The Washington Nationals and the Baltimore Orioles: two teams in one state, competing just 37 miles apart! What fueled this rivalry was the owner of the Baltimore Orioles, Peter Angelos, claiming that the Baltimore Orioles alone had legal rights to the Washington-Baltimore area.
The Orioles were given rights to air Washington National games on their television network, Mid-Atlantic Sports Network. This was to settle the dispute regarding the move of the Montreal Expos. Unfortunately, this agreement went through just days prior to the 2005 season. Therefore, few Washington fans were able to gain access to the network causing them to miss most of the games that season. The fans maintain that the channel is showing favoritism to the Orioles over the Nationals, often presenting game scores of the Beltway Series as "Orioles vs. Washington" instead of "Orioles vs. Nationals." There has been a lot of discussion about the number of fans being pulled to the stadiums by each team. Regardless, over the years the totals drawn by both teams has varied such that either team has come out on top. It is interesting to note that, in 2007, the Orioles drew a larger fan base by nearly 200,000 people.
David Sheinin, a writer for Washington Post prints, "There is a long, long way to go before the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles can develop anything that remotely resembles a great rivalry." There are many necessary elements missing. The fact they are coming from seperate leagues alone is working against them.
