The Only Fan in the Park
“I just love being at Fenway,” said the man in the Boston sweatshirt, seated behind me. If I were a guy, I would have punched him in the face. We were about 10 hours from Fenway at Camden Yards, watching the Orioles and Red Sox go at it at the end of a short, two game series. This was one in a long line of asinine comments made by this particular Boston fan and his jackass friends around him.
It began before the first pitch, when the woman he was with mouthed off during the National Anthem about the Oriole “Oh!” cheer.
“Have some respect!” she screamed in the middle of the song, while wearing a baseball cap. I gave her the dirtiest look possible. If we weren’t in the middle of the song, I would have told her that if she didn’t like Oriole Park customs she could go back to Fenway.
It only got worse. The Boston fans bitched about everything. One fat Boston fan spilled his beer all over the Oriole fan next to him, and then in a different inning, spilled his ketchup-covered fries on the same person. “This stadium has shitty stairs!” he exclaimed. “I couldn’t help it, it’s all slippery.”
Some apology. Worse yet, once the man finally got up to go clean himself off, the Boston fan exclaims, “He’s just a stupid Oriole fan anyway, who gives a shit.”
Um, where are you again? Oh that’s right, Baltimore you fuckheads. Of course we’re Orioles fans, you’re at Oriole Park! Even compliments were really backhanded insults. While commenting on how fantastic the barbeque pit was, one fan goes, “Yeah, it belongs to some old, fat player.”
That “old, fat player” is Boog Powell, who helped the O’s win the 1966 World Series, and had three All Star appearances.
If the Oriole fans cheered, the Boston fans said it wasn’t loud enough, or rather, “pathetic.” Even the skyline wasn’t up to par.
“Nice view in center field,” one said. “Gotta love the giant crane.”
Apparently construction never happens around Fenway.
At one point, he even referred to me, and my family as “stupid Oriole fans.” I was livid. I had never wanted to throw down and start a fight more than at that very moment. How dare these people. You come to our stadium, eat our food, drink our beer, sit in our seats, and you have the audacity to disrespect our fans, our city, our culture, and our traditions. For a second, it seemed like we were playing the Yankees. The Boston fans walked around that stadium like they owned the place, like they were entitled to win.
“Hey look, an Eric Bedard shirt giveaway. I bet that would go for .50 cents on Ebay.”
It was unbelievable. They were just as bad as Yankee fans, if not worse. I never used to mind Boston fans. I always rooted for them in the playoffs, especially if they were playing the Yankees. After all, the enemy of your enemy is your greatest friend. I’ve been to Fenway and it’s a beautiful ballpark. They have a great culture there, and I could appreciate it, even though I’m not a Boston fan.
In the past 15 years, I’ve been to around 600 games at Camden Yards, give or take a few for rainouts and playoff games. In that time, they’ve never won a World Series, and have only been to the playoff twice. They’ve been grossly under .500 since 1997, yet I still go, faithful, hoping they’ll rebuild and get better.
If anyone could understand this kind of dedication, I thought it would be Boston fans. However, ever since Boston won the World Series in 2004, their fans have turned into privileged bullies, just like Yankee fans. They waltz into a stadium that’s not their own, heckle other fans, and expect to win simply because they are who they are. It disgusts me. Even at Yankee stadium, I had respect for my surroundings. I cheered for my team quietly, and minded my own business.
But that’s not something these jerks could do. At the end of the game, one of the men actually asked my father if he would sell him his Orioles/Boston tickets, because he’d “make a ton of money on Ebay.” Obviously, my father said no, but I just couldn’t believe they even asked. Is that the type of reputation Baltimore fans have? We’ll just sell our tickets to the best matchups to fans of the rival team?
N.E.V.E.R. I don’t care if the Orioles place last 10 years in a row. I will still be there, in section 340, row A, seat 1-4, cheering them on. Even if I’m the only fan in the park.
April 30th, 2007 at 7:32 am
Sucks. That’s all there is. That’s shitty. In my experience, Boston fans have been patient and gracious, and I’ve enjoyed them coming around because it’s nice to actually see people in Oriole Park. Sounds like you’ve had this happen more than once, though, and that’s a damn shame.
April 30th, 2007 at 7:49 am
Honestly, they used to be fine. There would be tons of them, but they never heckled. But they’ve become cocky. I encourage fans of other teams to see the park, but if you’re not going to respect it, don’t come.
April 30th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
I feel the same way.
And it’s no secret that I’m a Yankees fan. But I LOVE Camden Yards & always enjoyed going there, and playing the Yankees or otherwise, I would never disrespect them.
And living in Boston…yeah. Just, yeah. I’ll just say that it really is scary to know that if I so much as try to cheer for the Yankees, or wear Yankees gear, I have a pretty good chance of getting heckled at best or assaulted at worst.
Respect. That’s all.
April 30th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
Try being a Cuabs fan. Although no matter how badly we are doing nobody can dis Wrigley. However I feel like when you are visiting another stadium you should show respect. Wear your colors support your team, but don’t be an asshole. Just for the record I makeit no secret that I dislike Baltimore, however I do have the upmost respect for Canden Yards and the Os. They both have a very rich history and well Camden is up there with Wrigley in the books.