Tom Boswell is full of beans

[DPMOmaha]

Washington isn't Baltimore. From 1972-2004 Washington was as much a non-MLB city as Indianapolis, Salt Lake City or Budapest. The Orioles had no more business proclaiming themselves 'DC's Team' than the Phillies, Pirates or Braves (to cite probably the three next-closest MLB towns) - Edward Bennett Williams' proclamation of the Orioles as a regional team probably sealed the deal (powerful DC attorney will get his way). And boy did the media sheeple follow - led by Boswell and former Cubs supporter George 'Men at Work' Will.

Yeah, except that none of those cities had an MLB team for the 70 years before they didn't have a team.

[UMDNats]

DC was full of Orioles fans before the Nats came. Come on. Of course Boswell reported/wrote about them, as he should have.

[OldChelsea]

DC was full of Orioles fans before the Nats came. Come on. Of course Boswell reported/wrote about them, as he should have.

There are lots of Cubs supporters in this area too (many years ago they practically had riots in the streets when Fairfax county cable TV dropped WGN) - should they be catered for too by the DC media?

During the 1972-2004 interregnum the Orioles may have had a plurality among those DC-area residents who expressed a clear preference for one team or another, but that doesn't change the fact that Washington was a non-MLB city during that era.

And Boswell didn't just cover the Orioles - he openly supported them and was all in on their 'DC's Team' claim - he didn't change his tune till the Post's overall editorial policy began changing as the relocation of the Expos here became increasingly likely.

[Mathguy]

DC was also different than other non-MLB cities in that DC is a national city and the population was from all over the country.  Many of those people brought their interests with them, such as following teams from many sports.  So baseball always had a following in DC. 

Washington isn't Baltimore. From 1972-2004 Washington was as much a non-MLB city as Indianapolis, Salt Lake City or Budapest. The Orioles had no more business proclaiming themselves 'DC's Team' than the Phillies, Pirates or Braves (to cite probably the three next-closest MLB towns) - Edward Bennett Williams' proclamation of the Orioles as a regional team probably sealed the deal (powerful DC attorney will get his way). And boy did the media sheeple follow - led by Boswell and former Cubs supporter George 'Men at Work' Will.

[bluestreak]

There are lots of Cubs supporters in this area too (many years ago they practically had riots in the streets when Fairfax county cable TV dropped WGN) - should they be catered for too by the DC media?

During the 1972-2004 interregnum the Orioles may have had a plurality among those DC-area residents who expressed a clear preference for one team or another, but that doesn't change the fact that Washington was a non-MLB city during that era.

And Boswell didn't just cover the Orioles - he openly supported them and was all in on their 'DC's Team' claim - he didn't change his tune till the Post's overall editorial policy began changing as the relocation of the Expos here became increasingly likely.

There are Many, many more Oriole supporters in this area than Cubs fans. It isn’t even close.
I didn’t live here and even I knew there were tons of O’s fans here before the Nats. And now that I live here but work in Maryland, I realize there are still tons of O’s in Howard and PG and Montgomery County. The Nats are a DC and Northern Virginia based team.
I don’t think that it was unreasonable to cover them as the region’s team since it was the only option for baseball fans in the DC metro to see MLB baseball. It probably would have been derelict not to.

If you don’t think that the papers in Austin and San Antonio aren’t covering the Cowboys as if they are the local team, you’re kidding yourself. It was the same thing here.

[Ray D]

The Nats are a DC and Northern Virginia based team.

Well I have to take issue with that.  In Montgomery County, if you go to the outer reaches, sure, there are Oriole fans.  Anywhere within 15 miles of the beltway, mostly Nats.  I'd guess the same for PG except I spend as little time in PG as possible.

[bluestreak]

Well I have to take issue with that.  In Montgomery County, if you go to the outer reaches, sure, there are Oriole fans.  Anywhere within 15 miles of the beltway, mostly Nats.  I'd guess the same for PG except I spend as little time in PG as possible.

Oh there are definitely Nats fans in those places, but the fandom isn’t universal like it is in NoVa

Here’s an very unscientific survey of WNFF

http://www.wnff.net/index.php?topic=35220.0

Here’s another study by the NYT. Which actually examines many fan bases and I find it fascinating.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/04/23/upshot/24-upshot-baseball.html?_r=0

But you’re right. Close in Montgomery is Nats.

[UMDNats]

There are lots of Cubs supporters in this area too (many years ago they practically had riots in the streets when Fairfax county cable TV dropped WGN) - should they be catered for too by the DC media?

Right, because that's the same thing.

[Slateman]

Sure, just ignore Cal breaking the Streak.  I'm sure the locals would rather hear about Juan Gonzalez and Mickey Tettleton or Chuck Knoblauch instead of the O's. 

I'm very interested in catchers who can hit their weight.

[GburgNatsFan]

Roll over each county and you can see percentages. It's very surprising to me that the Yankees and Sox are 2nd and 3rd in the near-in Virginia counties.

And if you don't feel like rolling over them... Montgomery county approaches (but doesn't quite reach) the Virginia counties in percentage of Nats fans - not yet, anyway.

It often seems to me MoCo has a lot more in common with NoVA than it does with the counties nearer to Baltimore.

Bluestreak, where are you in MoCo?

Oh there are definitely Nats fans in those places, but the fandom isn’t universal like it is in NoVa

Here’s an very unscientific survey of WNFF

http://www.wnff.net/index.php?topic=35220.0

Here’s another study by the NYT. Which actually examines many fan bases and I find it fascinating.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/04/23/upshot/24-upshot-baseball.html?_r=0

But you’re right. Close in Montgomery is Nats.

[HalfSmokes]

It often seems to me MoCo has a lot more in common with NoVA than it does with the counties nearer to Baltimore.

close in suburbs of the same city, it's the same way Weschester is closer to Bergen county than it is to Syracuse

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Sure, just ignore Cal breaking the Streak.  I'm sure the locals would rather hear about Juan Gonzalez and Mickey Tettleton or Chuck Knoblauch instead of the O's. 

Where is Zoilo Versailles now?

[Ray D]

Where is Zoilo Versailles now?

Dead.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Dead.

so are most of his fans.  ROTY!

[KnorrForYourMoney]

Well I have to take issue with that.  In Montgomery County, if you go to the outer reaches, sure, there are Oriole fans.  Anywhere within 15 miles of the beltway, mostly Nats.  I'd guess the same for PG except I spend as little time in PG as possible.

PG is backwards as hell due to:

1. College Park - UMD is full of jackass Orioles fans
2. The Bowie Baysox
3. A general apathy toward baseball

As someone who lived in or near Bowie until just a few years ago, I took many near-empty blue line trains from RFK to Largo, and then many near-empty green line trains from Navy Yard to Suitland.

Dickheads like Boswell, Loverro, Bennett Williams, and Angelos really did a number on the state of Maryland, but here's to hoping that will start to change if the Nats can keep up their relative success and the Orioles keep up their level of play in 2017.

[Mathguy]

Interesting article on Harper as a potential free agent

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/bryce-harper-is-a-year-from-free-agency-so-whats-he-really-worth/2017/10/19/907c83aa-b4e0-11e7-be94-fabb0f1e9ffb_story.html?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.61d291fa1172