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• Rankings: Who are the world's best soccer players?

There were officially 15,169 hardy souls on hand at Camden Yards when the Orioles hosted the Royals in a duel for the ages between Bruce Chen and Rich Hill (or more accurately, a duel for those wishing to age rapidly). That's roughly 55,000 fewer people than filled M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore two nights before for an exhibition game between Chelsea and AC Milan.

It was a state of affairs that led Baltimore Sun columnist Kevin Cowherd (no relation, we assume) to opine on the marvels of what Chelsea fans can do lyrically with the names of vegetables, and which has surfaced in similar forms throughout the World Football Challenge tour across the United States.

So what's the national pastime again?

It gets harder and harder to make fun of soccer with each bit of evidence that a sizable portion of SportsNation cares about the world's game. Perhaps not enough to displace our brand of football -- or even hockey -- but enough to make Zlatan Ibrahimovic (above) sound like something other than a villain in a Joss Whedon series. Next thing you know, we'll all be wearing scarves and singing in groups. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

• Gold Cup loss aside, 'Nation expects U.S. to win World Cup qualifier in Mexico City.
• Tuesday MLS chat: Colorado All-Star Conor Casey at 3 p.m. ET
• Groups: Arsenal FC | Euro Soccer Nation | Real Madrid C.F. | Manchester United | Celtic FC Supporters Club | Liverpool Fans of America | Chelsea Blues | AC Milan | F.C. Barcelona | FC Bayern Munich | Everton FC The People's Club | Tottenham Hotspur Fans