In today’s story about how the Orioles can sell hope to its fans (or, really, how they can’t) several people I interviewed mentioned it’s tough to sell an intangible like a feeling or emotion.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t try to measure it.

According to New York-based Brand Keys Inc.’s Sports Loyalty Index, Orioles fans rank second-to-last in the MLB. Company founder Robert Passikoff said brand loyalty was measured using four criteria:

• Play on the field
• Authenticity (i.e. is the team believable; typically a new stadium boosts this category)
• Fan bonding (does the team have people its fans can relate to)
• History and tradition

Um, guess which category is bringing the 12-straight-losing-seasons-Orioles down? Yeah. It’s that one.

And no wonder that the team’s ranking is sandwiched right between the Kansas City Royals (25 years since a postseason appearance and one winning season in the last 15) and the Pittsburgh Pirates (who hold an MLB-record 17 straight losing seasons).

“Losing isn’t everything but it’s a lot,” said Passikoff. “You don’t have to always win but you have to play well and you can’t just do it on history and tradition alone.”

But here’s some good news for O’s fans who are reading this and getting more insulted by the minute (by a New Yorker whose wife is a Derek Jeter fan, nonetheless). Fan bonding has improved over the last year, a direct effect of the team developing players within its minor league system.

“Their issue has always been of fan bonding,” said Passikoff. “Once [Cal] Ripken [Jr.] was gone you didn’t have a lot of people to look for. That changed last year.”

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Questions are swirling about what will happen to the Cardinal Gibbons School property if parents are unable to succeed in keeping the school open. Aside from the emotional connection many people have to the school, there’s one glaring historical reason that property might be worth saving:

Babe Ruth.

Ruth attended the school from 1902-1914 back when it was St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys and played baseball there until he was signed into the minor leagues by the Baltimore Orioles. The original Yankee Stadium may have been “The house that Ruth built,” but the baseball field at Cardinal Gibbons is where Ruth first became a star.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore says it doesn’t know what it wants to do with the properties of the 13 schools it’s closing this summer. But for the sake of preserving history, special consideration should be made for the Cardinal Gibbons property — or at least the ball field. I’m told it’s also something the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum here in Baltimore is keeping an eye on.

If efforts to keep the school open fail, should Baltimore still fight for this property’s preservation? On the one hand, we are talking about a square of dirt, some bases and a backstop. And the baseball diamond’s alignment today is not the same alignment as it was when Ruth played. But on the other hand, it’s one more piece of history in Baltimore that could be saved from a bulldozer — and if it’s preserved smartly it could be another tourist attraction for the city.

Should Major League Baseball, the Baltimore Orioles or the New York Yankees step in to do something about this?

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Former Oriole pitcher Jamie Moyer hasn’t forgotten about Baltimore — this week his foundation announced its plans to continue the expansion of bereavement camps for children and teens who have lost someone close to them by adding Baltimore to its list of new cities in 2010.

The Moyer Foundation’s “Camp Erin” was created in 2002 and is now the largest bereavement camp in the country with 36 camps in 23 states. With the addition of Baltimore and the other new cities, it is expected to serve nearly 2,500 kids between the ages of 6 and 17 this year. The foundation has a goal of establishing as many as 60 camps around the country, including one Camp Erin in every Major League Baseball city.

Moyer played for the Orioles from 1993-95 and he’s the oldest pitcher in the majors. The father of eight now plays for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Moyer’s foundation works to help children in distress and it also runs “Camp Mariposa,” a camp dedicated to serving children affected by addiction in their families.

In Baltimore Camp Erin is partnering with Roberta’s House, a family grief and loss center, on July 23-25 to introduce the program here.

You gotta think — Baltimore’s homicide rate being what it is, there’s probably a huge need for something like this in our community. But I wonder how well it will be accepted by those who really need it. Partnering with an established place like Roberta’s House is a smart move and hopefully the relationship is mutually beneficial for both organizations.

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A fun article by Tom Verducci in this week’s Sports Illustrated takes a neat look at numbers and baseball and uses payroll, wins and post season success to determine which teams are getting the most bang for their buck.

Not surprisingly, the Orioles are one of the least-efficient teams in Major League Baseball in terms of the money spent for players vs. on-the-field success. According to Verducci’s numbers, over the last decade the Orioles have spent $717.2 million and won 698 games, or $1.03 million per win.

OK, it’s less than the $1.75 million the New York Yankees spent per win…but then again the Yanks did grab two World Series titles and four pennants in nine post season appearances. And with 12 straight losing seasons, the O’s have posted big fat “zeros” in those categories.

Sure, you could argue that the Orioles play in the toughest division in baseball. But when you look at Tampa Bay’s numbers — 694 wins at $577,522 per win and one pennant — that argument starts getting weak. True, the Rays caught lightening in a bottle the year they made it to the World Series…but at least the team didn’t waste its money the other nine years.

Hopefully with this change of focus on the farm system the Orioles can manage their payroll better. It’s funny — fans often complain that owner Peter Angelos won’t spend money on good talent. And maybe that’s been true at times…but obviously money isn’t everything.

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The company that has been the concessionaire at Oriole Park at Camden Yards since the ballpark opened in 1992 hopes that relationship will continue. But ARAMARK’s contract with the Orioles is up, and the team is considering its options, according to the team’s spokesman.

ARAMARK does not comment on potential bids, but when asked if it submitted one for its own contract a spokesman said, “we hope to continue providing services at the ballpark.”

Last month, ARAMARK, which recently lost a bid at the Baltimore Convention Center, filed a notice with the state that 609 full- and part-time employees at its Camden Yards office would be affected if ARAMARK did in fact lose its deal with the Orioles.

ARAMARK also has offices at the Warehouse (which is owned by the state), and there’s no guarantee that a new concessionaire would take the same space — or even any space.

And a drop in rent income is not something I imagine the agency wants to be staring at during the last half of an already tough fiscal year for Maryland.

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After all the questions in the media about whether Orioles manager Dave Trembley needs to go, this came down late Friday from the organization:

“The Orioles today announced that they have exercised their option for the 2010 season on the contract of Manager Dave Trembley.

“This season is Trembley’s 25th in professional baseball. He won two league titles and earned Manager of the Year awards in three leagues in 20 years managing in the minor leagues before joining the Orioles as bullpen coach and field coordinator in 2007.”

Since this summer, Trembley has been on thin ice for his management of the team and the young squad’s needless errors.

So who’s responsible for Trembley staying? Owner Peter Angelos? GM Andy MacPhail? The O’s also won last night, snapping a 13-game losing streak.

Is this a sign that the team is or isn’t moving past the days of mismanagement that has plagued it during the Angelos era? Do you agree with the decision?

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All right, before you start freaking out over that subject line, I’m sure Camden Yards is perfectly safe. But it did get you to click on this post, didn’t it?

But as for the question at hand, we may have a specific answer in a few months after a safety study on the ballpark is finished. The Maryland Stadium Authority recently hired Chicago-based Hillard Heintze to conduct a comprehensive security threat and vulnerability assessment of the Camden Yards Sport Complex (which includes the ballpark, the warehouse and M&T Bank Stadium).

Stadium Authority officials at their last public meeting mentioned that the impact the sports complex’s proximity to D.C. was an element they wanted covered.

But here’s my question — what about the little things? The last several times I’ve gone to either ballpark (D.C. or Baltimore), I’ve noticed the bag check at the security has gone a little lax. So far it’s just encouraged me to try and sneak food into Nationals Park (thank you O’s for letting me bring in my own food without the risk of getting mustard on my wallet).  But what kind of tricks could ill-intentioned people pull?

And the same does not go for football games — especially the Ravens, which seems like the equivalent of going through airport security. At least it is for the guys…finally a perk to being a woman that involves shorter lines!

What’s your assessment as a fan of the security at sporting games? Are some venues in this region better than others?

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If you follow Orioles attendance totals at all, I know what you’re thinking about that headline: “What?!? But Camden Yards is down nearly 9 percent right now compared with last year!”

OK, true. Sixty-six home games into the season, the Orioles have drawn 1.6 million to the ballpark while last year the team drew 1.76 million in as many games. But hear me out:

1) The team drew about 25,000 Monday night for its first game in a three-game series against the Yankees. (That’s a little more than half-capacity but it’s still way better than the team’s usual 15,000-19,000 on a Monday night.) I predict the series can keep that pace — nice weather and the Yanks being a playoff team — the series should total about 75,000.

2) Next up is a Friday through Sunday series with the Texas Rangers. The last time that team came to Baltimore on a weekend, game attendance averaged nearly 25,000. Prediction: 74,250 series total.

3) Unfortunately the O’s will kill any attendance-building progress with it’s next series: a Monday through Thursday homestand against the Tampa Bay Rays (Sept. 14-17). Combine weekdays, which are usually a shoddy draw for Camden Yards, with a team that doesn’t generate much interest on the road, and let’s just say there won’t be any long lines at the concessions stands for this one. Last time the Rays visited during the week the per-game attendance averaged a little more than 15,000. Prediction: 60,700 series total.

4) Grumble all you want about visiting fans but the next series against Boston (Sept. 18-20) will help kick attendance back up in a big way. The Sox are in a playoff hunt and it’s the weekend — a perfect storm for baseball. Last time Boston visited on a weekend, the games averaged more than 45,000 in attendance. Prediction: 137,000 series total.

5) Lastly, the O’s season will end quietly with a three-game set against Toronto. It’s a weekend series (Oct. 2-4) which should help but with neither of these teams in a playoff hunt, it should be a pretty anti-climactic finish for Camden Yards. The last time Toronto visited on a weekend, the games averaged about 26,900 in attendance. But last year’s weekend series against Toronto to close out the 2008 season only drew about 18,600 per game. I’m leaning more toward the lower end of that scale. Prediction: 65,000 series total.

Add it all up and I’m predicting the O’s will finish out the season drawing 1.99 million to Camden Yards. That would be a 2 percent increase over last year’s total of 1.95 million. It may not be much compared with other ballparks that regularly draw 3 million fans, but when you factor in a recession and a team that’s looking to finish yet another season with a losing record, it’s a sign the ballpark may be back on the upswing.

So, do I have any takers for more than 2 million fans to Camden Yards next year?

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Well, we’re at the All Star break and it’s time for another Orioles attendance update. And this time — are you sitting down? — it’s good news!

If you’ll remember, back in early June I predicted we’d start seeing a boost in our beloved O’s attendance rate because the Birds were hosting a string of high-drawing teams, Matt Wieters had arrived and school was out.

I love being right.

After the June 9-11 series against Seattle, Oriole Park’s total attendance for the year was 692,891 — a whopping 21 percent down from its corresponding 32nd game at home last year. Since then, the O’s have hosted Atlanta, the New York Mets, Boston, Washington and Toronto and picked up 15 points in the meantime.

The team is still down from last year, but only by 5.2 percent. And that’s pretty much in line with the rest of Major League Baseball attendance, which is down between 4 and 5 percent, according to the Sports Business Journal.

Meanwhile, since Wieters joined the club on May 29, more than 600,400 people have passed through the gates at Oriole Park in 21 games. During the previous 26 games, attendance totaled about 541,000.

Now, not all is well — I attended Sunday’s matchup against Toronto (which drew about 21,600) as a plain old fan and the atmosphere was almost sleepy in the upper reserves. And this was despite the fact the Orioles won and had the lead for most of the game. Toronto’s not the kind of team that will draw road fans (as opposed to the previous clubs I mentioned), and with just orange and black shirts to fill the stands, the emptiness was palpable.

I know many Orioles fans who pride themselves on their baseball knowledge and their steadfast support of the team (although maybe not always its ownership). And while maybe it’s not as bad as attending a Sunday afternoon game at Nationals Park, it’s still a little depressing to see the lack of turnout from home fans on a beautiful day when you can get tickets for as little as $9.

The visiting fans are doing their part for Orioles attendance — if more Orioles fans showed up to support their team, Oriole Park may even beat its attendance total from last year. But the ball’s in your court — we’ll see how the second half of the season goes.

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Yesterday’s ninth-inning comeback from the Red Sox — one night after the Orioles executed a similar feat against them — highlighted what has become a theme for Baltimore this year: you never know which O’s squad you’re going to get.

The Orioles have been streaky this year, to say the least.  Seven-game losing streaks, five-game winning streaks. They blanked the Rays one night then allowed 11 runs the next. They were scoreless against the Yankees on May 8, then touched home plate 12 times the next night. More than half of their wins have come from runs scored in late innings.

I recently heard a radio ad highlighting the fact that the Orioles have been an exciting team to watch because you can’t count them out in the later innings. Last year, the O’s marketing team launched a tongue-and-cheek promotion around the team’s bad luck on Sundays. At that point, the Orioles had a 13-game losing streak at Camden Yards on Sundays and marketers launched a “You Win We Win” promotion on July 6 that promised to give fans a free ticket to a future, non “prime” game to fans in attendance that day if the O’s broke their Sunday streak.

From talking with fans, I get the sense that there isn’t really any ill will about the streakiness because most know it’s just a characteristic of a young squad.  That being the case, can you market this unpredictability? The radio commercial I mentioned touches on it, but I wonder if team marketers can take it a step further and design a promotion around the team’s come-from-behind drama they’ve frequently displayed at home.

For example, they could print up a bunch of $8 off and $9 off ticket coupons and have them ready to hand out after a game for an eighth- or ninth-inning comeback (making it clear to fans that the go-ahead run is scored in one of those innings for the promotion to take effect).

On the other hand, as the manager of a ball club, you want to see your team jump out early and hold on to the lead. Would a promotion like the one I mentioned be a conflict in philosophy?

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