You can call it the Beltway series. MASN wants you to call it the MASN Cup, but since they can’t get the TV rights figured out, that’s not trademarked yet. As midsummer sets in, the Nats are in town to play the O’s, and re-energize the very long, winding baseball season.
There won’t be any racing presidents this weekend, as the Washington Nationals and maybe even a few of their fans are forced to make their much scorned trek up I-95. On Friday, they’ll be greeted at Camden Yards by legions of O’s fans who were just given floppy plaid hats. On Sunday, O’s fans (over 15) get a Hawaiian shirt that should go some distance toward completing the free clothes from OPACY outfit.
For the players, it’s the final series before they go on the All-Star Break. As tempting as it is to think about vacation this time of year, the O’s need to focus. They just got swept by Minnesota, so they need some wins to help hold onto second and gain on the Yankees in the tight AL East division.
Last weekend, Baltimore reopened its own Washington Monument, which, by the way, was built before Washington’s. This weekend, the first baseball team from these parts will look to show D.C. how it’s done.
