A funny thing happened on the way to Camden Yards
It would be wise, I suppose, to exercise caution. To remain skeptical and to not forget what's happened over the last 13 years. That would be the prudent choice. That would be rational and realistic.
But I don't want to be prudent. I want to believe.
I was thinking about that a lot as I walked to Camden Yards today for the Orioles home opener. I was running late and I thought momentarily about flagging down a cab, just to make sure I arrived appropriately ahead of the first pitch, but something talked me out of it.
The walk through downtown Baltimore, and through the Inner Harbor, has always been one of the prettiest walks in all of sports, especially on sunny days. There's just something about the way the light bounces off the buildings that makes me fall in love with Baltimore all over again every time I make that walk, even if I know I'll be watching bad baseball when I reach my destination. When people come to visit me from back home, and they want to watch a baseball game, I always feel a weird sense of pride on the walk to the stadium.
I grew up out west, in a valley where the sky is vast and large mountains loom on every horizon, so there is an intimacy, at least for me, about urban architecture. You feel close to other people when you walk the streets. And when everyone is moving in the direction of the stadium, when everyone is anticipating an afternoon at the ballpark, that energy is magnified.
I've always wanted to take that walk when the Orioles were good, ever since I moved here 10 years ago. There's just something exciting about a city when a baseball team grabs a hold of it. It's different than football. Baseball, when it's good, keeps reinventing itself. It's like reading a short story every day.
You can say whatever you want about how trivial sports truly are, and if you step back and look at the big picture, you'd be right. Baltimore, as a city, has a lot of problems. Improving the baseball team, which has been a perennial loser for more than a decade, would be pretty far down on your wish list if you could start fixing things. But at the same time, it's not trivial. A good baseball team is something that, day after day, drives conversations between strangers. Ever walk past someone in an airport or super market, see them wearing an Orioles hat, and exchange a nod that says more than words ever could? It makes you feel a little hopeful. It makes you want to brag about being from here.
You could pick up on some that vibe on the way to Camden Yards today. I've been to opening days in the past, when everyone wanted be optimistic, but deep down, you could tell they were sort of going through the motions. Opening day was about tradition, not anticipation, and the cynics and the realists were already steeling themselves against the inevitable.
But something felt a little different this year. The Orioles are undefeated, and it's impossible to dismiss that. It means something. What, I'm not sure yet. But it's definitely something. You could see people outside The Pratt Street Ale House (still the Wharf Rat in my mind) getting excited and trying not to spill their beers as they talked just a little too loudly about the O's young pitching staff. In front of Pickles Pub and Sliders, the crowd was a bee hive of orange and black. You could buy T-shirts from college kids that poked fun at the free-spending Yankees, while at the same time praising the O's veteran manager: "Who needs $200 million? All we need is one Buck." The majority of scalpers were looking for tickets, not selling them.
It's a little foolish to get sentimental about opening day. It's naive and cliched. It's like ordering a hackneyed sundae, and and covering it with hot melted schmaltz. There is a good chance this team will take its lumps, just like so many Orioles squads that came before it. Buck Showalter is not a wizard. He can perform no miracles.
But I'm not sure I care right now. We have a saying in sports journalism that we don't root for results, we root for a good story. After 13 years of disappointment, I'm convinced the best story would be for the Orioles to be good once again. To grab a hold of this city for the summer, and refuse to let go.
Maybe getting your hopes up only leads to greater disappointment. Maybe this will end badly. But maybe it won't. Maybe this is real. I know this: When Brian Roberts crushed that 3-run home run in the fifth inning today, I swear, Oriole Park was as loud as it's been in years. Ricky Porcello had to throw two pitches to Nick Markakis before the cheering finally subsided.
You could hear the roar -- that glorious roar -- bouncing off the stadium walls, maybe even off the downtown buildings in the distance. The sky was impossibly blue, and for a second, you wanted to believe it could stay that way forever.
Sun Photos: Gene Sweeney Jr.
Comments
Keith- You put into words, the indescribable feeling I had as a kid walking to Camden Yards. It had been so long that I had nearly forgotten it. Thanks for bringing that feeling back.
Posted by: chicagoterp | April 4, 2011 9:15 PM
Kevin,
Five things we learned about the Raven's is my favorite thing to read in the Baltimore Sun. I am so glad to see that you will be writing about the Orioles too. Reading this piece has pretty much solidified that I will be attending the game on Wednesday. You are a joy to read because you are truly able to put feelings into words, and that is a very rare quality. Please keep up the great work...I look forward to reading your posts throughout the season.
Posted by: Mike R. | April 4, 2011 10:31 PM
Ethan:
As usual, nice work.
Posted by: J | April 4, 2011 10:39 PM
I try not to be sentimental (that's for older guys...right?), but that was nice. It makes me think back to my youth (whether in the early 80s or the mid-90s). I really believe the Os will battle for the AL East title this year. I just hope my belief isn't shattered before late September.
Posted by: chris | April 4, 2011 10:50 PM
There's a....vibe.
Maybe Buck Showalter is a Kahuna or Jedi or something.
And the Force really is with Brian Roberts and the Orioles.
But, at the very least, it is fun to think so
and "believe" for even just one afternoon.
That what once was, could be again...
Posted by: Yoda | April 4, 2011 11:13 PM
You seem to go by many names. Whoever you are, beautiful piece. I know exactly the feeling you described. I was blown away today by the number of people talking about the Orioles everywhere I went. That's highly unusual, even for opening day.
Posted by: Matt | April 4, 2011 11:21 PM
Another great piece. Thanks, I really appreciate all that you write here.
Posted by: Luke | April 5, 2011 12:25 AM
KVV: If e.e. cummings had grown up in baltimore, his poem, "in Just-" (you know, "in Just-/spring when the world is mud-/luscious the little lame balloonman/whistles far and wee/and eddyandbill come/running from marbles and/piracies and it's/spring . . . ."), he might well have replaced "marbles and piracies" with words similar to those you have written. Nice poetry in prose-form.
Posted by: trebort49 | April 5, 2011 6:41 AM
We're craving warmer weather, and a better Orioles team. Great start. Here's to it lasting all summer (with or without the NFL).
Posted by: Joe Miller-Kano | April 5, 2011 7:25 AM
I moved to Maine in 2001... so I was in Baltimore for all the great days of winning seasons. Gosh, how I miss those days. This article brought tears to my eyes. Those 2 pictures look INCREDIBLE! Wish I could be there to witness it!
Posted by: Joe | April 5, 2011 7:48 AM
Thanks Kevin, for a great article.
Posted by: PCB Rob | April 5, 2011 8:18 AM
Perfectly said sir. I was watching on MLB.TV from London, but even from there, you got "that" feeling. As someone born in the early 90's, I've never experienced the Yard at it's peak. Here's to hoping that comes soon.
Posted by: Daniel B | April 5, 2011 9:22 AM
Ah Kevin, you do bring back memories.
I remember a time back in the 70s. The Birds hadn't been quite as abysmal as they have been over the past decade, but they hadn't really been setting the world on fire. Robby was gone, Boog was gone, Brooks was gone. Seemed like the best thing they had going for them were Bumbry and Jimmy Palmer. But then...
Those pitchers they'd gotten from the Yankees started to pitch like they knew what they were doing. Wild Bill Haggy was suddenly a point of interest, and best of all, these new guys named Murray and Singleton really started to smack the tar out of the ball. Everybody started to follow them, and hope began to rekindle. Maybe, just maybe, these guys were for real.
I climbed on the bandwagon and decided to go buy a ticket for a game. They were playing the Tigers, and man, it was a struggle. The Tigers were tough. Dave Tobik was pitching, and in the bottom of the ninth, Singleton hit a homer with one out. Suddenly it was 4-5 Detroit. We were down by one. the noise picked up. People were just dying for a win, but thought maybe we'd get a tie. Roenicke flied out. Still the crowd was buzzing, but quieter. Eddie swatted a single to right field. Still two out. You could almost hear clicking as nails were being nibbled all over Memorial Stadium. And then...
Doug DeCinces the new third basement who had the sad misfortune of always being compared to Brooks, stepped to the plate. I can't remember the count, but to this day I remember the crack of the bat, and the vocal eruption that took place afterward. I'd never heard a crowd yell that loud before in my life, nor have I since. May claim, and I don't disagree, that it was the start of "Oriole Magic".
I really, really hope it happens again. So far, it looks pretty promising.
Give em hell, Birds.
Posted by: LarryC | April 5, 2011 9:50 AM
Such a pleasure to read your words, Kevin. As much as I am not into sports, I think telling well the story of anything is to be cherished.
Posted by: Jean | April 5, 2011 10:12 AM
Great post--you are incredibly talented at putting feelings into words. Didn't walk "the walk" yesterday, but the "buzz" was even in the grocery store! Go O's!
Posted by: Carole | April 5, 2011 10:32 AM
Great writing. Wish I had your talent for telling the story of how so many of us feel about Baltimore and the O's. Captured my sentiments better than I could myself. And it is a pleasure to read your lyrical yet tight prose. Thank you.
Posted by: cate58 | April 5, 2011 10:44 AM
That was great. I'm feeling it all the way down here in Venice FL. With my O's hat on people are talking to me about the O's now. Thanks for that one,
Posted by: Andy | April 5, 2011 11:13 AM
One of the best pieces I’ve read in a long time! It’s nice to hear that someone from out west can understand what makes baseball at Oriole Park so special. Too bad you weren’t here for 1989, my favorite Orioles team, it kinda had that same vibe, only no one could quite pin it on any one person like we can with Buck.
You’re absolutely right, baseball holds a city unlike anything else. It’s somehow special that way. It’s what makes it our national pastime. At this moment we’re on top of the world! We’re already dealing with injuries, so we will have to put up with our fair share of woes this year. This year though, it feels like we’re ready to handle them, as if all is not lost.
Posted by: Ted | April 5, 2011 11:29 AM
This was a great article...so descriptive I could imagine being in my beloved Baltimore. I am in Marco Island, Florida and could not get the game on TV...just had to follow the Game Channel on the internet. However, the O's did make the local news last night, and they NEVER show anything about the Orioles. They even had video highlights of Earl Weaver throwing out the first pitch and the sports announcer said a lot of postive comments about the team! I'm in love with Brian Roberts all over again -- as well as Nick McHottie! Go O's...let's get lots of bang for our Buck!!
Posted by: Cindy | April 5, 2011 11:50 AM
I was at the game and I agree with everyone else. It was an amazing feeling and being only 20 years old the Orioles have had a losing team over half my life, but I truly and hopeful this team will make noise and come September they will compare use to the Rays of 3 years ago when all their young pitchers matured, and Longoria did amazing. I still have a bitter taste from Jeffery Maier in 96' and want to play the Yanks this year and dominate them, and hopefully in the playoffs too. Besides the point though a lot of optimism for this team and I hope people show up like yesterday for more games in the future(Just let me get tickets before they become impossible to come by)HAHA
Posted by: Joe | April 5, 2011 12:19 PM
I reminded me and took me back to '83
when Wild Bill and John Denver were on top of the dugout, what it felt like to have a winning team. And maybe a little of the Orioles in the late '60s and 1970s.
That was what we knew and came to expect - the Orioles winning and playing great.
The O's winning streak was the lead baseball story on ESPN last night.
Maybe the jinx is over.
Posted by: The Legends | April 5, 2011 1:11 PM
Ralph, nice writing. Go O's
Posted by: Jack BlackWhite | April 5, 2011 1:23 PM
Well-done, sir.
Posted by: Chris | April 5, 2011 1:55 PM
Pretty sure that just made me cry.
My favorite home opener ever, and I was by myself (I really wasn't, not really; I was forty-six thousand other O's fans...).
Posted by: Elton | April 5, 2011 3:40 PM
WOW! I always looked for your articles during football and always felt like I got so much more out of them then any other sun writer. You have a way of criticizing without sounding like a doubter (for lack of a better way to describe it). I am looking forward to reading more Orioles stories.
I can remember going to the games in the early 90's even slightly in late 80's. Watching fireworks with 98 rock at memorial stadium. Always hoping Cal would hit a HR so I could see it in person. Then Camden yards walking up to the stadium seeing people selling and buying tickets, nothing but orange and black everywhere. Trying to get a good seat after the 7th inning cause the stadium was packed to the gills. I was sitting at work yesterday listening to 105.7 and would have done anything to be there. Hearing the fans in the background and knowing that the stadium would be electric, it just felt like something was totally different than the last 13 years. It felt as though they were Bucking the usual trend. Go Orioles, Buck the rest!
Posted by: marshall413 | April 5, 2011 5:05 PM
Keith, great article. I go back a few more years than most, I remember the crowds at Memorial Stadium. What a great time that was. Was hooping Time Wazrner would finally agree to carry MASN on their network, gbut it looks like we will go another year in North Carolina without seeing the Birds. Keep up your excellent work on the Birds.
Posted by: Philip L. Harrison | April 5, 2011 9:14 PM
Terrific Article ... Been a long, long time since I have felt "Oriole Magic" .... Maybe it's here again.
Posted by: Errol Phillips | April 5, 2011 9:39 PM
As marschall413 above says, I always took notice of your bylines in the Sun. I'm not really much of a football fan anymore, but the things you write about the Ravens are always unusually well-written and very thoughtful. The idea that you might write similarly about baseball and the O's is a very pleasant prospect. Say it's so.
Posted by: orange crayon jesus | April 6, 2011 12:03 PM
I was seven the last time the O's had a winning season... but you can always tell Baltimore's a great baseball town lying dormant.
Posted by: Nathan | April 6, 2011 12:16 PM
Keith, I moved to Boston, and now Vermont from my hometown of Baltimore for over 30 years!
Reading your article brought back so many great memories for me, as it did to so many other readers. Being up here in the northeast kingdom, the Baltimore sun sports page via Internet is all I have to keep my " hun" roots true and in tact. I will print and frame this article for my son to read when he is of age!
Hopefully he will be proud that his "paw" is a Baltimorian who still believes and bleeds orange and black!
From the words of Rex Barney, " Thank Yooooouu"...
Posted by: Jon | April 6, 2011 12:45 PM