OPACY North

The Orioles 2012 season has been fun – both on the field and in the park. For too long, a “prime game” at Camden Yards meant being subjected to an embarrassment on the field, magnified by the indignity of being outnumbered in your own stadium by the opposing team’s fans.

Red Sox and Yankees fans make the trip south, to be sure. But a lot of these “fans” are the ones that simply grew tired of losing Orioles baseball, and switched allegiances. You know the ones: they’re the pink hat nation with excuses like “I have an uncle who grew up in Boston” or “someone bought me a Yankees hat when I was a kid, and I just followed them ever since.”

Well, the O’s are no longer an AL East doormat, and the Yard is ours once again – orange and rocking.

As great as that is, this weekend’s series in Boston has proven to be even more satisfying. The Orioles went in heavily favored, trying to catch the Yankees for the division lead. And O’s fans were there to watch it happen. A vocal minority of orange and black clad fans made their presence known. Was there anything better than hearing a rousing chorus of “Let’s Go O’s” in Fenway, as Jim Johnson closed down his record-breaking 46th save?

Part of me hopes that the Orioles fans were respectful, and good natured about it. That part of me hopes that they were good stewards of the game, and representatives or our city. The other part hopes that they were as boorish and obnoxious as the visitors we have come to know at Camden Yards. That part of me is fully wrapped in the schadenfreude of watching Orioles fans add insult to an injurious season in Boston.

Fenway might not be Camden North just yet. The O’s have had a good season, but will need to sustain it, if their fans are going to travel in force.

But for one series, in a a magical season? I’ll take it.