We Love Ed

Being a fan of the Baltimore Orioles, as I was for about 30 years, is akin to being addicted to prescription depressants.

People wonder why you haven’t graduated to happier drugs, like Drano or radioactive wastewater. But it’s hard to give up on a team you grew up with, even if it hasn’t had a winning season in the past 13 years.

I have an autographed photo of Brooks Robinson on my desk, as well as a baseball signed by former lunatic Orioles’ manager Earl Weaver. Paleontologists of the future, digging in the fire-ant-riddled ruins of my house, will no doubt look at these relics and wonder: “Why?”

But I have moved on. I am now an incredibly loyal and excruciatingly boring fan of the Rays. Cocktail-party invitations have, needless to say, dried up.

So I felt like the stars had aligned when the Orioles, playing their first spring-training game in the remodeled Ed Smith Stadium, hosted the Tampa Bay Rays. And like everyone else in the sold-out crowd that lined up long before the gates opened at 11 a.m., I was hoping to be among the first to lay eyes on the $23.7 million transformation of the charmless 22-year-old building known simply as the Ed.

That the new Ed happened at all is, if not a miracle, an example of civic determination. Negotiations with the former tenant, the Cincinnati Reds, broke down in 2008 over what costs the community was willing to bear to upgrade the old stadium. When the Reds announced they were moving their spring training headquarters to Goodyear, Ariz., the city and county began a desperate search for a new team. The Boston Red Sox, a team with a national following that had played in old Payne Park from 1933 to 1958, were the clear favorite on the dance card. Financial disagreements doomed that plan, too, so civic leaders moved hastily to Plan B: The Baltimore Orioles, a vagabond team that had played in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and, in 1991, shared space with the Chicago White Sox at Ed Smith Stadium.

Although the Orioles did not have the “wow” factor of the Red Sox (13 consecutive losing seasons does that to you), they did seem willing to negotiate. The O’s insisted upon a $31.2 revamping of the Ed and the team’s minor-league facility at Twin Lakes Park, which sounded good to some, but not to others. A group that called itself Sarasota Citizens for Responsible Government (SCRG) argued that the price tag seemed high for an area mired in a recession. They also argued—and filed a lawsuit that went nowhere—that the Commission had secretly worked out a deal with the Orioles, thereby violating the state’s Sunshine Law.

What the SCRG may have lacked in legal wherewithal, they more than made up in creativity. On July 22, 2009, they publicly showed their displeasure with the County Commission’s negotiations by wheeling out an 18-foot inflatable rat.

I never saw any rats at the Ed this spring, but people flocked to the place like they were giving away free cheese. The Orioles drew a stadium-record crowd of 115,506 fans this year, besting the previous mark, which was set in 1994 when basketball legend Michael Jordan incorrectly imagined that his ability to slam-dunk would somehow make him able to hit an inside 95-mph fastball.

I attended two games, and every single person I encountered seemed to love the new stadium. I was curious about why it was such a hit. Mike Romeo of Catonsville, Md., said the new Ed reminded him of Camden Yards, the state-of-the-art stadium where the Orioles have played their home games since 1992.

“Although this place is a lot cleaner,” said his wife, Laura, who had agreed to accompany her husband to the game even though she would have rather been on the beach at Siesta Key. Both are newcomers to the area and said they would definitely be back for spring training next year.

Mike Romeo probably wouldn’t have come to Sarasota if the Orioles weren’t here, but that wasn’t the case for a couple of other locals.

Eighty-two-year-old Henry Ford (no, not that Henry Ford, though he says he gets asked that all the time) came to the game with his buddy, Skip Berg, 65, both of Venice. Both are longtime season-ticket holders dating back to the days in old Payne Park and the pre-improved Ed Smith Stadium.

“It’s very nice,” said Ford, taking in the new digs.

I asked him if he thought the renovation was worth the money.