There are thousands of fans who follow and like both the Nationals and the Orioles, and love their dual allegiance for these Battle of the Beltway series. The Nats will host a 3 game series and this one probably won’t have the same urgency as years past due to the playoff possibilities for both teams although the Orioles come into DC with a losing record at a disappointing 73-76 record.
The majority of fans in the Baltimore/Washington region only have allegiance to 1 team. The geographic lines of demarcation are evident no matter what that 2014 MASN campaign said when they proclaimed Washington, DC as a “This is Birdland” area. MASN proclaims THIS IS BIRDLAND in their geography
Alienating fans is something Angelos has done since he purchased the Orioles in the early 1990’s. If you ever want to talk about it, just ask Davey Johnson about the subject without a tape recorder. Off the record, Davey has opinions on Angelos and on the record, he’s not too fond of him also. Angelos is one of the big reasons there aren’t more dual allegiances from a sampling we got from some fans.
At Nats games played in Washington, DC, the Orioles fans will be boisterous and want everyone to know they are there and it all starts when the National Anthem is sung and the Oh is yelled in a rude fashion and comes across to many as unpatriotic. It’s hard to understand why anyone would go into another team’s ballpark and not respect the home fans. It brings back memories of the Kasten-era Philly fans doing similar misdeeds, but at least they respected the National Anthem.
After the season, the Orioles will almost be dismantled in their roster compared to their Opening Day roster, as more than likely half or more of the players will be gone due to all the 1 year deals and impending Free Agents. Players like Chris Davis, Matt Wieters, Wei-Yin Chen, Darren O’Day, Steve Pearce, Gerardo Parra are all key Free Agents after the season, and then consider players like Tommy Hunter, Everth Cabrera, Bud Norris, Alejandro De Aza, Travis Snider, Delmon Young and David Lough are already gone. In fact 3 of their 4 Opening Day outfielders are already gone with only Adam Jones remaining.
This was their Opening Day roster:
Pitchers (14): Brad Brach, Zach Britton, Wei-Yin Chen, Jason Garcia, Kevin Gausman, Miguel Gonzalez, Ubaldo Jimenez, Tommy Hunter, Brian Matusz, Bud Norris, Darren O’Day, Chris Tillman, Ryan Webb and Wesley Wright
Catchers (2): Steve Clevenger and Caleb Joseph
Infielders (5): Everth Cabrera, Ryan Flaherty, Manny Machado, Steve Pearce, Jonathan Schoop
Outfielders (4): Alejandro De Aza, Adam Jones, Travis Snider, Delmon Young
Disabled list (4): J.J. Hardy, David Lough, Jimmy Paredes, Matt Wieters
Restricted list (1): Chris Davis
The Nationals and Orioles still have no resolution on the MASN lawsuit, and there seems to be enough acrimony even between front offices where they won’t be breaking bread together any time soon.
Projected starters are:
- Monday: Ubaldo Jimenez vs. Gio Gonzalez
- Tuesday: Chris Tillman vs. Tanner Roark
- Wednesday: TBD vs. Max Scherzer
