Orioles Fans in Yankee Stadium

I missed the game yesterday, and in catching up on the internets, I came across this video that shows the Orioles’ four home runs in the 6-1 victory over the Yankees. The interesting part was not that J.J. Hardy finally hit his first home run of 2014. Or that Steve Pearce continues to be a bad, bad man. Instead, I was interested in the crowd shots.

In which I saw a lot of orange.

I don’t want to make too much of this, because New York has a metropolitan population of 19.9 million people, including transplants from all over the world. Surely, there has to be a decent contingent of former Birdlandians (Sam and Alan of the Baltimorons podcast, for instance). But until recently, the team hasn’t given those fans a reason to come out to Yankee Stadium in force.

This clip not only shows pockets of orange in Yankee Stadium, but an audible cheer when Adam Jones hit his first-inning home run. These were not meek “excuses me” fans. These were not fans silenced by a crushing defeat in Friday night’s ballgame. These were orange-clad fans who, though in the great minority, made their presence known.

It’s my hope that Orioles fans never become known as obnoxious bullies (see Camden Yards Experience with NYY/BOS, 2004-2011). I hope that our fans are known as people who know their baseball and love their team. But it would be nice if our fans travelled, and made their presence known.

Yesterday’s game was a great win. I would go as far as to say it was a must-win. But upon catching up on the highlights, I was most pleased to see Orioles fans in Yankee Stadium. Lots of ’em. Consider this my tip of the cap, Birdland.