Nasty Nestor from WNST announced this morning the date of “Free the Birds” 2010.
May 17, vs. Kansas City, 7:05 start
This is the third Free the Birds event, and I attended each of the first two. The first, on September 21, 2006, was a resounding success, was mentioned by many media outlets across the country, and quite honestly, was the most fun I’ve ever had at a baseball game.
Here’s some video from the event:
The second FTB was in September 2007, and was much more sparsely attended. However, the sad state of Orioles baseball was impossible to miss. Check out my photos from that event here.
Nearly three years after that second event, our Orioles sit at a dismal 7-20, worst record in the majors. Sure, the minor league system has greatly improved, and we have some legitimate young talent to give us HOPE for the future…but the fact is, we’re still a laughing stock. And, regardless of the product on the field, the people in the warehouse continue to treat the fans like crap, most recently by getting rid of the “scalp-free zone” outside the stadium and imposing an additional charge on walk-up sales on game days.
Even if you aren’t on board with Nestor’s “Pete MUST sell the team” mentality (although, I have no idea how you wouldn’t be, but to each his own), I still encourage you to come to the game. As you can see from the video above, once inside the park, the group is extremely positive, with chants of “O-R-I-O-L-E-S,” and the kind of cheerleading O’s players are not used to at all (in ’06, Miguel Tejada was particularly appreciative of us, pointing at us and tipping his hat several times).
Also of note is that there is no “walk-out” planned this time. Many that would have otherwise supported FTB in ’06 were turned off by the walk-out, feeling that it was a slap in the face to the players, who are only out there trying to do their jobs. Again, NO WALK OUT on May 17.
Nestor is banking on the fact that O’s fans still care enough to get angry and organized about the sorry state of this franchise. Many disagree, saying that the B’More fan base has totally sunk into apathy at this point.
Help us prove that latter group wrong on May 17. Come out and show the Warehouse that we ARE still here, we DO still care, and, whenever they are ready to actually TRY to start winning again, we’ll gladly fill Camden Yards every night.
