The Iron Birds are 2 and 10, and I don’t care

On Sunday night, I witnessed another loss by our Aberdeen IronBirds. Five errors and nine walks given up by the young fielders and young pitching staff contributed to a 6-1 defeat at the hands of the Brooklyn Cyclones.

Friday night I saw the Iron Birds take a lead into the top of the ninth before the wheels came off the cart, and the Staten Island Yankees came away with a 6-5 win over our boys of summer.

Aberdeen’s team is doing their best to match Maryland’s big league team, one agonizing loss after another. But I don’t care.  That’s right, I do not care.

Allow me to explain:

You see, I love going to Ripken Stadium. I love the beauty of the park. I love the familiarity of its surroundings. I love the sight lines. I love the smell of crabs wafting over from the Bo Brooks Pavilion and the smell of hot dogs and sugar coated cashews in the concourse. And I love the level of play that I see on the field.

But what I love most about Ripken Stadium are the people that I sit near and see when I’m at the game. It’s like old home week each and every time I go to an IronBirds game. I see the familiar faces of new friends that I’ve met that sit near me and I see old friends in their seats or walking the concourse getting their beer and hot dogs. Some of these friends I’ve known for nearly my entire life and others I’ve known for “just’ a couple of years, but they’re all friends and it’s always a pleasure to run into them at the game.

Does this mean that I don’t watch the game and cheer on the team? No, I enjoy watching the game and following the play on the field, but baseball is a sport that allows the fans to kibitz between pitches and plays. Whether the talk is about the missed call at second base or the new office buildings being built behind Target, interaction between fans is usually hearty and cordial.

Aberdeen has been blessed with a short season, single A, Baltimore Orioles affiliated, minor league team. At this level, these young men are trying to impress the manager, coaches and scouts that are sprinkled throughout the stadium seats.  And though baseball is a team sport, at this stage, individual stats and performance could mean much more than team wins and losses. I find myself picking a couple of ball players and really following their progress. I’m hoping, like many of us are, that these guys, one day, find their way to the Bigs.

So, do I care if the team wins or loses? Not really. The fun, for me, is going to Ripken stadium, taking in the sights, smells and sounds of a minor league park and seeing and talking to friends. 

This is minor league baseball and I love it, win or lose.