I don’t know how quite to articulate what I saw in person attending the Orioles-Yankees game last night at Camden Yards.
I do know one thing. It seems like the more things change, the more they stay the same.
It was painful to sit at your team’s home ballpark and see the guys you root for get beat down by a rival.
The Yankees are the big-bad, bullies in the sport who seem to get whatever they want; meanwhile, the Orioles are like the frumpy kid who is picked on constantly. They try to fight back and quickly find out they need a lot of help if they want to defeat their nemesis.
Well, it’s no mystery that the Yankees have pretty much owned the Orioles for the past several seasons.
Once again, they they just flat-out trashed the Orioles, 15-3.
You all pretty much know what happened.
C.C. Sabathia owned the Orioles – again; Brad Bergesen struggled again despite four of his six innings of work being very good; the Yankee lineup launched five homers, there were potential fireworks in the 9th inning and the home team wilted again.
I was maybe one of twenty Orioles fans in the section I was in last night. I’ll say that the Yankees fans I sat with were well-behaved, engaged and respectful; however, the fact of the matter is it just plain demoralizing being a minority in your home ballpark.
It feels like a playoff game when the Yankees – or Red Sox – come into town. There’s just something in the air.
That’s wonderful.
However, you should not feel like an outcast in your home park. That has to change. The only way it will happen if the Orioles start winning on a regular basis.
This weekend is probably a good indicator of Baltimore’s standing in the division and so far it looks like they have a bit more work to do. Simply, the Orioles right now are a mediocre to average team and the Yankees are just better.
On Sunday, the Orioles just need to come out and play. They need Jake Arrieta to deliver on the mound, the offense to wake up and hopefully get a split against the Yankees.
It could set the tone for the weeks and months to come.
