Nats, O’s enter series both well above .500 There are plenty of reasons that a true rivalry between the Nationals and the Baltimore Orioles has yet to get off the ground. But none trumps this: Since moving to the District from Montreal in 2005, the Nats have entered their 12 series with the Orioles with a record below .500 in 11 of them.
Nothing short-circuits a rivalry like fan apathy, and there’s been plenty of that amongst baseball fans living in the Baltimore-Washington corridor over the last eight years. For their part, the Orioles have entered those 12 series with a winning record just twice — both times in 2008.
Every year, local media hypes the two three-game series between the clubs even though the players and coaches don’t exactly circle it on their calendar. Other than getting to sleep in their own beds during a “road” trip to the opposing city, there isn’t much for them to get excited about. But maybe that’s finally changing as the two teams play their first three-game series of the season this weekend at Nationals Park.
That’s because the Nats and Orioles are both experiencing a rare bout of sustained success early in this 2012 season. In Washington’s case it wasn’t completely unexpected with a roster populated by rising, young talent. The Nats entered play Thursday in first place in the National League East at 23-14 and have put together one of the sport’s best starting rotations.
For Baltimore, the 25-14 record is a complete shock after an offseason where rival assistant general managers were refusing to work for owner Peter Angelos, and the team had to settle for hiring Dan Duquette, a respected baseball man a decade ago who dropped off the map after being fired by the Boston Red Sox in 2002. That he put together much of the talent that would win that city its first World Series title since 1918 two years later apparently didn’t count for much.
But Duquette, knowing he couldn’t hope to sign top-tier free agents in his first year in Baltimore, cast about for bargains, including starter Wei-Yin Chen (4-0, 2.45 ERA). He will oppose ace Stephen Strasburg (3-1, 2.25 ERA) in the series finale on Sunday.
The last time the Orioles and Nats were in first place this late in the season at the same time was June 24, 2005 — a year they didn’t even play because Washington’s “rival” interleague series remained Toronto, a vestige of its Montreal days. Finally, area baseball fans will have a series with big crowds, beautiful weather and teams actually playing for something. It’s how rivalries are really born.
