Why (and When) did You Become an Oriole Fan ???

[OFFNY]

OFFNY said:

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OK, the why for many posters is the obvious ......... some of you grew up in Maryland/Northern Virginia/etc, so you chose the home team. For some of us others, we have different reasons. But for all Oriole fans, at least share with us when you became an Oriole fan. Here is my story. I'd love to hear some more (I'm sure that many are quite interesting.) ) 

I have lived my whole life in Brewster, NY, and I love the Orioles (and I hate the Yankees.) I started rooting for the Orioles in October of 1971, when I was a six year-old boy in 1st grade. My whole family was rooting for the Pirates in the World Series because they liked Roberto Clemente ......... so naturally, I rooted for the Orioles. )  )I remember that we won Game 6 when an Orioles runner slid home underneath the Pirates' catcher who had leaped in the air for the throw (I later learned that it was Frank Robinson sliding underneath Manny Sanguillen.) I remember all of the Orioles hugging each other at home plate. The next day was a different story. It was a close game. My family was really excited with the Pirates having a 2-1 lead with only one out to go. I still remember the final out of the ninth inning. It was a groundout. My family whooped it up in the living room, while I went outside and pouted on the swing-set in our back yard in Brewster Heights. I've been bleeding orange and back ever since, and I haven't regretted my decision for one minute of my life. ) 

 

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OFFNY said:

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And that final groundout was hit by a young man named Merv Rettenmund.

Happy birthday, Merv (72.)

I hope that you are OK, wherever you are.

 

M. Rettenmund ))) (S. Blass) )))))) Groundout: SS-1B ))))))) 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. )))))) Pirates 2, Orioles 1.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL197110170.shtml

 

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Happy birthday, Merv Rettenmund.

You will be forever linked with that 6 year-old boy from Brewster, NY that fell in love with the Orioles in October of 1971, almost 45 years ago.

 

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[saltman241]

Ashburn, Va 1986. I joined my first little league team the Waxpool Orioles and I've been one ever since!

[Mountain Bird]

I was 12 years old in 1966 when a team that I had not noticed swept the heavily favored Dodgers. Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, and Jim Palmer immediately became my favorite players. I was hooked and have been a die-hard O's fan since.

[weams]

I feel sorry for all folks who go through life not having the experience of being a Baltimore Orioles fan. I really do.

[fansince79]

Grew up in Silver Spring. I was a Senators fan as a kid until they split town in '71. I held a grudge until I got invited to Game 2 of the '79 World Series, my first game at Memorial Stadium. Even though the O's lost 3-2 and ultimately the series, I have been a die-hard fan since.

I was there for the playoff and WS wins in '83, the 3 pick off game by Tippy. Moved to Florida and have some great memories at OPCY and the Trop as well.

[Redskins Rick]

1978, I was moved to nights, and the Orioles happened to be on the West Coast and I picked them up on the ole AM band and I was hooked.

I grew up a Senators fan and was avoided baseball after my team left DC.

So why was I a Senators fan? For some reason, my dad wasn't from here, become a Senators fan, and thats what I became. our neighborhood was probably 30-70 split, senators vs Orioles, and at the time, probably 70-30 split, Redskins vs Colts.

[TheBee]

For me it's like asking, "When did you start loving your mom?" I have loved her from the beginning...my earliest memories. My parents raised me on the Orioles, so I have loved them from the beginning...my earliest memories. I stood close to the tv, held a seat cushion in my arms, and called balls and strikes. We played wiffleball games in the neighborhood and a retired police officer would raise a flag while we played the anthem...we had music in between innings. We were always imitating the stances of our favorite Orioles. Plus, going to the games - the walk up to Memorial Stadium - eating at The Birdfeeder Restaurant (Where I met the REAL Bee for the first time), Orioles Magic. No matter how bad we got, no matter how much I said, "I'll root for another team!" - it wasn't ever, couldn't ever, will never happen.

[Barnfather]

I'm just your typical glory-hunter, jumping on board the orange and black train in 2014....

[weams]

I'm just your typical glory-hunter, jumping on board the orange and black train in 2014....

First place again.

[JKOriole]

Memorial Stadium in the early 80s. Grew up watching Bumbry, Dauer, Ripken, Murray, Lowenstein/Roenicke, DeCinces, Dempsey and Singleton.

[Flash- bd]

My first Orioles game was in 1991 at Memorial stadium. I watched Mike Mussina pitch, and I remember finding the game somewhat boring because it was 1-0 until the 7th, when I think we left because it was a weeknight. I was 6 years old. A year later I became an absolute fanatic of Camden Yards, after going to my first game there in 1992 against the Oakland Athletics. I still recall that game with a crystal clear recollection, as if it were one of the transcendent moments of my life...you know, like, a first kiss, or a wedding day, or a first child being born...I remember a few years and a good few (45 min, or worse, depending on traffic) trips to Camden Yards later when our english teacher asked us to think of a sort of 'happy place', a place we felt spiritually connected to, and the first thing that came to mind was Camden Yards. Throughout my adolescence I would pester my parents to make as many trips to Camden Yards per season as possible.

The last 7-8 years it's been harder to follow the O's because I live don't live in the U.S. any longer, and games start when I'm typically asleep, but I owe a lot to the OH to keeping me connected to the team, where otherwise my connection might've faded all together.

[OFFNY]

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We actually have a fan here that has been rooting for the franchise since the early 1940's ........ when we were known as the St. Louis Browns.

 

On 8/8/2014 at 10:18 PM, Oriole1940 said:

 

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If you all will indulge an old man for a moment. I waited 70 years, from the 1944 W.S. to beat the Cards. So I am saying my Browns/Orioles finally beat the Cards. 

 

 

 

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/index.php?/topic/17777-60th-anniversary-event-on-august-8/&page=3

 

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[ChuckS]

I was a NOVA kid. The 1988 Panini Sticker Book my parents bought me from the supermarket first piqued my interest in baseball and I started collecting the stickers. Became a fan of Cow Ripken (that's what i thought his name was at the time) from the milk commercials. Eventually my dad took me to some games.  I was a full fledged fan watching or listening to as many games as I could by 1989, not even seven years old.  

Edited December 22, 2016 by ChuckS

[ELMERO]

On 3/16/2011 at 0:58 PM, El Gordo said:

I became an O's fan because about the time I was becoming interested in baseball, I was living in Baltimore, and they just got this new team from St. Louis. So I went to see them play at Memorial Stadium in 1955. My favorite player was Bob "the rope" Boyd, because he was the only one who could hit.:laughlol:

Damn, and you still have your faculties, lol!  No. 9, Boyd was good with the glove, too, not much power, little guy.  I remember, before we got Gentile, Boyd and huge Walt Dropo, No. 17, platooned at 1B, in what, 1959?  That's the year I became a fan.  Jackie "Flakey" Brandt was and still is my favorite Oriole.

[MDtransplant757]

I was born into it. Parents had season tix from 1995-1998 and Dad ran the keys at that time.