New Orioles’ owners energizing Camden Yards crowd set incredible tone for Opening Day

It is completely normal for a team's fanbase to have renewed optimism when there is a new owner or new front office. With the Baltimore Orioles officially changing hands on Wednesday, fans are hopeful that they will invest in the team's payroll and take the team to new heights. However, the Orioles' new owners entered Opening Day wanting to do more than an introductory press conference and offer nebulous hope.

While the Angelos family preferred to avoid fan and media interaction at all costs while sitting in their ivory tower, the ownership group led by David Rubenstein has been anything but that. For starters, Rubenstein was seen interacting with fans at multiple gates and places at Camden Yards, and Orioles fans were just eating it up.

However, it was another member of Baltimore's ownership group, Mike Arougheti, that stole the show on Opening Day by heading down to Pickles Pub with a couple other owners. They decided that they were going to buy everyone in the bar a round.

It is definitely a brand new era for the Orioles under their new owners

It is important to remember that this is just one gesture, and a relatively small one, as a round a drinks for the bar could probably be bought for the change these guys have in their couch. However, it also was a gesture that they didn't have to make at all. They could have just done their first round of interviews, talked about how much they like the team and promised a bright future, and then called it a day.

Instead, the Orioles' new owners took the time to ingratiate themselves to fans and hear from them directly. This is a fanbase that has had to endure John Angelos nickel and diming his way through running the franchise just to ensure that his pockets were lined as much as possible with little to no accountability. Everyone knew that the Orioles had a chance to be something special, but the Angelos family essentially refused to help make it happen.

Now, Rubenstein's group is definitely trying to sell fans on the fact that things are going to be very different from this day forward. A round of beer and some fan handshakes are no substitutions for actual changes in how the team operates (time will tell there), but something definitely feels different now and hopefully this is a sign of more positive changes to come.

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