Even the cheap seats at Camden are being filled
Saturday’s Orioles-Mets game was listed as a sellout, with announced attendance at 44,326, which meant even the 2,000 or so seats in the third tier “perch” seats in the upper leftfield deck, the “cheap seats,” were filled.
Those normally aren’t even sold, instead roped off, because the demand simply is not usually there.
Not so Saturday, before the 1983 Orioles reunited with the modern-day team, which clobbered the New York Mets, 7-3. The “cheap seats” available were not cheap; ticket reseller StubHub listed a few available seats at $75 (plus fees) shortly before game time.
With some futile teams and throwing in the COVID-19 pandemic, Orioles attendance plummeted, falling below 20,000 per game from 2018 on.
I attended an Orioles-Tampa Bay in early May with the announced crowd of 16,000.
On many nights, the only fans in the outfield upper deck were ushers, sitting only to make sure no one wandered where they shouldn’t.
The result painted an ugly picture of Orioles baseball. An eyesore, a vast section of empty green seats.
Not anymore.
Saturday evening, it was alive as ever. Section 388 was filled two hours before the first pitch in anticipation of the on-field ceremony honoring the 1983 Orioles, World Series winners.
It was the ballclub’s second straight Saturday night sellout, continuing a promising trend that has seen the Orioles attendance increase by almost 30 percent from last season.
Upper-deck seats at Camden Yards can be purchased for as low as $10 on weekdays, a perfect spot for families and casual fans.
And those filled seats, while important to the Orioles, are equally important to local businesses in the Inner Harbor.
Tony Assadi, owner of the popular Luna Del Sea, a surf and turf restaurant just a block from the stadium, said the increased attendance helps everyone.
“Fortunately, my business has been solid, even when attendance was low, but other establishments have benefited greatly,” said Assadi. “It has often been said, that as goes the Orioles, so does the city.”
The 1983 Orioles embrace the 2023 team
As members of the Orioles team that beat the Philadelphia Phillies in five games to win the 1983 championship regrouped Saturday evening, admiration for the current team was apparent.
“The biggest thing is the camaraderie that we had in 1983,” said 1983 Orioles center fielder Al Bumby. “From being around this team the last few days, they have those same feelings about each other, in a six-month season, that’s important,” added Bumbry.
Ken Singleton, a key contributor on the 1983 team, said that the best indicator of success is winning.
“These guys have gotten a taste of winning, and they’ve gotten a taste of what winning feels like, they believe in themselves, and that is certainly a big part of what’s happening here,” Singleton said.
1983 O’s, 2023 O’s similar, but not identical
Both the 1983 Orioles and 2023 group were atop of the American League Eastern Division on Aug. 1st.
But the two teams aren’t in similar situations preparing for the stretch run of the season.
The current Orioles are truly “baby birds,” with their dugout antics of the “homer hose,” a team of top prospects in their infancy of establishing their worth in the majors.
The 1983 team was fully battle-tested, with a mixture of established stars like Eddie Murray and Jim Palmer with a mix of youths like Cal Ripken and Scott McGregor.
The 1983 team lost Game 1 of both the American League Championship Series (vs. Chicago) and Game 1 of the World Series (vs. Philadelphia).
The 1983 players played with a sense of urgency. They knew they were near the end of a championship window.
The ‘83 title was won on the catalyst of how the 1982 season ended. The Orioles finished one regular-season win short of winning their division and missed the playoffs, even though they had the second-best record in the majors.
The 2023 team is too young to have experienced the pressure of meaningful August and September baseball.
They really haven’t experienced crushing defeat either.
You can bet the 1983 players aren’t going to tell them.
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