I couldn’t have foreseen it to sink to the depths we’ve seen this year.
There was a three-game weekend series last month against the Blue Jays that was just jaw dropping in its lack of populating downtown. No traffic, no parking problems, no people.
There might have been 10,000 in the stadium on that beautiful 85-degree Sunday afternoon.
So, what happened to all of you?
I know why WE stay away. I suppose what I’m asking you today is why YOU stay away.
You don’t stay away for the same reasons we do, that’s for sure.
So, what is it?
Too far? Too much money? Kids aren’t interested? Kids don’t play the game? You don’t know who’s on the team? Something the owner did? The nine years of ineptitude? The passing of another trade deadline with no action? Team doesn’t spend enough money? Jon Miller? Is it just not fun to go anymore? Did the ushers threw you out, too?
Well, WHATEVER THE REASON, consider this:
What is it costing you? What memories are YOU missing because of baseball’s slide in our community? What experiences, in your life, have measured up to the fun you’ve had at a ballgame or watching a ballgame with a friend, a relative, a loved one, a buddy?
And what are you going to do about?
If this community really intends to make future memories at Camden Yards — and I personally feel, as taxpayers, we PAID for the right to have Camden Yards — someone needs to step up and take action now. Nestor with WS trophy
No one in the local or national media or the local government or the Orioles family has spoken up or out about what’s happening downtown to all of the bars and restaurants and the tax dollars on those 81 nights a year.
No one has mentioned how lonely downtown is on gamedays and gamenights when the Yankees and Red Sox aren’t in town. I live here and I see things every night that no one in Bel Air or White Marsh or Catonsville can see.
And I know having been there in 1992 how full it used to be and how empty it is now.
We’re hoping to change that on Thursday.
We hope you consider how we, as citizens, can impact the future of the franchise.
Like we did in 1988 with Fan Appreciation Day and the funding for Camden Yards. Like we did we when said we wanted to continue to fight for an NFL team in 1993.
Like we didn’t in the early 1980’s when the Colts went on the skids.
I never want to go through that again but with the team continuing to hold to the status quo, it’s like they really aren’t here anymore right now anyway.
