Fan Support: Red Sox vs. Orioles & Random Thoughts

In yet another sad loss, the Orioles were bested by the Evil Empire 1A, the Boston Red Sox, 9-4. Simply put, Brian Burres got shelled as he was attacked by the Red Sox offense early and often on Sunday.

Although Luke Scott homered, Baltimore was undone by J.D. Drew, Manny Ramirez's 501st homer, and the return of rotund Bartolo Colon -- who seemingly was left for dead -- until the Red Sox picked him off the scrap heap. Needless to say, Bartolo looked like he was circa 2006, pretty much in control and pitching effectively.

You can read the game recap here.

This weekend it has been kind of demoralizing to be a Baltimore fan. If you were at Camden Yards and rooted for the black and the orange, you were outnumbered -- perhaps in the ratio of 80/20, or 85/15 in favor of the Boston fans.

I know a lot of hate the Red Sox fans who either drive or fly from New England and also have joined the happy, Grateful Dead/Rolling Stones/Pearl Jam-like bandwagon; nevertheless, much of what we have seen this weekend is much of the Baltimore Orioles doing.

It's plain and simple, ten losing seasons, bad drafts, Peter Angelos, bad ushers at the Yard & horrible baseball have perhaps relegated a lot of Baltimore fans to stay home.

Seeing a whole lot of red and blue in the Inner Harbor, packed into the Yard and hearing David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and Jason Varitek being cheered along with seeing the flash bulbs going off like a rock star getting on stage at a sold out arena makes me sick.

However, the Red Sox have built one hell of a brand name and it extends from all corners of the country -- thus, it's in vogue. The real Boston fans venture down here because it is cheaper to catch a game, eat, drink, lodge and drive down here than it is to get a ticket at Fenway.

There were times this weekend watching on TV that I had no idea if it was an Oriole who made the play or a member of the Red Sox.

Plain and simple -- the only way to fix this problem is for the Orioles to win, connect with the fan base again and buy tickets. The plan to rebuild is well on it's way; however, this whole Red Sox/Yankee fan phenomenon may not be coming to an end in the near future.

In the meantime, this weekend has perhaps exposed many of the problems with the Baltimore Orioles. Despite the great start, the pitching has been great (in light of today's result) and some of the youngsters coming up, the lineup has a lot of holes.

By the end of July, things will change. Our second baseman will most likely be traded, our DH (Huff) may have a new home, and several other role guys may be on other teams. Furthermore, Baltimore needs a first baseman, shortstop, third baseman and perhaps a better solution in left.

Folks, expect a long ride, but I expect MacPhail to make more changes before the trade deadline.