Ladies and Gentlemen. Friends, well-wishers, Baltimoreans, internet.
I stand before you today, not as a cheerleader, but as a leader. For too long my friends the Orioles and their fans have been at the bottom of the ranks in baseball. We have been laughed at, ridiculed and mocked. We suffer constant assaults on our character and persons when certain other teams come to town. And when we have the unmitigated termerity to stand up for ourselveswe are lambasted and called “un-American.”
Why? Because we are tired of being oppressed? Are we “un-American” because we failed to properly curtsy as the lesser-nobility that make the Yankees come to town? Because we haven’t been properly assimilated into the unstoppable marketing juggernaut that is the Red Sox Collective?
If that is the way some wish to view us, then so be it.
We are unique. We are strong. We are Baltimore.
In 1814 the British prepared to attack Baltimore. The city had no love for the British and its citizen sailors laid waste to the merchant vessels of the crown on the high seas. The Baltimoreans were smarter, faster and crazier than any threat they had encountered. Still, when the Brits sailed up the Chesapeake they expected to quickly eradicate the “den of pirates and thieves”.
Baltimore stood together, they stood strong and Baltimore prevailed.
Against seemingly impossible odds, Baltimore prevailed.
Today, my friends, as we begin another long summer in Mobtown we once again face seemingly insurmountable odds. The powers that be have once again proven that they care little for us as we play the behemoths of our division almost non-stop for three weeks. We aren’t getting any breaks, no one is doing us any favors. 2010 will be another long road, but you know what? I believe in this team. I think it is time for the old-guard to be shuffled off, I think it is time for a revolution. The Orioles packed with youth and vigor finally has a legit shot to not only crawl out of the decade-long hole but even more.
They say we can’t compete.
They say we don’t have the guns.
They hum and haw and whine: “If they weren’t in that division.”
Forget all of that, I want the AL East, I want the Yankees in April. I want to see the looks on their fans faces when Brad Bergesen makes them look old and slow. I want Boston in May, I want to hear the deafening silence of 18 thousand members of the “collective” as their hive-mind is blown away by the skill of Brian Matusz and Matt Wieters.
Stand up Baltimore! Support your Birds! This is the best collection of talent we have seen on Camden Street in a long time and we as a community need to show that we too believe in this team. The long war begins Tuesday in the confines of Tropicana Field, but Friday is our day. Friday Baltimore should be bathed in orange and black.
No one believes in this team, this community, these fans or this city. I, for one am ready to shock the world. Are you with me Baltimore?
Let your voices be heard!
Raise you National Bohemians high!
Wear your orange proud!
Stand up and be counted!
Cheer for YOUR – BALTIMORE ORIOLES!
We are our only saviors – we’re gonna build something this Summer.
