‘It’s a holiday’: Despite early sweep, Orioles fans flock to Camden Yards for Opening Day
Three hours before first pitch and one hour before gates opened, Kristen Swader, her husband, Mike, and their 4-year old son, Michael III stood in line, awaiting entry to Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Mike, 28, has been to every Orioles Opening Day since he was a newborn, Michael III has yet to miss one, and Kristen’s passion is so permanent that she has a classic Orioles logo tattooed on her side.
“It’s a holiday,” she said of Opening Day, holding Michael III in her arms.
Despite modest at best expectations for the Orioles in 2022 and a season-opening sweep at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays to begin the season, fans remained fervent for Opening Day — the first untethered by attendance limitations since 2019.
For the Swaders, the Orioles have been a distinct part of their life. Mike remembers skipping class in high school to go to games, and Kristen used to work as an usher.
“There’s something about it,” Mike said. “It’s an escape.”
As the Swaders awaited the gates opening, Clarence “Fancy Clancy” Haskett was inside the stadium, icing hundreds of beers. Haskett has been working Orioles games for 48 years, and the animated salesman greeted everyone — people in the stadium, people on the phone — with the same exclamation: “Happy New Year!”
He began Monday the same way he often does, with 50 push-ups in the vendors’ room, partially for exercise and partially to energize himself for the game. He’s known for his enthusiasm and for his sales pitches, which include remarks such as: “Hey folks, did you know it’s OK to drink a cold beer at a baseball game?”
The Orioles have seen attendance dwindle each year since 2014, including to just over 10,000 fans a game last year during a season affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Attendance this season could be hurt by the ongoing pandemic, as well this offseason’s bitter 99-day lockout of the players by the teams’ owners, which potentially eroded baseball’s general popularity.
The last time there was an extended MLB work stoppage, from 1994 to 1995, attendance dipped 20% around the majors the following season. There is less animosity from fans this time, but even still, a recent AP-NORC survey found that 47% of baseball fans said the lockout had at least some impact on their view of MLB.
Recent lack of success — Baltimore has lost 108 or more games three of the past four seasons — has also caused disinterest from some fans.
“If they want me to spend my money, they need to spend some of their money,” Daniel Contesti, who used to attend Orioles games but hasn’t in several years, wrote in an email, referencing the Orioles’ small 2022 payroll.
Of course, that sentiment was not felt around Camden Yards ahead of Monday’s opener.
Some fans, like Kevin Gracie, are optimistic about the team’s future. Gracie, who was honored by the Orioles as the 50 millionth fan to ever attend a game at Camden Yards, back in 2008, planned to attend Monday’s Opening Day. He received five years of free season tickets and $50,000 when he was the lucky fan to walk into Oriole Park, and he hasn’t missed an Opening Day since 2005.
“I’m really excited about where they’re going,” he said of the Orioles. “Obviously, I don’t expect them to be very good this year, again, but I think the process that they’re doing seems to be going in the right direction, and I’ll go [to games] either way.”
Eric Stout and Noah Kness, wearing Jim Palmer and John Means jerseys, respectively, are childhood friends who attended Loyola Blakefield — the same school Bruce Zimmermann, the starter for the Orioles’ home opener, attended. They noted their excitement for Zimmermann, and to simply enjoy some day baseball.
“More wins than last year,” Stout said of his season expectations. “I’d just like to see some improvement. I’m not expecting a World Series, but improvement.”
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