Orioles look to buck a trend

When the Baltimore Orioles enjoyed a turnaround in the final two months of last season, it was viewed by many as a fluke.

A new manager, Buck Showalter, had got the attention of disinterested players and demanded accountability from his entire roster. He stressed fundamentals and playing the game properly, and was rewarded with improved play down the stretch from a team hopelessly out of contention.

When 2011 began, it was supposed to be back to normal for the Orioles, meaning another losing season, just as they have experienced every year since 1998.

But through the first week the Orioles are showing signs of picking up where they left off last October, suggesting they may not be doomed to the basement in the American League East, baseball's toughest division.

The Orioles added two veteran bats to their line-up in the designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero and the third baseman Mark Reynolds, but the foundation to the new and improved club are the young starting pitchers (Brian Matusz, Jake Arietta, Zach Britton) and two stars-in the-making, outfielder Adam Jones and catcher Matt Wieters.

Invigorated by last year's finish and this year's start, an enthusiastic crowd at Camden Yards greeted the Orioles for their home opener against Detroit on Monday. Veteran players said the atmosphere was like nothing they had seen in recent seasons.

Camden Yards opened in 1992 to great acclaim, the first of the "new retro" stadiums, and the Orioles attracted as many as 3.7 million fans in a single season. But attendance has dwindled in recent seasons and when teams from the Northeast, such as the Red Sox and Yankees, came to town, the visiting fans often far outnumbered those rooting for the home team.

Baltimore have had a great baseball tradition, having been the home of Hall of Famers Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer and Cal Ripken Jr, as well as championship teams in 1966, 1970 and 1983.

But under the owner Peter Angelos, the Orioles had fallen into disrepair with 13 straight losing seasons that have demoralised the once-loyal fan base. Players came and went, and the franchise appeared to lose its identity.

Now, thanks to Showalter, there is hope. You could almost feel it at Camden Yards this week.

"The fans are here," the outfielder Nick Markakis told ESPN.com after the home opener. "We've just got to give them a reason to come out.

"Today was an awesome day, and hopefully we can continue to do that."