The beautiful stadiums sit just 35.51 miles apart, and the fan base that was once united for a generation under the orange umbrella of Orioles baseball is now forever divided.

This weekend, for the first time since the Washington Nationals got their sparkling new ballpark in southeast D.C. in Anacostia, the region’s baseball fans collided with a true view toward the future. No more “rented” teams from Montreal playing in a stadium that is a half-century old. This time, the Orioles fans going south down Interstate 295 got to see the real future of a potential rivalry between Baltimore and Washington that truly hasn’t been seen by this generation of fans.

Oh, sure, the Redskins and Ravens come together once every four years, but it’s mostly unrequited smack talk. (Of course, don’t tell me that come Dec. 7, when the burgundy and gold makes its first official appearance in Baltimore in 25 years. I’ll be plenty fired up for that one, like most of you.)

But for the first time since the Nationals came into existence, one team is actually in the pennant race, and the games mean something. At least it meant it a lot to the Birds this weekend, trying to slip into a true wild-card chase for the first time in 12 years. Wins mean something this year!

If you’re an Orioles fan looking to “hate” on Washington — and it was a birthright for much of the city’s fan base during our parents’ days of Brooks Robinson and Johnny U. — it takes losses such as Sunday’s stinger on a walk-off home run to anger the blood for a lifetime worth of civic disdain. Think about how long and hard the Red Sox and Yankees have had to brawl to stir up those sports emotions that make fans, well, fanatics.

Ronnie Belliard’s stunning two-out, two-strike blast not only made the continent of orange jerseys leave the bowl of the stadium in disbelief, it also might have set off the true beginning of something we baseball geeks will talk about years from now — a true “beltway rivalry.” And wouldn’t that be fun?

“Remember that crazy 12-inning game back in 2008 when George Sherrill looked like he had Belliard struck out on that 0-2 fastball, and he hit the next pitch into the seats to win the game?”

Call it “the shot heard round the state.” Earlier in the weekend, Nats manager Manny Acta talked about seeing and hearing the mixed crowd in the seats and the passion simmering for hometown pride between the two vastly different communities.

Well, one day it might just be a heated rivalry, and games such as Sunday’s stunner are how these wars get started. I know I won’t forget anytime soon.

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