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Baltimore Orioles
First off, we’re used to the O’s opening the season at home in Oriole Park at Camden Yards. In 2010 that will not be the case, as the O’s open the season on Tuesday April 6th at Tampa Bay. The past few seasons MLB has had to be cognizant of the fact that there’s now a team in Washington again, and they try to stagger the two teams’ home schedules. Nevertheless, there’s also no threat of the first regular season game (or any of the first series for that matter) being postponed due to weather, as the Rays play in a domed stadium. Speaking for myself, I’d rather that baseball (and football) be played outdoors and on natural grass. However, I guess when we think of baseball we think of summertime. In case you haven’t noticed, this area and early April aren’t exactly synomymous with the summer. Who among us can forget the year that we saw a passing snow shower during the course of the Opening Day Game? (Well, okay admittedly it wasn’t the most memorable of Opening Days, because the Terps were also playing the Indiana Hoosiers in the national championship game that night. For the first time in my life, I almost didn’t even pay attention to Opening Day!) But obviously that won’t be an issue in 2010, as the O’s are going to open in a dome. I might also mention that the team’s spring training home will be in Sarasota starting in 2010, so they won’t have to travel far for the first regular season series of the year. (This is of course taking into account that the O’s will sometimes play their final spring training game in this region, as well as fan fest.)
Most teams either start the season with a home stand or a road swing. The O’s are starting 2010 with neither in effect. The season will open with a three-game series against the Rays in Tampa, after which immediately the team will head home to open up their home schedule against Toronto. I can’t remember the O’s home opener ever being on a Friday afternoon, but as I said there are some quirks in the schedule for 2010.
I’m real big on symbolism and parallels, and ironically this is exactly how the O’s finished 2009. If you recall, they went into a three-game series in Tampa (the final road series of the year) on the heels of a long loosing streak. That extended to the first two games of the series, but they won the final game, thus ending the loosing. They then went home for a three-game weekend series with Toronto to close the year. In surprising fashion, the O’s swept the Jays away that weekend to end the season on a happy note. While I don’t want to see the O’s loose the first two games of the season, I’d take a 4-2 start and a sweep of a division rival, as would most of the fan base.
As I said, the O’s are opening the year indoors in 2010. While I’d always prefer to open the season at home, I don’t necessarily think that this is a bad idea. In how many northern cities have we seen odd cancellations during the first two weeks of the season? Remember Cleveland’s “snow out” a couple of years ago? If my memory serves me they had to move the series to Milwaukee. I guess my point is that while I love having the O’s open the season at hom in Camden Yards where they belong, I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to the league concentrating the first two weeks of the season in domed stadiums, in California, and in the south. I’ve never attended an indoor game, but one thing that’s always struck me is that those ballparks lack the big tarp rolled up on one of the baselines. In 2007 the O’s opened the season with a three-game set against the Twins in Minnesota, and the games were played during a snowstorm on each night. Yet, the games went on due to the fact that the Twins play indoors. (And incidentally, what’s the use of the Minnesota Twins opening an outdoor ballpark?) Nevertheless, the O’s open the season in Tampa next year…road trip anyone?!
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