Orioles fans walk out in protest

[Bear-Arms]

You can get more white fans to protest a baseball team than you can get to protest illegal immigrants, how sad.

BALTIMORE -- Nearly a thousand disgruntled Orioles fans walked out of Baltimore's game against Detroit en masse on Thursday, culminating a demonstration aimed at team owner Peter Angelos.

A majority of the protesters wore black T-shirts that read "FREE THE BIRDS," and many carried signs that had "For Pete's Sake" on one side and "Free the Birds" on the other.

They filled parts of six sections in the upper deck, then walked out in the middle of the fourth inning at precisely 5:08 p.m. -- in honor of former Oriole stars Brooks Robinson (No. 5) and Cal Ripken (No. 8).

The group walked in line through the lower deck before departing.

Baltimore is in the midst of its club-record ninth consecutive losing season, all of them under the leadership of Angelos, who gained control of the franchise in 1993.

"We are here to show our dissatisfaction with his role, and some of the stupid decisions he has made," said 43-year-old fan Eric Hunter. "We want someone in there who will spend the money to do the things that will bring the fans back."

Angelos defended the fashion in which he runs the team, which last reached the playoffs in 1997.

"Whoever joins that protest has no comprehension of what it costs to run a baseball team," Angelos said in a telephone interview from his law office in Baltimore. "When you get down to facts, putting together a team that can compete in the AL East means having a payroll between $100 million-$110 million. That money comes from the consumer, and I have chosen to keep ticket prices to a minimum.

"Our payroll is $75 million, and our ticket prices average $22. Some of the teams we compete against charge an average of $45," Angelos said. "We're going to have to match the competition. How to do that is a decision I will make in the future."

The rally was organized by Nestor Aparicio, owner of radio station WNST-AM and the nephew of former Oriole shortstop Luis Aparicio.

"We have a chance to make a memorable civic statement about how we, as fans, are fed up with the embarrassment that the Orioles have become," Aparicio said.

"He is a very unimportant person who has delusions of grandeur," Angelos said. "To begin with, to leave in the middle of the game is an abuse of the players who have worked hard and played their hearts out."

Aparicio spoke beforehand of bringing in between 3,000 fans and 10,000 fans, but the group fell far short of that amount. Still, they made their presence known by chanting and rooting for the Orioles from well before the game started.

Raymond Burke, 54, wore a dark suit over his black "FREE THE BIRDS" shirt.

"This is all part of my kids having the experience that I had as a kid coming to the games -- of experiencing the great teams and teams that meant something to the community," he said.

After the game, Orioles vice president of baseball operations Mike Flanagan said, "They showed a lot of passion and exuberance. They want to win and we want to win. Hopefully, we're headed in that direction in the offseason."

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press

Source: ESPN

 

[LabMan]

Baltimore Maryland has always been a wonderful area to live,work,and play.That has been changing since the global elite,social engineers,and multi-culti,revisionists,have gutted same.What made the area so great at one time?,It was majority WHITE!


With todays climate of fear-mongering at every turn,perhaps what the fans really wanted to say,but held back for "fear" of some sort of retribution was,"we want a team consisting of White American Males! I wonder when these types of protests will occur,and we will stand up and dare "anyone",to take action against our freedom of expression,and first amendment rights.

 

[Solomon Kane]

A shame what has happened to the Birds and to old "Bal'mer". I lived most of my teens, twenties, and thirties in Maryland ( I now reside in CT) . We used to go to watch the Birds at Memorial, as well as at Camden Yards. Occasionally, we would also visit the sites of Historic interest: The Constellation, Fort McHenry, Edgar Allan Poe's graveyard. And yes, it was a great and noticeably white working class city: mostly of Polish or Italian stock I think.. I remember the white ethnic festivals: with great foods and beer--and Crabs of course!

In the city, there were blacks as well, but a better mannered black man than you might encounter in, say, DC or NYC, at least in my experience. Basically whites and blacks got along but did not "hang out" or live in the same neighborhood. So there was that customary segregation which made for public peace. Black attendance at the Ballgames was very minimal, but polite and enthusiastic. The fans were mostly white local middle class and working class fans. There were also a lot of upper middle class whites who made the trip from the DC area. I loved the old Memorial stadium. As Cal Ripken said: "Camden Yards was nice, but Memorial Stadium was a ballpark."

And then were the old Colts: Unitas, Raymond Berry, Tom Matte, etc. Too bad they're gone. Being born too late, I missed out on the Baltimore of the 50's, but the movie "Diner" captures the flavor of those times. After taking in a Birds' game, I and my friends would sometimes go to one of the Diners which were used in the actual movie. It was great fun to consume the local "heart attack special" and be called "Hon" by the waitresses.

Anyway, hope the city and the franchise recover. And yes, you are right Bear-Arms--it is indeed a pity that Maryland whites won't turn out for an anti-illegal immigrant protest: especially since it is their own state which is so flooded with illegals at present.

 

[Unrealgeorge]

Got my regular login working again!Edited by: Unrealgeorge

 

[Realgeorge]

Hi Solomon Kane and Lab Man

The protest was a wonderful event because of the effect it had on the tyrant Angelos. He was livid! In all the local papers was the response from Angelos of "rage" and "shock" that anyone would dare stand up to him. He belittled Aparicio the organizer (a Mestizo related to ex-Oriole shortstop Luis), mumbling something about the protest leader "not knowing anything about team ownership."

Not bad coming from an owner who has delivered nine straight losing seasons filled with despair. But the lesson is there for us all -- Tyrannical New World Order types HATE opposition, and can be embarrassed and distracted BIG TIME by just a small number of cheeky opponents. If a hundred simultaneous demonstrations against El Presidente Jorge W. Arbusto were to break out, he would have a hissy fit and be functionally disabled for much time