SB Nation User Blog: Eat More Esskay

An Ode to Flat Breezy

Eat More Esskay — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:05:17 -0000

Ode to Flat Breezy

It seems like we hardly knew ye, Flat Breezy,

We'll miss you here in Bawlmer, for sheezy.

Your hat with its strangely unbendable brim,

And how you saved games that looked so grim

(At least most of the time it went that way,

Not the least of which being Birdland Day).

Even when you walked three in a row,

One, two, three batters you'd suddenly mow.

With an unforgettable role in Orioles Magic,

Now bereft of an encore. Just a bit tragic!

So good luck to you, our ninth-inning reaper;

We hope in return we got a great sleeper.

But as far as it goes in old Ball-tee-more

Ol' Georgie, you can safely be sure

That your time with us we'll always remember

And we'll root for you if you pitch in November!

There's one final thing that I know to be true:

You don't look like Vin Diesel; HE looks like YOU.

A Citizens Bank Park Experience

Eat More Esskay — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:47:33 -0000

I was in attendance for last night's Orioles-Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park in Philly. It's the first time I have ever gotten to see the team on the road, so that was pretty cool. I have to confess that what excited me the most was the prospect of getting to announce my presence early. As the strains of the Star-Spangled Banner (as rendered by Rheel Menn, who sounded better than this goofy name suggests) serenaded the stadium, I sounded my barbaric "O!" over the rooftops of the world.

Knowing the Philly reputation, I expected to get some heckles or plastic beer bottles thrown my way because of this. But as for Philadelphian hospitality, the worst I was subjected to over the whole evening was some guy pre-game calling out to me, "Baltimore sucks!" Tell me something I don't know, buddy.

Someone commented to me that people at a glance might have taken the orange and black for Flyers colors. Maybe I should have worn my Joe Flacco jersey if I really wanted to get them riled.

I hope I'm not committing adultery against my beloved Camden Yards by admitting it, but the Phillies' stadium is a great place to watch some baseball. Since it is a bit away from the downtown, parking is not quite as insane - we paid $10 to park in a lot with a block's walk. As well, the view out from the back of the park is a straight shot to the Philadelphia skyline, which was impressive once the sun went down and the lights were lit on the buildings. I had an upper deck seat behind home plate so this was about the best view to see it in the house. A good deal for $22.

Where I was most impressed in comparison to recent experiences at Camden was the concessions. You probably have your own horror story where it's taken three innings to get a bunch of Boardwalk fries or a hot dog or whatever, because that's just how it rolls there. There was a full house at Citizens Bank last night, 45,000 people or so, and I never waited more than 90 seconds to get food or beer, making several trips to do so throughout the game since I was blown away by the speed. I'm not sure if this was because most people weren't buying food and beer or if the Phillies just know the magic number for concession stands. I guess it's easier to plan that stuff when you know every game will sell out, or nearly so.

It seems that some things are universal. The Old Bay Crab Shuffle was the Turkey Hill Ice Cream Shuffle. The ketchup/mustard/relish race instead was the SEPTA (train) race. However, no one at any point attempted to start The Wave. There was no kiss cam, although Philly instead has the "flex cam" which I think was probably worse. Hilariously, some guy got himself on the JumboTron and then chose to make an obscene gesture involving his fingers and tongue - and was immediately booed. Now that's the Philly I was expecting!

Speaking of JumboTrons, theirs is not as cool as ours. Nyah nyah. Really though, the between-innings entertainment was lacking, with one notable exception.

I was filled up on overpriced beer and having a good time since the O's were winning, so I was waiting for a good between-innings song to get up and dance around and make an idiot out of myself. Apparently this is behavior that the people who select music at Citizens Bank Park frown upon, because there was perhaps one song played that was released after 1980, and that was some Linkin Park junk, not exactly the classic or modern rock kind of stuff where the inebriated individuals will sing along and get down with their bad selves. This was disappointing. Maybe there would have been a more cheerful atmosphere if the Phillies were winning. Well, though I was ready to break it down for the YMCA (saving the sprinkler for it and everything), I'm glad to have gone without since it means the Orioles won.

But seriously, nobody was dancing between innings, not even getting up and waving their arms around a little. It was weird. I figured that kind of thing was going to be in every ballpark.

Philly gets some points for the Phanatic, though. One between-innings gag had the Phanatic serenading a female Phanatic before a candlelight "date" ... and ended with the Phanatic doing a body-splash, knocking over the table, the chairs, and the female Phanatic. It's the funniest mascot thing I've ever seen.

All in all, it was an enjoyable experience. I hope that if I get to experience some more road games in subsequent years that they can match this one. With that said, I am off to try to solve the one big burning Philadelphia mystery I encountered yesterday... which would be why seemingly half of South Philadelphia does not take down their Christmas lights. Ever.

Orioles 12, Blue Jays 10: This Day Is Birdland

Eat More Esskay — Wed, 27 May 2009 23:23:04 -0000

I don't mean to step on anybody's toes with this fanpost, but I was at today's game and I don't see the post-game now that I'm back at home. I'm pretty excited. So I figured I'd start writing and see what comes out.

At the start of today, the omens for an Orioles victory were simply not present. A day game, series finale, pitching against Roy Halladay, with the 7-8-9 slots of the line-up being occupied by Pie, Moeller and Andino. Moeller who had already been told he would be sent down on Friday to make way for Wieters. But it was Ollie's Bargain Day, meaning $9 "upper reserve" tickets so I decided to make the trip to Oriole Park at Camden Yards and see if, in spite of all reasons to believe to the contrary, the team could bring a little Orioles Magic to Birdland.

I think it's safe to say that a new MASN "defining moment" commercial was launched today.

The game looked like it was going to be a long one from the top of the first. Rich Hill did not look very sharp throwing, and did not help himself in committing an error that led to a run and an early 1-0 deficit. There was hope resurgent for Birdland, because Luke Scott decided he'd had enough of the disabled list and took Halladay deep in his first at-bat. Unfortunately, there was still more Rich Hill to contend with and the wheels fell apart for him in the top of the 4th with six Blue Jay runs crossing the plate in a half-inning that felt like it lasted for an entire hour. With the score 7-2 in favor of Toronto, a comeback against Halladay seemed unlikely. Indeed, by the time he left the game after pitching seven innings, the deficit was 8-3.

Even among the faithful fans who remained, there was some grousing - playing out the string, wanting to stick it out to the end, but not really expecting to make the comeback.

Then, Birdland happened.

First it was, "Gee, if Huff homers, we'll only need a grand slam to tie." Then Huff got on base. Then Mora got on base. Then Scott got on base. Suddenly it was a grand slam to be down a run. Only, Chad Moeller came up with the bases loaded and one out and everyone expected a GIDP. Instead there was an HBP. Then Robert Andino (at that point 3-for-3) came to the plate and everyone expected a GIDP. Instead, he became 4-for-4 and the deficit was lowered still. Toronto brought in another reliever but could not stem the onslaught: Roberts, Jones, and Markakis all followed with RBIs to the the score.

Too bad Juan Samuel got greedy and tried to send Jones home on Markakis' double to deep right. It looked even worse in person than it probably did on TV. Jones never had a chance. Still... 8-8 and a whole new ballgame. Birdland.

Danys Baez made a Birdland contribution at first by working two scoreless innings and coming out for the top of the 11th. He gave up a home run to Aaron Hill and that seemed to be the end of Birdland for the day. Overcoming an 8-3 deficit in a Halladay-started game and then coming back to win in extra innings was too much, right?

But Birdland was not through for the day. Former Oriole BJ Ryan allowed a single to Nick Markakis and suddenly the tying run was at the plate. Though he did retire Aubrey Huff, apparently he's only a LOOGY now and a right-hander came in to face the rest. Melmo singled. Winning run was at the plate. Scott singled and it was suddenly a one-run game with the tying run on third and one man down.

To the plate stepped Nolan Reimold, who'd pinch-hit for Pie earlier in the game. Righty against righty, with all of OPACY praying for a ball deep enough to just score the tying run and keep it going. Reimold, I think, was a bit tired of hearing about Matt Wieters. He decided to just end the game with a three-run homer.

As the fans filed out of the stadium, we were serenaded by the strains of Orioles Magic. I don't think there is any doubt: Orioles Magic is Birdland. Today we got a whole hell of a lot of both. It is a good day.

Some notes that didn't seem important enough to mention in chronological order:

* Felix Pie made a real nice throw to gun down a runner at the plate to end the top of the first. That damage could have been worse.

* Chris Ray did not look all that good in his relief appearance.

* Yours truly made it onto the Jumbotron during the 7th inning stretch. I don't actually expect any of you care, but that had never happened to me before and I was excited, so it's worth mentioning to me. Deal with it!

* Ollie's Bargain Day is an even better bargain when you pay $9 for your ticket and sit in section 82 instead of section 382. Much has been made of uptight ushers at OPACY lately, but I didn't encounter any today and I got to watch a great game from a great angle at a great price.

Poll

Who is today's Most Birdland Player? (added by duck)

Nolan Reimold (1-3, GW HR, 3 RBI)

261 votes

Luke Scott (2-4, HR, 2 BB, 3RBI)

12 votes

Robert Andino (4-5, 2 R, 1 RBI)

52 votes

Adam Jones (3-6, 2 RBI)

9 votes

Write-In (duck forgot someone obvious)

5 votes

Matt Wieters (just for practice, because we'll be doing this a lot very soon)

19 votes

358 votes | Poll has closed