A Tale of Two Baseball Cities

During our little trip, we went to two different baseball games.  On Tuesday we went to the Pirates/Twins game.  On Friday we went to the Orioles/Nationals game.

Pirates Game
After spending the day at the zoo, we made our way to the game a bit early.  We found our seats and just wanted to relax for a bit before the game started.  Unfortunately, this was not possible.  The people in our section were there because of the guy singing the national anthem.


When he was done singing, they had to give him a standing ovation every time he came by.  Plus, the lady beside me, decided to talk to the people behind her and so she had to turn and basically lean on me.  Needless to say, we went over to the rotunda and watched the rest of the game.

Such a fantastic game.  Josh Harrison hit a home run off of Josh Willingham’s shoulder (upon further review, it was actually a double since it hit the wall as well).  Later when we were at the rotunda, McCutchen hit a home run that hooked inside the foul pole.  We were able to see it perfectly.

Oh, and if you decide to go to a game and heckle a player, allow me to give you some advice:
-Know whether or not the player is actually any good or not.
-Do not mention the players family.
-Do not use obscenity.

These guys were yelling at Josh Willingham, saying how bad he sucked and that he was a loser.  I guess that is pretty typical, but if they knew anything about him, they would know he is pretty decent.  They should have went with a more clever approach like mocking him for signing with the Twins.

They then found out his wife’s name and started saying stuff about her.  That is crossing a line and if Willingham would have climbed into the stands and beat the guy down, I would not have blamed him.  Plus, some of the stuff he was yelling was a bit vulgar, which caused the security guards to come over and warn him.

Orioles Game
I had been to Camden Yards before, but it was back in 1998 (I think).  It is a fantastic park.  You can definitely see some of the influence on PNC Park.


Our seats were in the next to last row and it started raining, which was actually okay since we were under cover.  There was a stupid one hour rain delay, even though it was not raining very hard.  Later during the game though, it did start raining, and there were lightning bolts right by the stadium, yet they did not stop play.

The Orioles won the game 2-1.  We did not stay for the whole thing though, the delay was cutting into our going out time.

There was something Lindsey and I noticed about the game though.  For a game that was sold out, there were a bunch of empty seats.  And not just during the delay.  Most of the people in our section did not sit down until about the sixth inning.

It seems like the majority of the people like to dress up in the Orioles gear and then head to the game and spend most of their time drinking near the warehouse.  I have no idea if that area has a name.  Every time we looked, the smoking areas were full and some of the people looked like they never left.

I just do not understand the appeal of going to a game and just hanging out to drink.  Most of the people that sat down had no clue what happened most of the game.  I do not get that sense in Pittsburgh.  Yes, I realize some people could care less about the game, but I do not get the sense that is the overwhelming majority.

Also, I am completely with Sean on this one:  it is immediately disrespectful to scream “O” during the national anthem.  After they did that, I decided to root for the Nationals.

So basically, I am saying that Pittsburgh is better than Baltimore.

Author: Ngewo

3 thoughts on “A Tale of Two Baseball Cities

  1. I’m glad that you’re with me on the “O” during the national anthem thing. I’m not sure why it bothers me so much, but it does.

    1. I feel like my junior high history teacher would hate Baltimore. He would get so angry if someone so much as sneezed during the national anthem.

    2. Lindsey pointed out to me that the Pens fans do something similar, where they scream “Lets go Pens” during the pause…is this the case?

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