a Red Sox hat. Maybe some light hearted ribbing before the Red Sox won their first WS since 1918, aftwerwards its getting a little more testy. It seems some O's fans are developing a little chip on their shoulder and aren't being the friendly fans they used to pride themselves of being. There's been fistfights and some opposing fans getting spit on. I would have been shocked to see this happen in the 80's or pre-2005 or so...O's fans just don't really have any claim of being the best fans in baseball anymore. They're just your stereotypical fanbase, some are obnoxious and some are good, loyal fans. It's the nature of the sports fans in general though, some people are good natured and some are miserable jerks who take everything way too seriously.

 

I've been wanting to say this for a long time, so here goes.

I am unhappy with how my first love -- Major League Baseball -- has been bastardized by Acting Commissioner for Life, Bud Selig. So, with absolutely nobody asking me for it, here's my request to fix baseball -- whether it needs fixing or not.

There's 30 teams now, divided into two 15-team leagues, guaranteeing constant interleague play -- an abomination before the Lord. This bad idea spawns much appreciated contests between powerhouses such as Toronto and Oakland. The current system also calls for multiple levels of post-season play. What this often means is that the club who develops the ability to win over a long season, can lose in the post season to an inferior club on a hot streak. Baseball, thus, becomes a long tedious journey into a poor mini-series ending in mid November in a baseball championship between two teams not capable of rising to the top of a five-team division.

Change 1: reduce the number of teams to 28. How to do this most equitably? Simple: Delete the two Florida clubs. Neither has a decent fan base, nor any history of strong support of even minor league baseball. One club exists only as the result of a lawsuit resulting from the Giants threatening to move to Tampa Bay several decades ago, and the other putting a team in Miami, a city which has consistently proven its lack of interest in all professional sports for decades -- regardless of the quality of the teams. Step 1 completed: two teams least deserving of a franchise gone. We're down to 28, and now, down to step 2.

Step 2: revise the leagues into the four divisions that once existed:
National League East of 7 teams
National League West of 7 teams [Houston Astros move back to National League; correcting Selig abomination]
American League West of 7 teams [Milwaukee Brewers move back to American League; correcting Selig abomination]
National League East of 7 teams
Each league will have an unbalanced schedule -- that is, each team will play its 6 division rivals more than it plays teams from the other division
There will be NO interleague play until the World Series

Step 3, reduce the length of the miniseries known as "the playoffs" by ensuring that only division champions compete in post season. You finish second, you go back and try to do better next season.
Each league champion will be determined by the best 3 of 5 games between division champions -- NO wildcards, wildcards being those teams who didn't win enough to become champions.
The World Series remains best 4 of 7 with the "home field advantage" rotating between leagues each year [correcting the Selig abomination of that advantage accruing to the league that wins the all-star game, which is, after all, a game with no real purpose other than to entertain the fans].

Step 4, devise a league schedule of 154 total games. Include double-headers [two games for one ticket purchase] on Memorial Day, July 4, and Labor Day.

Step 5, get rid of instant replay appeals. Humans play the game, humans officiate the game. Humans make errors. Live with it.

Do all that, and I can even live with the designated hitter -- as long as it's reserved for the American League.

 

Thanks, jump, and I agree on the DH and daytime WS. It's been a long time since someone told me I didn't go far enough.

Unfortunately, you're right in your assessment. The money won't allow any of it.

 

Jump, I've also associated the Cardinals with solid fundamentals and good defense. Is the fall off the result of a lot of trading at the minor-league level?

 

Oh, did a tour of Fenway Pawk yesterday. Kinda cool. But, in the immortal words of Arlo Guthrie, that's not what I came here to talk to you about. The attached article is about Matt Harvey's impending season-ending surgery. With this and with some pitchers having Tommy John surgery right out of high school, my question is, "Will there be any future starting pitchers who will play long enough [10 seasons] to qualify for the HOF?" With the demand for pitchers to hit the high 90s while throwing in an unnatural motion, will anyone be able to perform at the highest level for more than 4 or 5 seasons tops?

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/1...eason-ending-surgery-thoracic-outlet-syndrome

 

Wait you're in the NE area? Same here. We have been so darn close to a meet-up and yet so far away. What up with that?