Battle of the Beltway

[HedleyLamarr]

Now although this "rivalry" could technically be named based on the I-95 connection, so could games against Atlanta, Boston, Florida, New York, Philadelphia, and Tampa Bay.

Not to nit-pick or anything, but I-95 doesn't run through Atlanta or Tampa Bay.....

[speedo]

Now although this "rivalry" could technically be named based on the I-95 connection, so could games against Atlanta, Boston, Florida, New York, Philadelphia, and Tampa Bay.

Not to nit-pick or anything, but I-95 doesn't run through Atlanta or Tampa Bay.....

Yep...

An I-75 connection would hook Tampa Bay and Atlanta up with Cincinnati and Detroit.

[JPBlueHen]

Okay, apparently a lot of people on this forum are really against the idea of the Washington/Baltimore area having two baseball teams. The first thing I'm wondering is why they are even considered one area. They have separate media outlets (TV, newspapers, radio stations, etc.), beltways, school and business districts, and lots of other things. They also have large enough of populations to be considered separate metro areas. Here are the populations of the metro areas of Washington, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh, which is a market that contains a Major League Baseball team, an NHL, and an NFL franchise (These numbers were directly taken from the U.S. Census Bureau):

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD: 4,796,183

Baltimore-Towson, MD: 2,552,994

Pittsburgh, PA: 2,431,087

As you can tell, Pittsburgh, an area with three major pro sports franchises, is less in population than either Baltimore or DC. So if you think that the Baltimore-DC area can't support two teams, then cities like Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Tampa shouldn't even have a franchise (I know what you're thinking, but sorry; my Cards aren't going anywhere ). Also, doesn't this area have two football teams already (the Skins and Ravens)?

I think a rivalry will do great for these two franchises. The Orioles are in need of a rivalry because they never really had a true one. In their division, the Yanks and Sox have each other already, the Jays will never be one because Americans could care less for Canadian teams (sorry to the Canadian fans out there, but I'm just stating what Americans in general think), and the Rays aren't going anywhere anytime soon so a rivalry with them would just be a waste. The only real rival they have in the National League is the Phillies, but they don't play them very often and I believe the real interleague rival for the Phils is the Sox. So the Nats are the perfect fit. The two cities are within an hour of each other, there's an individual rivalry that could develop out of this (Soriano vs. Tejada), and the Nats' manager, Frank Robinson of course has an incredible history in Baltimore. I think the rivalry will be great for the area, especially a few years from now when the Nats have their new stadium. At that point, both of these teams could be playoff contenders and they could put up some really competitive and nasty battles. Not only is it great for Washington and Baltimore fans, but it's great for baseball as well.

[pooter]

Now although this "rivalry" could technically be named based on the I-95 connection, so could games against Atlanta, Boston, Florida, New York, Philadelphia, and Tampa Bay.

Actually, Atlanta isn't on 95! I-95 stays along the coast and goes through Savannah - ATL has I-75 and I-85.. figured since I'm local I would dispell this

I am sure that he meant that I-95 runs through these states.

Because in no way is he dumb enough to think that I-95 runs through Atlanta and St. Petersburg.

Because I-95 ia about 160 miles from St. Petersburg and 225 miles from Atlanta.

Maybe an I-75 Series with Tampa Bay, Atlanta, Cincinnati and Detroit?

[griffelh]

WHat I don't get is why a logo for a pre-season game when these teams are going to play 6 regular season games?!

[BaltimoreFan]

For this year, I will give Flanagan and Duquette the benefit of the doubt about not overpaying some of the guys on the market (Burnett and Millwood, for example -- and they at least made an effort to sign Konerko). They can use this year to see what they have with some of the youngsters, then look to next year when the free agent market promises to be better. If they sit on their money next year, however, I won't be so forgiving.

Of course, I am not forgiving at all with Angelos (as opposed to Flanagan and Duquette). He has been the common denominator over the 8 years of losing. What happened to the guy who was willing to pull the trigger on deals for Alomar, Palmeiro, Randy Myers, et al., but now won't touch his wallet? My theory is that Angelos decided he was a baseball genius when he vetoed the trades of Wells and Bonilla in 1996 and the Orioles went to the ALCS. Now, he can't stay out of the way and let his front office staff do its job.

Personally, I don't blame Flanny or Duq (or any of our past GMs for that matter) for not making moves. To tell the truth I don't think we ever actually had a real GM. What I mean is, Angelos will be making all the moves he wants anyway. What is the point of even having one. He did once spend on Alomar and Co., however I think Albert Belle changed his ways with free spending. Angelos won't even touch a player today, with any kind of past injury. I'm hoping we do some spending next year, but I highly doubt Angelos will let it happen.

As for JPBlueHen's post. I agree both areas can support a team. In fact, I was in favor of it for a while. However it has turned into bit of a nightmare. Angelos won't spend at all. He seems to want to field an uncompetitive team, and then rub it in MLB's face to show two teams can't survive here. Also some of the gnats' fans having been sort of annoying me. They act like they've been life long nationals fans (not all of them of course). One story on ESPN at he begining of last season really annoyed me. Some a-hole was talking all kind of crap about the O's. Then at the end of the segment hes at Camden Yards talking about how great it is to go to an AL and NL game in the same day (if your going to talk trash, don't bother taking advantage of our stadium).

As for the logo, is it that big of a deal if they call it the battle of the beltways. Its just some stupid gimmick the nats are using to sell tickets to a meaningless game. I doubt it every shows up during the season.