Yvonne Battle-Felton

It takes an O’s fan to ignore season predications, the rumors that Angelos just doesn’t care and the evidence that other fans don’t. It takes an O’s fan to discredit the statistics from the last ten years, the last season, heck, the last O’s game. It takes an O’s fan to find the optimism in the inexperienced, over-experienced and just plain poorly experienced O’s roster and their kaleidoscope of medical injuries, drug allegations, and legal problems. If you still have your season’s tickets after watching them do opening day what they will undoubtedly accomplish many times this season, if you still believe the O’s have a sliver of a chance at a good season, if you still live in Maryland, then have I got a deal for you.

Reality aside, if we consider each of Maryland’s 5,615,727 residents a fan, together we can raise the $360 Million the Major League Baseball Association promised to pay Angelos for the Baltimore Orioles. Granted, some realists have the O’s slated to finish this season in last place. But, if they can overcome their past, their roster, and their lack of confidence in one another, themselves and their management, the O’s can salvage the season. Even if they don’t, whether they lose every other game or each remaining game consecutively, Angelos is guaranteed $360 Million, at least, when the team sells. With that sort of guarantee, Angelos doesn’t have to care if the O’s win or lose. And, there are many who say he doesn’t.

So does he.

Just days before the game, Angelos was asked how his team would do on opening night. Angelos was overheard saying he didn’t care. Maybe he was joking. The decisions he has allowed or executed say otherwise. Gently put, the O’s haven’t played well in at least ten years and as a team, they don’t inspire much reason to think this season won’t be a tragic reminder of the last. Forbes blames Angelos, the fans blame Angelos, the players blame…well one another, the fans and possibly (though would they really admit it publicly?) Angelos. We can’t fire the team; well maybe we could gift them to another state but who wants to do that and who would have them? We can’t trade all the good players, that’s already been done. We can’t just fire the coaches, staff, and administration, well we could. Perhaps we can avoid a baseball coup d’état (complete with replacement management, players and if necessary, replacement fans) the old fashioned way, one dollar at a time.

Using the 2006 Census as a starting point, for a mere $64.10, each Maryland resident regardless of gender, age, income, and more importantly regardless of fan status, becomes equal owner of the team. From there, and this idea comes straight from O’Malley (well sort of), Marylanders can expect yet another tax increase, but this one will cover the annual operating revenue for salaries, stadium maintenance, and administrative support. At some point our state’s underrepresented population, the census dodgers and commuters, the illegal immigrants and the homeless population, will need to be addressed. Why not get that out of the way now? As Marylanders, these people have equal responsibility to the team. Their job, collectively, is to fill every seat, every game, home or away. And, to support every player, every game, win or lose.

If we’ve learned one thing over these past 15 years, we’ve learned that team ownership will not create instant appreciation for the art of baseball, the talent to create a team, or the desire to lead one. That’s where we call on democracy. If the American people are savvy enough to decide our nation’s next leader based on political past, or lack thereof, finely crafted speeches, and directed media coverage, then the people of Maryland can certainly elect the officials necessary to build a winning baseball team. Once elected, the business of hiring coaches, recruiting players and seducing talent, is up to Congress, I mean, the staff. Only, we may need to call the head coach and the assistant, the president and vice president. The team will be the soldiers. The fans, well these days we’ll consider them hostages, but in good times, they’ll be the citizens. With citizen support, our team won’t just play games, they’ll win wars. We aren’t just talking about building a team here; we are talking about rebuilding relationships. Relationships where coaches are held accountable to the team, the team is held accountable to the fans, and the fans are held accountable to the democracy of it all.

Under their current structure, the Orioles are perched to repeat the tumbles of seasons past. Marylanders, why should we wait until November 4 to choose our next leader? We are just $64.10 a piece away from becoming the next MLB super power. Mr. Angelos, maybe we can’t impeach you, but that doesn’t mean we can’t buy you out, one dollar at a time.