The "Battle" of the Beltway

This weekend, the Nats will have a series with the Baltimore Orioles, the "rival" team from Baltimore. The first four seasons in D.C. saw the teams just about split overall, with no clear "better" team between the two. Last year, Ronnie Belliard capped off the series with a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 12th inning, a game in which I left right before his at-bat, figuring the game was over (and we had really nice seats, too). I'm still kicking myself for that decision. Still, it was probably the second-best moment of the year for Nats fans, only behind Ryan Zimmerman's walk-off on Opening Night.

So there there have been some good games between the team teams. They're pretty equal in futility, though the Nats managed to finish worse than the Orioles did in 2008, partly due to the fact that the O's were looking like contenders for the first 1/3 of the season, before they eventually fell off the face of the earth. Both teams have owners that the fanbases are not particularly fond of (The Lerners are already being labeled as cheap owners, despite being the richest in baseball, and Peter Angelos is arguably the worst owner in sports) and both teams are rebuilding. It's eerie how close the teams are in talent: the Nats have Ryan Zimmerman, the O's have Nick Markakis; the Nats' top prospect will be Stephen Strasburg, who is being called a superstar in the making (they still have to draft him and sign him, though!), while the O's have Matt Weiters, arguably the best prospect in all of baseball. Both have no pitching, but with some bright young prospects coming up and contributing. Overall, the two franchises are very similar, which makes the series between these two interleague opponents usually pretty good. This year should be no different.


But I have to make one thing clear: the "rivalry" between these two teams, and fanbases, is nonexistent. Many Nationals fans cheered for the Orioles before the Nationals arrived (I am one of those fans, though I never considered myself a serious Orioles fan...but ah, Brady Anderson was so dreamy) and many still root for the Orioles to do well in the AL East. Personally, I'd love to see both the Orioles and Nationals become perennial winners. I'm sure there are some Orioles fans who root for the Nationals to at least be decent, but I don't think you'll ever see an O's fan and a Nats fan fighting like you might see between Red Sox and Yankees fans. There's just too much crossover. There are tons of Orioles fans in Nationals Park for this series, and there are usually a good number of Nationals fans at Camden Yards as well.

Also, though Nationals fans despise Peter Angelos for screwing them over with MASN and the whole TV deal, the hate is shared with Orioles fans. Angelos is hated by all. Throw in the fact that the Orioles only come to Nationals Park once a year, and the rivalry really doesn't muster. For that to happen, there will probably need to be some punches thrown or managers tossed in close ball games. Still, it will most likely be years before any kind of rivalry develops; interleague rivalries just are too infrequently played to be significant.

Not to mention it's hard to brew any kind of rivalry when both teams are (usually) in last place by the time the series rolls around. What's there to get worked up about? There's no pennant race in May/June. Like I said, you're probably going to need some kind of fight to start anything. Personally, I'd love to see an Adam Dunn vs. Aubrey Huff fistfight. Two heavyweights, baby. But, until then, these two last place teams will play annually for nothing more than bragging rights, which generally means nothing, because, most likely, the series will not be a sweep.

I just hope that the Nats can avoid a winless 11-game homestand (currently 0-7 I believe) and that Ryan Zimmerman can continue his 38-game on base streak.