A collection of about a thousand Orioles fans, many of which wore black T-shirts that read ?FREE THE BIRDS,? and many carried signs that had ?For Pete's Sake? on one side and ?Free the Birds? on the other, walked out of Thursday's game as a sign of protest. They chose to walk out at precisely 5:08 PM, in honor of Brooks Robinson and Cal Ripken, Jr. ?Whoever joins that protest has no comprehension of what it costs to run a baseball team,? Peter Angelos said in a telephone interview from his law office in Baltimore. ?When you get down to facts, putting together a team that can compete in the AL East means having a payroll between $100-$110 million. That money comes from the consumer, and I have chosen to keep ticket prices to a minimum. ?Our payroll is $75 million, and our ticket prices average $22. Some of the teams we compete against charge an average of $45,? Angelos said. ?We're going to have to match the competition. How to do that is a decision I will make in the future.?