Orioles Opening Day 2009 – Awesome!

Wow, that was sooooooo much fun being in the Yards and enjoying the energized O’s fans rooting loudly and stridently for their Birds while sending Tex a message that his kind wasn’t welcomed in these parts!!!  The crowd was into every at bat and wasn’t afraid to show their pleasure:

Or their dislike of Tex, which was fierce and sustained to a level I haven’t heard since the ultimate “me” player, Reginald Martinez Jackson, played for the Yankees.  He was hated so much that even Orangebird’s Grandma rooted for “that damn Reggie” to strike out!  Here’s a sample of the fan’s reaction to Tex after he made one of his 4 outs:

 

 

The game started a bit late because of rain, but none of fans spirits were dampened!  We even had a dead celebrity sighting on Eutaw St.:

And some fans getting in some early practice in case they were shown on the “Kiss Cam”

The pre-game ceremonies began with the introduction of the Evil Empire.  What was particularly funny was that every single person introduced was lustily booed, including trainers, clubhouse attendants, bullpen catchers, etc.  The loudest boos were of course for you know who.  And they were loud and long!  Here’s the view from our seats in the first row of the upper deck behind home plate (obviously my digital camera is better for close-up shots):

Then it was time for the Orioles to run down the Orange Carpet.  Here are some pics of the intros:

 

Then it was time for the ceremonial first pitch from Vice President Joe Biden, who was surprisingly booed quite loudly.  Maybe it was because he was wearing an Army hat instead of an O’s hat!

 

Then it was time to “Play Ball!”  From the get go, Brian Roberts got on base and was continually disrupting CC’s concentration. 

 

Both him and Jorge Posada were not in sync and I witnessed 2 wild pitches and 2 misplays by Jorge.  Jorge continued his poor defensive effort later in the game with another 2 misplays!  I think Jorge needs to remember that the position he plays is called catcher!!

 

 

Both B-Rob and Adam Jones had great games.  B-Rob was 3-for-4 (a double and two singles) with a walk and Adam was 3-for-3 (a two-run triple and two singles) with two walks.  They combined for five of the O’s 10 runs!

 

Speaking of center fielders, I must say that new Yankees center fielder Gardy looked very slow out there and was completely unable to catch up to anything hit in the gaps!  He won’t remind anybody of Mickey Mantle or even Mickey Rivers!

Eventually the O’s knocked out the $161 million dollar man who gave up six runs on eight hits, five walks and two wild pitches in just 4 and 1/3 innings.  Additionally, he didn’t strike out anybody for the first time since July 25, 2005.  The next pitcher was some schlub named Jonathan Albaladejo, who sounds like the child of Ravens linebacker Brendan Ayanbadejo and Jessica Alba!

He was followed by some guy named Phil Coke.  I’ve never heard of that guy, but he was flat and he fizzed out rather early ran out of gas.  How else do you explain him giving up a homer to Cesar Izturis, who had something like 4 home runs prior to Opening Day!!

 

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure that these guys prefer Pepsi to Coke!

By that point the game was over and all that was left was the post game celebration!!!

 

 

 

 

 

HOW ‘BOUT DEM O’S, HUN!!