If you’re heading out to Camden Yards in 2012, it’s probably because you want to see the new statues out in centerfield. Maybe you’re curious to see the new cartoon bird logo or perhaps the Washington Nationals are in town.
While I would never suggest dumping the hometown team and switching loyalty to an up-and-comer, I’m comfortable admitting that if you’re starving for quality baseball then D.C. will be the place to be in 2012.
I remember a couple seasons ago thinking that the Orioles and Nationals were at the same level in their franchise rebuilds. As a lifelong Orioles fan and believer that they could put a decade (at the time) of losing behind them, I thought that Baltimore would eventually be ahead of Washington and soon climb out of the bottom of the AL East. I was wrong.
With the help of their top rated farm system, this offseason the Washington Nationals added an undisputed Ace to their top of their already impressive rotation. Then just last week, Mike Rizzo went ahead and signed the best remaining free agent pitcher to further solidify their pitching staff.
No Prince Fielder. No Yu Darvish. No Edwin Jackson. And yesterday the Orioles traded their top of the rotation starter and fan favorite, Jeremy Guthrie.
It’s been a disappointing 14 years and as of February 7, it looks like the Orioles are set up for a 100 loss season while their local rival gets closer to a playoff berth.
Camden Yards is one of the most beautiful ball parks in the country and it will be celebrating its 20th birthday this season. Surely, heading out there this year will be fun and I’ll probably make the trip 20 or so times this summer. But when I want to watch good baseball, I’ll hop on the D.C. Metro and head to Nats Park where something special is happening.
The Nationals are coming off an 80 win season in a year in which they only played 161 games. For the first time ever phenom Stephen Strasburg will be joined in the rotation by fellow young star Jordan Zimmermann. The Nats locked up Gio Gonzalez from the A’s to a longterm deal and with their signing of Edwin Jackson showed that they think a Wild Card appearance isn’t out of the question.
Washington will get help in their lineup from Adam LaRoche, who was injured the majority of last season, and look to see if Michael Morse can duplicate his career high 31 home run season from 2011. And oh yeah, that Ryan Zimmerman guy isn’t too shabby either.
The Nats are on the rise. If baseball adds a second Wild Card this season like Commissioner Selig hopes, they’ve got a real chance of making the playoffs for the first time since their re-arrival to Washington. Even if they don’t their fans should expect some exciting play from an ever-improving roster.
Being an Orioles fan is tough. Building a winner takes time and the fan base feels that they have been lied to for far too long to believe in any more long-term plans — even if that plan does end up working. The fans no longer believe this team will sign big free agents, has doubts in their prospects’ development at the Minor League level and thinks that ownership doesn’t have a desire to win. It’s tough for me to refute those claims.
What I know is that I’d take one Orioles World Series title over five Ravens Super Bowls. I know that there are Orioles fans in Baltimore that have tucked their hats far back into their closets because they can no longer support the efforts of their once beloved team. They need a reason to dust them off, I just don’t know what it will be.
Zach Wilt is the Founding Editor of BaltimoreSportsReport.com. You can follow him on Twitter @zamwi or send him an email: zach@baltimoresportsreport.com.
Dear Zach ,
In the past , I gave you the benefit of the doubt because you look like the photo you posted a few days ago , sympathy vote you know , but now I must say you are a hypocrite,,,,,,,,,you tell us to go to Dc to see good baseball yet you also say you are going to attend about twenty games at OPACY,,,,,,,,,,you are a hypocrite my friend,,,,,,,,,,,it’s people like you that keeps Peter the Great in business , if you would take you dollars to DC then the Nats could become even better and we all would have a winning team to go see,,,,,,,,,,,,in case yo didn’t know , baseball is dead in Baltimore , you are the only person I know who will go see team everyone knows will loose 100 games,,,,,,,,,,pitiful………
I know Mark Brown believes Gio Gonzalez to be the ace of this team. It sounds like he is the only one. Most people are talking as if he is the 3rd starter.
Regardless, we at least agree on the heart of the message. The O’s have yet to show any real progress over the past 13 seasons. They only digress.
I will still go to OPACY more than Nationals Park this year, but it is more out of nostalgia than the hopes of seeing a winning team.
3rd starter? Behind Strasburg and Jackson or Zimm? I definitely see Gio as an Ace too. Strasburg’s innings will be limited this season.
Strasburg is the best pitcher on that team. His innings are limited though. Gio is a Cy Young caliber pitcher as well. He will be #2 on the depth chart, but will be the teams best pitcher at the end of the year. That’s mainly because Stras won’t pitch the entire season. I also like JZimm a lot. Edwin Jackson is a bad #1 or #2 but a very solid #4. I’m also a big fan of Ross Detwiler and feel he’s been underrated. Wouldn’t be surprised if he beats out the other guys and is the #5. That’s a very good rotation. The problem with the Nats is that their offense isn’t any good. Because of that they are destined to be a 4th place team this year. I have the Phillies winning the division, and the Marlins and Braves getting the two wild card spots. Ramos is a decent catcher but isn’t elite. LaRoche is terrible. Espinosa has power but will never hit for average. Ryan Zimm is injury prone and can’t last a full season. Ian Desmond is the worst starting SS in baseball. Morse should have been a sell high and is risky to repeat. Werth is what he is. His numbers should rise slightly, but he’s a complementary player, not a heart of the order hitter. Harper will struggle as he did at the beginning of every level. He will be Barry Bonds…but not for a few years. Bad offense = 4th place. The Phillies and Braves have better pitching staffs still. And the Marlins, Phillies, Braves, and maybe Mets all have better offenses.
Youre totally right, teams with a subpar offense have no chance of making the playoffs, ask the 2010 Giants. Oh wait…….
Just one more hypocrite , see above comments and join the parade of people lining the pockets of the Angelos family trust fund, because he has done so much for you………
Z-Man, you sound surprised that the Nats have seemingly improved a whole lot more than the O’s…Shoot, just look at how much more of the MASN revenue the Nats take in as compared to the O’s meager share…Oh…Wait…Dang it…Turns out the Nats only got about 13% of the take last year…Never mind.