The One Move That Paid Off in 2015

The Orioles are smarter than I realized. The schedule makers assured that tonight would be a must-see for Orioles fans, by scheduling a sweet give-away (Orioles zip up hoodie).

When the promotional schedule came out, there was no way for the Orioles to know that each and every one of their front office moves would prove to be failures. There was no way for them to know that their starting pitching would go nuclear. They had no way of knowing that J.J. Hardy would produce nothing of value offensively. They didn’t know…

I could go on, but the point is that the Orioles didn’t know that the 2015 season would be a lost cause by the time the Royals came to town. But on the off-chance that the season did go south, placing a sure-thing promotion on the night of the Royals’ return ensured that the game wouldn’t turn into a blue-clad celebration of the Royals’ dominance over the O’s.

The last time the Royals were at Camden Yards, I took this picture:

What you may not be ale to see, as a result of a terrible phone camera combined with terrible photographic skills, is the Kansas City Royals, celebrating a key road playoff victory, with their elated fans.

Watching it was gut wrenching. It was everything I wanted (as I wrote over at Baltimore Sports Report at the time), and I would give anything not to feel that way again.

Sure, I am reminded of that day, as the Royals return to Camden Yards tonight, on the way to another playoff appearance. I am reminded of that feeling, as the hopelessness that started to creep in that night has been upon me for most of the 2015 season. But the Orioles have assured that, in my misery, I will be in good company.

Most of the fans packing the park tonight will be there to collect their Orioles hoodie and oh right! There will be a baseball game, too! But they’ll be locals. And they’ll be wearing their (team furnished) gear. And they won’t be Royals fans, basking in everything I wish I had.

So thanks, Orioles. You may have gotten everything else wrong this season, but this move has paid off nicely.