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The Duality Of O’s And Nats Fandom
By Chris Mottram | May 22, 2012
Inspired by the heated debate in the comments of this post, Mr. Irrelevant reader Pete Cullen offered up this essay on rooting for both the Orioles and Nationals. We thank him for it.
“All men are loyal, but their objects of allegiance are at best approximate.” ~ John Barth, The Sot-Weed Factor
“The way to silence religious disputes is to take no notice of them.” ~ Thomas Jefferson
I am an Orioles fan and I am a Nationals fan.
I was born in 1981 in Washington, DC at Columbia Hospital For Women. My folks lived off of 16th street back then. We moved out to Montgomery County by the time I started kindergarten. I grew up watching the O’s and even have vague memories of Memorial Stadium. Back in ’88, the team was so bad that getting tickets was easy. My Dad liked to run up to Baltimore to catch games on the spur of the moment. He would root for the Oriole players he liked, but he was really just there to watch baseball. He grew up in New Jersey as a New York Giants fan and continued to follow the team after the move. His heart wasn’t really in it, and he could not attend games in person. He rooted for the Mets for a while. When DC got a team, he switched his allegiances fully to the Nats. He can take public transportation to the stadium. I go with him when I can. I wound up going to grad school in Baltimore, and I have stayed. I own a home in Baltimore. For a while I lived so close to Camden Yards I could walk there, and did.
I am a fan of both teams. I don’t think this is a problem. People that have a problem with rooting for both teams are probably not really from here. The essence of our land and ourselves is dualilty.
The Chesapeake Bay is a natural formation known as a ria, or a drowned river. Ocean water flooded the valley of the Susquehanna as the last ice age ended. The bay is not properly a river, as it has some salt and ocean life passes through it. It is not really the Atlantic either. It is simultaneously a river and an arm of the ocean. The salt marshes that line the bay are neither land nor water. You cannot walk across a meadow of salt hay without plunging into the wet muck up to your waist. You cannot boat across one either.
Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia all touch the Bay. The dual nature of the bay is reflected in the histories of these places. The northern border of Maryland is the Mason-Dixon line, which of course separated free states from slave states before the Civil War. The state of Maryland remained with the Union during the war, but slaves in Maryland were not freed until after the war. There were 1st and 2nd Maryland regiments in both the Confederate and Union armies. It is no coincidence, I think, that the bloodiest day of the Civil War took place in Maryland.
The District of Columbia originally straddled the Potomac and lay in both Maryland and Virginia. It is the capitol of the free world, but it has also been the murder capitol. Those who grew up in the city are no doubt aware of the great difference between the halls of power and the humble homes of those who clean them. The city is split by Rock Creek, with whites living mainly on the west side and blacks on the east.
There are really two Washingtons. The Washington of government and the people who come to work its levers, and the Washington of those of us who were born there.
The dual nature of Viriginia is perhaps best represented by the life of Thomas Jefferson. I could go into the two sides of that man, but you all know the story and it has been told better by others. I would rather talk about the 29th Infantry Division. The 29th was originally a National Guard unit drawn largely from Maryland and Virginia, with some units from New Jersey and Tennessee. As the division was composed of men from both the north and south of the United States, it was nicknamed the “Blue and Gray” division. The division shoulder patch is a blue and grey yinyang.
The division played a key role on D-Day. The 29th’s 116th Infantry regiment was the first American unit on French soil. A Company, 1st Batallion was totally annihilated by German fire on Omaha beach. The division continued to fight across France and into Germany. They took over 200 percent casualties by the end of the war. The 29th Infantry was instrumental in the destruction of the German war machine and the defeat of international Fascism.
However, in 1963, the 29th was involved in the sometimes brutal suppression of the Civil Rights Movement in Cambridge, MD on the Eastern Shore. The same division that beat the Nazis made sure that blacks stayed on their side of Race Street.
Much of the black section of Cambridge burnt down in a 1967 riot when white fire-fighters refused to put out fires in that neighborhood. The 29th embodies our duality, the best and the worst of us. Their shoulder patch was not chosen by accident.
Many keyboard commandos contend that it is right to hate the Orioles because Angelos blocked the move for so long and he owns the Nats TV rights. They consider this to be unfair business practices. They overlook that the entire MLB is government-sanctioned cartel. I use the word cartel in its truest sense. The sole purpose of this cartel is to hoover money out of your wallet. They do not care about baseball. They do not care about you. They care about money. ALL OF THEM. Enjoying a baseball game requires suspension of disbelief in the same way that watching a super hero movie does. While you are watching The Avengers, you allow yourself to believe that Captain America is real. You do not carry this belief with you out onto the street after the movie is over. You allow yourself to believe for a little while to unwind and forget about your job.
To those sad and twisted souls who say that I am wrong to attend baseball games in the city I live in and also attend baseball games with my father in the city I was born in; to those who would tell me I am only allowed to watch certain games whilst drinking a beer after work at my local bar, I have this message:
WHY DON’T YOU GO BACK TO RUSSIA YOU COMMUNIST? THIS IS AMERICA, WE DO WHAT WE WANT.
Topics: Guest Posts, Nationals, Orioles | 29 Comments »
May 22nd, 2012 at 2:00 PM
Oh man this was a good guest post.
May 22nd, 2012 at 2:31 PM
it’s a bit all over the place, but can’t say i argue with the message.
however, good luck getting any opposing sports fans to agree on anything.
May 22nd, 2012 at 2:35 PM
It’s a good argument. Wrong, but a good argument.
May 22nd, 2012 at 2:40 PM
Agreed! I’m a DC sports fan and want my DC teams to do well, but will always love Cal Ripken and the team of my youth.
Also one team is AL and one is NL.
Go O’s & Nats!
May 22nd, 2012 at 3:13 PM
I was born and raised in Northern Virginia in the early 70s and have lived in this area most of my life and never will be a fan of anything Baltimore. I never felt at home going to see the Os in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Because of a family connection to Boston, I cheered for the Red Sox. But since 2005 I have been 100% behind the Washington Nationals. I will never embrace Baltimore. Go Nats!
May 22nd, 2012 at 4:15 PM
I’ve probably been to 100 baseball games at Nats park these past few years and the only fan base ruder and more obnoxious to Nats fans/players than Philly fans are O’s fans.
I used to be all about the “friendly” rivalry remembering back to my days of going to Camden yards when I was a kid, not anymore, Boston and NY can win the AL for all I care.
I expect to joust with Philly/Mets fans when they come to our park, but O’s fans? Really?
May 22nd, 2012 at 4:46 PM
I agree with dingu69. I have had season tickets since 2005, and without a doubt Os fans rank second only to Philly. I am not sure where that bitterness comes from, it’s not as if a DC owner has ever attempted to keep a team out of Baltimore. Go Nats!
May 22nd, 2012 at 4:47 PM
It’s really not that difficult for me to understand, since I was brought up here in Maryland. Being born in 1977 and naturally veering towards local teams, of course I rooted for the O’s…Cal Ripken was maybe the only reason for a few of those years probably. Following the local lead, I also root for the Skins, Caps, and Bullets (Wizards, whatever). I have been pushing myself to primarily root for the Nats since they came to town, but it is hard to completely let go of the team I grew up with. So I still find myself checking those O’s out today. If only the Orioles could have just kept sucking, this season may have made things easier on me.
May 22nd, 2012 at 5:56 PM
That was probably the worst argument you could have made for rooting for both teams. Thanks for boasting your JMU History degree but none of what you said has any relevance to why you root for two baseball teams.
The reason you CANT root for both is because they play at the EXACT same time (7pm) on most days, play in different leagues (with different players and rules), and play AGAINST each other EVERY YEAR. I am from DC but will ALWAYS root for the O’s. You cant force me to root for a team that was non existance to anyone under the age of 50.
May 22nd, 2012 at 6:30 PM
This post was fun if a bit random. I definitely root for the O’s and the Nats. I tweeted furing inter-league that I root for the O’s 156 games a year, but I root for the Nats over them
But I know the way I feel about the Ravens (hate) so I understand hard-core O’s fans hating the Nats
May 22nd, 2012 at 8:09 PM
for obvious reasons, people in the region will continue to belabor this issue for years to come. my only hope is that the rivalry (or whatever term you want to use) helps both teams gain some national popularity, resulting in more nationally televised games and prominent FA signings.
May 22nd, 2012 at 8:51 PM
Great explanation of dual fandom. The article needed to be random and all over the place, just like any well thought out and irrational justification for pulling for both organizations should be.
As for Orioles fans being rude when they come to Nats Park, I did not see any of the Friday night game,in fact, I saw a stadium wide wave being performed with equal zeal by those in orange and red alike. I thought everyone got along quite civilly in the 142 section. I was proud to be a Nats and Os fan that night.
However, it has been my experience that Nats fans can be as obnoxious and as rude as any moronic Red Sox or Philly fan only without the team history or any sort of other sports knowledge.
And if folks find O’s fans obnoxious and rude, maybe its because those of us who live in a city that spawned the ideas of Omar, Jimmy McNulty and crew, as well as the very real life Snoop Pearson, its because Baltimore eats shit head Red Sox fans from Northern Virginia named Tyler for dinner.
“I am not sure where that bitterness comes from, it’s not as if a DC owner has ever attempted to keep a team out of Baltimore.” Is probably the reason O’s fans give you shit.
Nats fan forever?
May 22nd, 2012 at 9:43 PM
What is up with the pic? Was Jones taunting or something?
May 22nd, 2012 at 10:29 PM
I agree with you Jamie. You can root for whomever you choose. Baseball is the one sport where you can have allegiance to 2 teams anyway ie AL/NL although interleague makes it a little weird but who cares.
I love the Nats. In 2005 I was stationed in Alaska and my mom sent me a Nats shirt (from cvs or something); came in a plastic tennis ball like container and a fantasy baseball magazine. That was March 2005 and I’ve loved the Nats ever since. That said, Camden Yards is AWESOME. Cal Ripken is AWESOME. Earl freakin Weaver is AWESOME. I still like the O’s; so what, people. If they both make the World Series it would be AWESOME. But I’d pull for the Nats all the way, man.
May 23rd, 2012 at 12:03 AM
This was a neat, refreshing approach to this debate that has no right answer. Thanks.
May 23rd, 2012 at 9:40 AM
Had the Baltimore Orioles/Peter Angelos not taken the Nats TV rights away, that’d be fine. But they did and many Washingtonians were unable to regularly watch a team that had waited a lifetime for on TV until September 2006. Showing loyalty to that organization and man who did that to D.C. is mind-boggling.
May 23rd, 2012 at 9:54 AM
Nice piece, even though it was borderline tl;dr and went on some … interesting tangents. Go Nats!
May 23rd, 2012 at 11:51 AM
The death rattle of a dieing argument. No duality, Baltimore and DC are completely separate entities, and this fact will become clearer and clearer with every passing year. I like the history lesson though!
May 23rd, 2012 at 12:04 PM
I am indifferent about the Orioles and the AL. However, I know the city of Baltimore is crazy about their team so therefore they desevere better. Also the Nats desevere to not have to up with the MASN nonsense. I think we can all agree that Peter Angelos + a hooker with a flesh eating disease = a win win for the two cities.
May 23rd, 2012 at 5:44 PM
I too was born in DC in 1981 (Georgetown), but lived in Northern Virginia until the early 90s when we moved to Central Virginia. When we were in NOVA, my dad and I had Sunday season tickets to Memorial Stadium for ‘88, ‘89, and ‘90. That firmly entrenched me as an O’s fan. In 2004, I moved to the Deep South away from the DMV area so I never got a taste for the Nats, but to be fair, I never became a fan of the Ravens while I was up there either. I stuck with the teams of my youth and am one of those not too uncommon O’s/Skins fans.
May 24th, 2012 at 12:38 AM
Wow, not sure sure how Jefferson/Hemmings relates to anything Nats/O’s, but great thoughts nonetheless.
I was born in the Vienna/Oakton border in 78. Old enough to remember vividly multiple games at Memorial Stadium. I remember the “Why Not?” year and being devasted at the end that they didnt make the playoffs. I went to several in their last (‘Thanks for the memories’) year in the park.
I got to see the great O’s teams in the early years at Camden yards as well. The opening of the that park was very special for baseball, Baltimore, and even the DC metropolitan area. They were my only baseball team. I followed them everyday and waited every morning to see if Boswell would write a piece.
BUT
Boswell also wrote about the atrocity that was DC not having a baseball team. He wrote this during my childhood, sometimes days after writing about the O’s.
My father would take me to occasional O’s exhibition games at RFK and explain to me in horrible stories the shitty Senators teams of his youth. He bought me Frank Howard cards and told me to hold onto to them like gold. He explained in no plain terms that it was OK to root for the Orioles, but the minute DC brings baseball back; they’re no more than your step brother.
On top of Angelos dismantling multiple teams and his selfish attempts to keep baseball out of DC, it was not a hard decision to drop Baltimore out of my emotional well. They are no more than a dead alcoholic relative to me at this point.
Fuck Em!
May 24th, 2012 at 11:42 AM
if you relatively close to my age (34) and you grew up in dc, you should be an o’s fan. i grew up in alexandia – if the vikings moved there, would i root for them instead of the skins? of course not. you don’t root for teams because of location. you root for them because they are a part of who you are. i don’t hate the nats, but i love the o’s.
May 24th, 2012 at 2:44 PM
I hear the Vikings almost moved to Alexandria in 2003.. That’s a relevant example, matt..
So the o’s are a part of who you are? I guess I was right to assume you were a loser.
D.Fox is on point.
May 24th, 2012 at 7:43 PM
The Orioles were my team when I was a little leaguer, they’re my team now.
Grew up in MD five minutes outside DC, and DC didn’t have a team then.
That wasn’t because of Peter Angelos, it was because of DC.
DC has a team now, and that’s a good thing for the city, and if they do well, that’s nice.
I’m not going to abandon my allegiance to the Orioles, because that would make me an asshole.
Hell, I like the Nationals a little. But for a young franchise, they have a lot of lame, abrasive fans. Weed those people out, and when they’re in the playoffs someday, everyone’ll be happy for them.
May 25th, 2012 at 9:56 AM
The first part hit the nail on the head for me. As someone who was born in DC in the 1980s, I had at best marginal allegiance to the O’s. It’s one thing to hitch your wagon to a good team in close proximity but a perennial loser, with an ass of an owner, in a different city? Forget it.
May 25th, 2012 at 10:36 AM
So DC fans boo Harbaugh when he is shown on the bigscreen at a caps game, boo baltimore fans for shouting “O” during the national anthem and overall the fanbase is anti-baltimore and Im supposed to support that? No, never will. When the colts left and the redskins were trying to be forcefed to us here, made me want to distance myself further from any franchise down there. Angelos tried to do the same with the orioles to the market there, thus keeping “Baltimore” off our jerseys for years and years. No thanks, Ill keep my teams, you keep yours.
May 25th, 2012 at 10:46 AM
I compare my “break-up” with the orioles to a long-term relationship that ended for irreconcilable differences. “Odessa” and I had our good times (Cal, Eddie, 1989, 1996-1997) and our bad times (too many to count), but in the end the abuse was unbearable. After emotionally and financially suporting that bitch through thick and thin the bitch had the nerve to stab me in the back, verbally abuse me (in the media no less!) and take me for granted. All the while she was growing fatter and uglier, inside and out. This bitch has been gaining weight for 14 straight years! She’s looking better this year, but it’s still early in the year. She’ll surely grow another chin by the end of the year. Anyways, in 2004, just when it looked like it couldn’t get any worse between that bitch Odessa and I, the “girl next door” (Natasha) who was kidnapped many years ago was finally found in Canada. She moved right back next door to me. I was ecstatic. I welcomed Natasha back with open arms. Over the prior years I told myself if she was ever found I would be 100% devoted to her, and that bitch Odessa made the decision a no-brainer. While in Canada, she was abused and neglected, but she still had a heart of gold. She had some psychological issues, and was weak from malnourishment but she’s growing stronger everyday. That bitch Odessa continues to be a thorn in my side, however. She’s still a presence in Natasha’s and my life, even though we just want her to leave us the fuck alone. That bitch even had the nerve to steal Natasha’s TV set. Bitch must have had an extra key. the court case is on June 1st. Fuck that fat ugly bitch. I could never go back, and I wish her the worst.
May 25th, 2012 at 11:56 AM
Walter Johnson FTW! Odessa is a filthy pirate hooker.
May 27th, 2012 at 5:24 PM
I am in agreement with this article. I grew up with the O’s and don’t feel any hatred for the Nats now especially as I have become acquainted with most oft the players.
I think most of the hatred comes from fans on the NoVa side who never like the O’s but somehow thought it was OK to be RedSox or Yankee fans. At the very least like the Nats because I’m really tired of hearing oh my family is fron NY, Mass, or NJ. Somehow they think that is better then myself who was born in DC and raised in Maryland being an O’s fan.