It was 1986
I am from NJ and I was turned off by the Yankees and I was indifferent to the Mets.
A friend of mine and I were talking about baseball, and as a result of that conversation I fell in love with the Cartoon Oriole hat.
Some of my favorite memories from back then were regarding Eric Bell and Larry Sheets. Eric Bell was a left handed starter who I thought had a lot of potential and Larry Sheets was a lefthanded hitting OF/DH who had some pop in his bat.
I had selected both of them on my Micro League Baseball team. The program simulated games based on projecting past stats to future out comes. However, it did not factor small sample sizes well, and as a result over a full season, Eric Bell performed like a CY Young and Sheets like an MVP. They made me look like a fantasy genious!
Not sure what happened to Eric Bell, but Larry Sheets had some good years and I met him at a fan fest.
I have been an avid Oriole and Fantasy baseball fan since.