Mark Teixeira, the pride of Severna Park and the world's highest-paid first baseman, was the recipient of a little home cooking when he took his bows Monday afternoon in the Orioles opener against the New York Yankees.
More than any other player on the hated team from the Bronx, Teixeira was singled out for a roasting worthy of a Weber grill.
Just four months ago, Baltimore fans envisioned a team revival built around a local boy with a .290 lifetime average who professed his love for the orange and black. But the fantasy flamed out when the Yankees promised a faster road to the World Series and $180 million over eight years, dwarfing a $140 million offer by the Orioles.
So a fan base spurned served up a 30-second verbal and visual pummeling during pre-game ceremonies that started before Teixeira's name was announced and continued through the introduction of the next Yankee, Hideki Matsui.
"Severna Park Hates You, Tex," one hand-lettered sign read.
"We Hate You, Tex," read another.
Sitting in seats reserved for visiting team family members, the Teixeira clan could only grin and bear it. Family obligations prevented Teixeira's parents from attending spring training, so Opening Day was their first chance to see their son in a Yankees uniform and get a sense of Orioles fans' displeasure.
"I don't blame them," said John "Tex" Teixeira, a former Navy pilot and the father of the player. "It would have been a wonderful story to have play out. The Orioles weren't in a position to bring him home. They did what they needed to do, and Mark did what he had to do."
His son also toed the diplomacy line in pre-game remarks.
"In a perfect world, the Orioles would've won the World Series every year I was alive and I'd be an Oriole right now," Teixeira said. "I have so much love for this city, for this organization. But in the business world, in the baseball world, sometimes you have to make difficult decisions. When it came down to it, the Yankees were a better fit for me."
Some fans weren't buying it.
"He's a sellout. I grew up an Orioles fan and to sign with the Yankees," Joe Culver of Essex said, stopping to shake his head. "Really, $180 million, [$140] million, are you ever going to spend all that money?"
Others weren't so sure.
"Who in their right mind wouldn't take it?" Tony Lombardi asked as he downed a pre-game libation at One-Eyed Mike's in Fells Point. "He definitely deserves to get booed today, but then move on."
