House Protected

Theres an unfortunate spring tradition in Baltimore. Sometime in late april or early may, the Red Sox come to Baltimore with many thousands of their fans in tow. The results are generally not pretty. Red Sox fans outnumber Orioles fans at Camden Yards for most games and, thanks to the result on the field, the cheers of the Red Sox faithful are 3x more audible than those of their Orioles counterparts.

But, not this year. For 2 glorious days this week, the Orioles and the orange and black patrons of Camden yards stood up and refused to be trodden under the cleats of the defending world champions.

I was there for every pitch.

Tuesday May 13, 2008

5:30pm-- The Baltimore Harbor is beginning to look more like the Boston Harbor. From my perch on the upper terrace of the classy harborplace food court I see group after group of red and blue-clad fans milling around. An obnoxious pre-pubescent sporting an Ortiz jersey saw it fit to start chanting "lets go Red Sox" while standing behind me in the line for Thai chicken. A group of 4 sox fans from the awkward 12-15 year old age bracket took time off from tickling each other and giggling obnoxiously in order to run into the back of my chair repeatedly. The clownish behavior doesn't succeed in disturbing me from the tasks at hand: finishing my pre-game meal and reading Buzz Bissinger's 3 Nights in August. The latter provides me with the following lines which i take to be a positive omen for the upcoming series against J.D. Drew and the Red Sox:
"The money corrupts and compromises, makes it easy to play under your maximum and to reject the daily commitment that wins awards and world series rings because you can still make a ridiculous living at three-quarters speed."
"In the case of J.D., if you have the chance to be a twelve-million-to-fifteen-million-dollar-a- year player, you settle for 75 percent of that."
"There is a certain bittersweet tragedy to Drew."
As he was during the games covered in Bissinger's book: J.D. Drew will end tonight hurt.

6:10pm-- Quick trip back to my car to get a jacket, just in case the upper deck gets cold. I notice that the parking lot i have chosen is about a block and a half from Baltimore's "The Block." I wonder out loud if i might be able to get a player autograph or two or ten if i wait outside the nearby Larry Flynt Hustler Club after the game.

6:35pm-- Despite arriving a full half hour before game time, i miss out on one of the 15,000 Nick Markakis t-shirts being given away. I don't know whether to be excited about this or concerned. Excited that maybe, just maybe, there will be a bigger than usual Orioles contingent in the stands. Concerned that the t-shirts have been goggled up by invading Red Sox Fans who will use the shirts for some sort of bizarre "keep the curse away" ritual.

7:00pm-- The gentleman singing the national anthem gives a properly artistic "O", much to the delight of the Baltimore faithful.

Inning the First-- The Red Sox fans are singing. Coco Crisp leads off with a sharp single to right. With 1 out, David Ortiz bloops a double down the 3rd base line. Ramirez sends a RBI single to center. Mike Lowell hits a tailor-made double play ball to Aubrey Huff at 3rd base. Huff fails to catch the chopper. Ortiz scores. With 2 outs, J.D. Drew hits a weak roller to first which goes straight through Kevin Millar's legs. 3-0 Sox before the Oriole batsmen even take their first hacks.

Inning the Second-- After retiring the first 5 batters of the night without much resistance, Josh Beckett runs into trouble. with 2 outs, Luke Scott, Adam Jones, and Jay Payton hit three straight singles. 3-1 Boston.

Inning the Third-- Guthrie says "thank you for getting the run back" by walking Manny Ramirez to start the inning. The Oriole ace then retires Lowell, Youkilis, and J.D. Drew to get out of the inning. Brian Roberts leads off the bottom of the inning with a single. Freddie Bynum follows with a sinking liner to right which fall in front of a diving J.D. Drew. In trying to make the catch, Drew sprains his wrist and his escorted off the field by the Red Sox trainer. I can't help but feel partially responsible. With men on first and second and none out, Nick Markakis and Aubrey Huff whiff. Rally wasted? No. Kevin Millar sends a single to left to score Roberts. Two pitches later, Luke Scott finds the flag court beyond the wall in right field. 5-3 Orioles.

Inning the Fourth. Guthrie fans two and the Sox go down in order. Maybe the Orioles Ace is getting into the zone.

Inning the Fifth. After Luke Scott's 3rd hit of the game, the Orioles have a chance to stretch the lead with runners on the corners and 2 out. But Beckett is still Beckett and Adam Jones strikes out looking.

Inning the Sixth. With two out in the top of the inning Jason Varitek hits a weird sort-of line drive to short that Bynum mis-plays. The Centerfield scoreboard flashes H for hit. I disagree. Will Guthrie cave? No. He gets Alex Cora to ground out to Millar to end the inning. In the bottom of the inning the Sox break out a new defensive alignment. Crisp leaves the game. Ellsbury, who had entered for the injured Drew, moves from right to center. Youkilis shifts to right and Sean Casey enters the game at first base. Back to back walks with 2 outs force Beckett from the game. The Orioles fans in attendance make noise, rejoicing in having knocked the Sox ace off of the hill. Manny DelCarmen silences the Orioles faithful by inducing a weak grounder off the bat of Markakis to end the inning.

There is a fight in the stands. A drunk in an Ortiz journey is working his way up the steps in the upper reaches of the left field nosebleeds with fists flailing. It says something to the composition of the crowd that the Ortiz jersey stands out in a sea of mostly orange and black.

Inning the Seventh-- Guthrie is done. Back to back singles to right cause a call to the bullpen. Jamie Walker continues his 2008 struggles, walking Ortiz to load the bases with no one out. Walker exits. Jim Johnson enters and on the 10th pitch of the at bat, induces a 1-2-3 double play from Manny Ramirez. The Sox fans are silenced. Orioles Fans rejoice. Lowell hits a sky high fly ball to left to end the inning.

Inning the Eighth-- The tension isn't over. Johnson walks Ellsbury and Varitek. Alex Cora follows with an RBI single. 5-4 Orioles. 1 out. Men on 1st and 2nd. Enter George Sherrill. 2 quick outs. End of threat.

Inning the Ninth-- Can Sherrill get the 5-out save? Ortiz, Ramirez and Lowell stand in the way. On a 3-2 pitch, Sherrill misses the strike zone up and in. But, in checking his swing/corkscrewing himself out of the way, Ortiz brings his bat across home plate. The home plate umpire calls it a swing and Ortiz is retired. The big DH explodes and within seconds has been tossed from the game. 1 out. Sherrill falls behind Ramirez 3-1. Manny hits the 3-1 pitch high and deep to left, but, the ball is heavy on the 'high' and a little light on the 'deep'. 2 outs. The Camden crowd is on its feet. Sox fans are expecting late heroics. The 15,000 Oriole fans in Markakis t-shirts as well as the rest of us in black and orange are giddy with the possibility of taking a game from the visiting Sox. Lowell whiffs on a breaking ball in the dirt. Quiroz blocks the ball and, just to be sure, takes 2 quick steps to tag out Lowell as the World Series MVP mopes back towards the dugout. Game Over. Orioles 5 Red Sox 4!

I'm elated. Not only did the Baltimore baseball fans put on a much better showing than usual in the face of invading Red Sox Nation but the Orioles team came back from an early 3-0 deficit against one of the game's toughest pitchers. Its as if the team has decided that AL East doormat status is no longer acceptable.

My joy is deepened by the following, which begins playing shortly after Quiroz tagged out Lowell:

Orioles Magic 2008

Amazing. There are signs of life in both the stands and the clubhouse at Camden Yards.