Earlier this week, fishbowlDC pointed out this letter to Washington Post readers from sports editor Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, in which he attempts to soothe the seething waters of resentment over the Post’s allegedly messed-up priorities when covering our local baseball scene — one which has grown twice as interesting of late.
But I underestimated the bad blood left by Peter Angelos’s attempt to keep the new team from moving here. A few dozen angry readers began calling and e-mailing, threatening to cancel their subscriptions if the Orioles coverage continued.
“All of my friends do not want to see articles about the Orioles,” wrote a reader in a letter received Friday. “They are considered to be the enemy now that we have the Washington Nationals.”
Unless you’ve lived in the area for a while, it’s hard to underestimate just how big of a deal this is locally. Many Nationals fans are furious at the way Orioles owner Peter Angelos reacted the team’s arrival after trying his best to block the original deal. His handling of the TV contract negotiations, which left him with a sizable share of the revenue from the team’s coverage, didn’t exactly help. At the same time, Orioles fans are worried that their team will now get short shrift from the paper, with the new kids in town. (You think it’s bad now; just wait until the two teams meet in interleague play next season. Bring helmets.)
The Post has (rather wisely, in my opinion) set up a discussion board to allow readers to air their concerns on the subject.
For the record, I’m following both teams (and they’re both doing remarkably well compared to their respective records last season, which is nice).
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