Fill in the blank: The last time the Orioles had a winning season, I was...

[OFFNY]

.

I came in 2nd place overall in the Putnam County Fall Classic Half-Marathon in 1:15:27.

[TakebackOPACY]

I was living in Fell's Point. It's a blur.

I was 25, drunk most of the time. Living life for the moment. Menial labor job. Now, 39, married, 2 sons (11,8) and half way through my career as a law enforcement officer. You know, after I settled down and stopped howling at the moon, baseball became a lot clearer to me. More of a grown mans game, a working mans game. My sons have only heard me talk about the O's winning, now my son ( Cal) is finally getting it...........

Made me think of this:

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[square634]

8 years old in third grade. Now a second year medical student.

[scOtt]

...pretty much still the same pathetic loser. TWO less devastating scars on my heart (THREE if you count my heat attack...).

EDIT: At least I learned to stop wanting. Some lessons take a long time to learn.

[Spoonless]

I was 12, and not really cognisant of what was going on in Major League Baseball. By that point, I had just about stopped playing baseball, hitting the wall of the Babe Ruth leagues. I was never very good to begin with, and I focused on soccer instead of playing both (of course, when everyone else had growth spurts and I stayed short, I was no longer chosen to play goalie and I stopped playing competitively). I probably didn't start really following all of baseball until my senior year of high school, 2001-2002. I stuck with the O's as the team I had liked when I was younger. My little league coach was an O's fan, and Cal was big at the time so everything was about playing the game like Cal. My dad was a football, hockey, and soccer fan, so I never had family influence over baseball (in which case I'd've been a Red Sox fan). Heck, even with football I was a Dolphins fan as a kid, because I liked animals, and dolphins are cool animals. Anyway, basically the entire time I've really followed baseball, the O's were bad. In 2004, everyone around me got Red Sox fever, which had the polarizing effect of making me stick with the O's more than ever. Had that not happened, I might have transitioned into a Red Sox fan eventually.

[nevadaO]

17, a junior in High School and still living abroad in Switzerland. I moved back to the US in 1998, just in time to start the losing streak.

I honestly got to the point where I thought I was the curse.

[howboutthoseos]

Awesome thread. I've been trying to put this season in perspective for my wife, and this really helps.

I was 18, senior in high school, and Jewish. I'm now 32, am married, have 2 kids (including a 5 day old son who is currently sporting a 3-2 lifetime oriole record) and am a born again Christian. In the meantime, I've graduated from college and worked at the white house for 7 years. Amazing how much has happened in all of our lives, all while the orioles stunk.

[atownlynx]

Had just met my wife and started dating. Now married 12 years with 2 kids.

[atom_25]

I was 17 and just going into my senior year of high school. I really cannot believe it has been this long. You would think that once or twice they would have broken .500 at least by accident.

[allquixotic]

I was in middle school and I didn't know a thing about programming or computer science or Linux or IT Security. Now I'm out of college and well into the second year of my full-time job doing Web application security testing. Oh and I've got three years of internship experience under my belt (worked during college downtime). Not much else has changed, I didn't marry like everyone else.

I had a tabby cat back then. He passed on and now my Maine Coon cat is 10 years old already. Wow.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[tennOsfan]

This thread should become an OH classic. We sound like people who emerged from a nuclear winter.

[sakata_catching]

I was 26, coming out of a disastrous on-again-off-again 4 year relationship, living on Shields Ave. in the Fan in Richmond. I had just started co-editing a book of academic essays that would get published in 2001 by the University of Michigan. I still entertained a vague idea of going on for my PhD, but that dream was fading fast. About 7 months later, I would meet my future wife.

Back then I couldn't have told you the difference between Burgundy and Boone's Farm. Now I co-own a wine bar in Pittsburgh, PA.

[canonfaz]

I was 16 and just started driving. My grandparents gave me their 1985 Ford Crown Victoria that year for my birthday (we called it "The Boat"). My wife and I, who I wouldnt meet for another 4 years, bought a 2013 Ford Edge yesterday. Time flies.

[Aglets]

In 1997 I was just starting 7th grade in middle school, with really no clue what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I think I wanted to be a baseball announcer or work for NASA or something. (incidentally I went to school with Jimmy Hunter that year and met his Dad who you all know at MASN; that was cool)

Now, I'm 5 years removed from graduating college, have a steady job, bought a house this year, and am getting married in 12 days.

Wow, time has flown by.

[Brendan25]

I was 7 years old in 2nd grade. I am now 22 years old with a full time job and a JV coach for my local high school baseball team.