With higher expectations, Orioles fans are ‘fired up.’ But anxiety about the team’s future in Baltimore is still ‘lingering.’

Brian Smith, a lifelong Orioles fan, is all in this season. Over the past few years, Smith mostly went to Orioles games only when the team offered unlimited standing room-only passes for $40 a month in August or September. But this year, after the Orioles surprised many of their own fans in 2022 by finishing above .500 for the first time since 2016, Smith has purchased a season-ticket plan for the 2023 campaign.