The Belfry and the Business of Baltimore Baseball Bob's Backstop for January 17 , 2006

The Belfry turns five in a couple of months.

We've had a lot of good times in those five years, formed new and lasting friendships (and some fleeting ones...where are you, ChangeWorkPie Charlie?), learned a lot from each other, kvetched and exulted, criticized and praised.

One thing we've never done is made a concerted attempt to open a dialogue with the club itself. Thanks to the graciousness of Mike Flanagan and the occasional openness of Jim Beattie, we've experienced occasional glimpses into the thinking of the Powers That Be, and we've been grateful for those opportunities. In the face of typical internet Sturm und Drang, however, we've avoided 'movements' such as 'get a new owner' or any boycotts, etc.

We've stood by during the last years of the Syd Thrift era, through the AAA war, through the many Angelos controversies, through the two-headed GM Experiment, through two scouting departments, three or four farm skippers, the decline of OPACY attendance, the Maz Era (wasn't THAT fun?), the many futile FA signings (so whatever happened to Omar Daal, anyway?), and lots of ups and downs...mostly downs. We're been critical at times, but not overbearingly so, recognizing that there are bright people running the organization with whom we have a difference of opinion.

That is about to change, so I will not be speaking here in the collective 'we', but instead as a troubled 'I' who has grown so weary of two issues involving the Orioles that I want to go on public record as being opposed to the team's ideologies, and want to open as much dialogue in as many channels, both official and unofficial, concerning these areas. I feel both are vital to the health of the club, and both are mired in a quagmire of wrong-headedness.

The first issue is at the very heart of the club itself.

It's been an annoyance over the years to have the name of the club removed from the road jerseys. It was understandable somewhat when EBW was attempting to regionalize the franchise, considering the animosity between Baltimore and Washington, as well as the perception of Baltimore as backwater by Washingtonians. In recent times, however, the Orioles have taken on a more drastic approach...they have begun removing mention of Baltimore altogether!

It started a few years ago with their 'official' website, which is www.theorioles.com. Again, not a cause for alarm. There are other team sites that do the same thing, some who don't. I really didn't think anything of it at the time, but with the recent move to remove 'Baltimore' from the business cards of club employees, I'm genuinely concerned that the club is losing their way. They don't seem to understand who they even are any more. Branding is important, and in my opinion, the Baltimore Oriole brand is a lot more valuable, meaningful, and rooted than this new 'Oriole' brand, which doesn't exactly have a lot going for it.

What does Baltimore Oriole mean?

It means a large urban seaport; the Inner Harbor; crabcakes; beehive hairdos; friendly people; quirkiness; Natty Bo; twenty-five years of excellence; the Ripken family; Memorial Stadium...

Are these images that folks from southern Pennsylvania supposed to find 'offensive'?

When you were a kid and you wanted to be in a club, was it because the club was ashamed of who they were? Was it because they tried to be all things to all people? Was it because they were concerned about what you thought of them?

Probably not. It was more likely because they established a clear identity for themselves, openly celebrated who they were, and possessed enough positive qualities that you wanted to be associated with them.

This idea of homogenizing the product, especially in the face of a new threat from the Nats, is terrible psychology. Someone doesn't understand fundamental human behavior, what people find attractive, what they attach themselves to.

This is not the time to re-invent the ball club as this bland 'Oriole' organization...it's time to trumpet the Baltimore Orioles, to stand up and shout from atop the Warehouse who you are, and who you are going to be.

If you don't stand for something, you can't stand for anything.

I am going to challenge this line of thinking in every way I possibly can...with petitions, attempts to get on the air, attempts to contact Orioles officials. A debate or interview with someone in the marketing department would be welcomed.

Baseball is all about soulful connections...mystic chords of memory deeply embedded in the psyche...the Orioles are in denial of all that. They want fans to think they don't play in a city, they don't have a real face, like they were the Bowie BaySox or Frederick Keys playing off  I-70 or next to the local Best Buy. Baseball is not a big box retailer, and this is a movement not only insulting to the very locals that the club depends on, but even to those outlying fans who WANT to be associated with not only a team, but a sense of place, of belonging to something bigger than themselves...the Baltimore Orioles of downtown Baltimore, Maryland.

PLEASE respond to this article not only on the massage board, but also through registering your own feelings, if nothing more than a signature, on the 'contact us' feature on the front page of the website. All of the names and comments will be forwarded to the appropriate parties with the Orioles!

Later this week, the Other Issue.