Ike (Dwight David Eisenhower) was there to throw the first ball out as the KOD6 seasons got underway. Squaring off in this battle of the Beltway were the 1953 Washington Senators and the 1999 Baltimore Orioles. The game started with Washington starter Bob Porterfield throwing strikes and quickly getting Baltimore's leadoff man, Brady "sideburns" Anderson, deep in an 0-2 count. Anderson fouled off 2 pitches before grounding out to Eddie Yost at third. Porterfield, who won 22 games in 1953, got the next two hitters to ground out as well to end the inning. Washington was ready to do some damage in the home half of the inning against "the man in black" Scott Erickson. Leadoff hitter Jim Busby took the 1-1 offering off his left arm. Baltimore manager Justin Ryan contended that Busby did not make any effort to get out of the way, but the umps saw differently and awarded him 1st. Erickson struck out Yost on 5 pitches to record the first out of the inning and #3 hitter Mickey Vernon flew out to shallow center. With 2 outs, Erickson ignored Busby, who promptly stole second, which put him in scoring position with 2 out. Obviously rattled, Erickson groved one to Clyde Vollmer who singled sharply to right to score Busby. Oriole Right fielder Albert "don't call me Joey" Belle had brain lock and missed the cut off man with his throw thus allowing Vollmer to cruise into second. This would be crucial, since the next batter Jackie Jensen blooped a 1-2 offering into left center to make it 2-0 Nats. Ed Fitz Gerald then followed with a single and just like that runners were at the corners and this 2 out rally looked to extend itself. Thankfully for Erickson the Senators sent up banjo hitting second sacker Wayne Terwilliger, who dribbled one to first that Will Clark 
took unassisted to end the inning and escape danger. Neither team scored until the top of the 3rd when Cal "the streak Ripken Jr. crushed a 429 foot shot to center that Jim Busby didn't even budge on. Just like that the hard hitting O's were up 3-0. Washington evened it up in the bottom of the frame when Mickey Vernon reached 1st with one out on another controversial play. From most camera angles it looked like Delino DeShields underhand toss to Clark at first clearly arrived a step ahead of the hard charging Vernon. After coming out to argue a second time and not receiving any satisfaction O's manager Justin Ryan was heard grumbling to himself something to the effect that "this umpiring crew is right less than the local weatherman". When Ryan returned to the dugout Scott Erickson took the hill and forced Vollmer to weakly pop to short. With 2 out the O's looked to be in good shape until Jackie Jensen tripled over the head of Belle in right and Vernon came around to score the tying run. With the score knotted at 3-3 the O's posted 2 runs in the top of the 5th to take the lead for good. Catcher Charles Johnson led off with a blast to left that got trapped in the corner, which allowed the slow footed Johnson to wind up on second with a stand up double. Porterfield had the next batter, Brady Anderson, at 0-1 and tried to sneak a breaking pitch that still hasn't broken by him. Anderson just got enough of it and poked it down the right field line just clearing the wall to make it 5-2. Erickson was able to hold the Nats at bay for the next 5 innings to secure the complete game win in the opener. After the game Baltimore's manager Justin Ryan couldn't stop raving about Erickson: "I never expected to get a complete game out of him. In his hay day he was real clutch". Erickson was at the top of the game in the 7th when Washington had runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. Washington pitcher Bob Porterfield, a good hitter, had singled and Jim Busby subsequently doubled. With the heart of the order coming up Erickson intentionally passed Eddie Yost to pitch to the ever so dangerous Vernon. Vernon got a good swing, but he hit it right at Mike Bordick at short, who turned a 6-4-3 to end the inning and Washington's hopes.GAME 2: Griffith Stadium - Washington 5, Baltimore 4
In this cliffhanger, Baltimore jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first. Brady Anderson led off with a double. Belle and Baines both walked to load the bases with 2 outs and B.J. Surhoff singled in 2 on the first pitch. There was no scoring until the 6th when Baltimore added a third run on a Harold Baines solo shot to right. By this point Oriole starter Sidney Ponson looked to be in a grove and cruising, but one can never get too comfy when the big man from Aruba is on the hill. At any point he can just lose it, especially when his pitch count is elevated. With 1 out in the bottom of the 6th Vollmer singled harmlessly to right. Ponson got Jensen to fly to Surhoff in left to get the second out of the inning. Jerry Snyder followed with a seeing eye single that found a way into the hole between 1st and 2nd. Up stepped light hitting catcher Mickey Grasso, who must have thought he was that "other" Mickey who wore pinstripes in NY, as he jumped on the first pitch and slammed it 397 feet down the left field line to knot the score at 3. The top of the 9th saw the O's score a run and take a 4-3 lead into the the final stanza as Baines hit his second homer of the game. With 3 outs to go O's reliever Mike Timlin walked shortstop Peter Runnells on 5 pitches. Runnells is a slap hitter with little or no power. It was
inexcusable for Timlin to walk him to lead off the inning and give Washington hope. Jim Busby then hit a high fly to right that Albert Belle lost in the sun. Thankfully for the O's Runnells made a baserunning blunder and did not go half way. This put runners on 1st and 2nd. Runnells should have been standing on 3rd with nobody out. Yost came up and bunted both runners up one base. It was a perfect sacrifice that only catcher Charles Johnson could field. Manager Ryan had no intention of pitching to Mickey Vernon and ordered him up a free pass to first. Volmer jumped on Timlin's first offering and hit a shot to deep right center that was caught by Belle on the run. Both runners tagged up and advanced, with Runnels scoring the tying run. Up came Jackie Jensen with 2 outs and the go ahead run (Busby) 90 feet away. Timlin couldn't find the strike zone and with the count 2-0 he attempted to put one on the outside corner. Unfortunately for Timlin and the O's the pitch got too much of the fat part of the plate and Jensen smashed it past a diving DeShields at second to score the winning run and even the series at 1 game apiece.GAME 3: Camden Yards - Baltimore 8, Washington 6 (14 inn)
This was a game for the ages as it took 14 innings and almost 5 hours to final get a victor. When all was said and done the Baltimore faithful, those who remained, went home smiling as their O's won 8-6. Besides the extra innings these poor fans were treated to 72 minute rain delay in the 3rd. This weakened the effectiveness of both starters, but more so Mike Mussina who could not make it out of the 6th. Washington starter Spec Shea was able to pitch 7 innings, but his manager Marc Weiss might have hoped that he didn't' get out of the 6th either since he yielded 6 runs to the O's. Sonny Dixon came on board for the Nats and tossed 5 scoreless innings only to see his replacement Al Sima yield a game winning 2 run walk off homer to Brady Anderson in the bottom of the 14th. It was a crushing loss for the Sens who battled back from a 3 run deficit. Cal Ripken Jr. went 3 for 6 and smashed 2 homers off of Shea. Washington scored 2 in the 8th to rally back again and force the extra frames.GAME 4: Camden Yards - Washington 7, Baltimore 0
The final game of this fantastic series was anti-climatic as Washington scored early and often to
notch a 7-0 win. A 68 minute rain delay in the 5th ended Washington starter Chuck Stobbs day, otherwise he more than likely would have posted a complete game shutout. Washington reliever Jerry Lane tossed 3 scoreless innings to close out the contest. Oriole starter Doug Johns was heavily booed, by the normally supportive Camden Yards crowd. Johns was knocked out of the box in the second after yielding 6 unanswered runs to the Nats. Johns was only able to record 1 out. Both Eddie Yost and Mickey Vernon posted 4 hits as the Senators handed out some capital punishment to their neighbors from just up the Beltway.
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