HHP: Reporting from Fanfest

[scOtt]

His last name is my first name...:slytf:

We both have hot wives....:beerchug1:

He deserves it....

Hot wives indeed! And BOTH of you deserve it.

[scOtt]

Matusz has been told he'll have an opportunity to start this spring, but just wants to be one of the 12. He has been working with Brady again this winter along with Tillman, Chen, Britton and Gonzalez.

O'Day says he enjoyed this year more than the two World Series with Texas because "we did all that work.". Strop agrees: "when you built the house, it's better than when you buy the house".

Quoted, bolded, highlighted and otherwise putting it out there again! Great stuff!

[Tx Oriole]

Got the following autographs on the bat I have hanging in my man cave: Dylan Bundy, Chris Tillman, L.J. Joes, Wayne Kirby, Nick Markakis, Steve Johnson, Ryan Minor, Darren O'Day, Manny Machado, Kevin Gausman, Brian Roberts, Zach Britton, Mike Devereaux and Lew Ford.

Booyah!

That is cool.

[notfast]

I wish we would have gotten there earlier. I would have liked to find a playoff shirt in my size and my friend would have liked to find some patches to add to her jersey that weren't standard Orioles logos. Playoffs etc.

Oh well. Still a fun time.

[scOtt]

Its not ridiculous Dan! Go back and read my 1st post. There is no reason to believe DD at this point. His cheapness is just more of the same from Angelo's GMs. A GM who signed for Manny R in the past and traded and extended Pedro has accomplished nothing more than dumpster diving. You can be all pumped about rah rah fest if you want. Neg repping me doesnt make you right.

Yeah. WTFever. You're going to give up a draft pick for ANY of these barely upgrades that we passed on? Very glad you're not in charge.

[Guest rochester]

I have had a blast living vicariously through everyone. It was a long, tiring day for you and each and everyone of you took the time to let your fellow OH'ers, most you don't even know, know how it was - some even in real time. I know there will be more to follow so thanks in advance -

[Guest rochester]

Yeah. WTFever. You're going to give up a draft pick for ANY of these barely upgrades that we passed on? Very glad you're not in charge.

Scott - I love ya brother but please don't put kerosene on that fire - it ain't worth it

[SpringBarb]

Ryan Flaherty had what looked like a book about Antiques in his locker, along with a signed note, but I really couldn't tell for sure, as my eyesight stinks and I wasn't wearing my glasses.

It was a book about baseball history, actually. Pretty cool.

[wildcard]

I got there at 10 am. The line was completely around the building. Moved pretty fast though.

Didn't know about Earl until they announced it before one of the forums. Shocked and choked up. He was a big part what the O's mean to me. God Bless.

Brian was very sincere in thanking to the fans. BRob is getting gray and made a joke about it. Nick and Brian both sporting beards. Probably made Brian looked older then he is. As I mentioned Nick had the best quotes of the day for me.

I though Valencia was impressive. Really glad to be in a winning organization after coming up with the Twins and being traded to Boston. Made it a point to say how much he didn't like the Red Sox. Said it was quite a shock to be trade from Twins. Both Hunter and Valencia made a point of saying that he plays 1B in addition to 3B.

Hunter said that Manny was more nervous on stage then he had seem at the Park. I think he did well though.

Very good to see Buck and Dan in person but besides the "tape" gem that has been discussed I didn't think they said anything that we haven't hear before. Buck talked about rotating players through the DH role which I have heard before but it is interesting that he talks so much about it when Betemit/Reimold are kind of set up for most the job. The fans were rived up so that made it enjoyable.

I am not interested in autographs or giveaways. I spent the day a the forum so it was very enjoyable. Best thing is just getting the opportunity to see and listen to everyone in person.

Got to see the video of 2012 season. Very Nice Job. Of course they had a lot to work with this year.

[bobmc]

Buck was talking about the players, and said that the players talk about their fellow MLBers and often say things along the lines of "So-and-so is a really good player, but really wouldn't fit in here because he doesn't do so-and-so", or "he doesn't like playing a certain way."

Jim Thome still has stuff in his locker, including a Cleveland Indians jersey.

JJHardy had a "Best New Oriole" crystal trophy on top of his locker, and a JJ Hardy tribute poster framed at the bottom of his locker.

A bunch of players had Frank Robinson statues on top of their lockers.

Ryan Flaherty had what looked like a book about Antiques in his locker, along with a signed note, but I really couldn't tell for sure, as my eyesight stinks and I wasn't wearing my glasses.

Matt Wieters has what seems to be a dozen p airs of shoes in his locker.

As usual, I have no idea how to post pictures to here, so I have posted 20-odd pictures from Fanfest on my Facebook page, it is Carl Lamy. I use the same avatar there as I use here. Sorry about some of the pictures being fuzzy, my camera is a cheap piece of junk and I was taking the pictures on the fly.

Great shots Carl - thanks for letting us see them! Rep later when I get it back...nice old Studebaker/Ford? :scratchchinhmm: with black and orange - BRob looks fit with a nice beard!

[atomic]

Its not ridiculous Dan! Go back and read my 1st post. There is no reason to believe DD at this point. His cheapness is just more of the same from Angelo's GMs. A GM who signed for Manny R in the past and traded and extended Pedro has accomplished nothing more than dumpster diving. You can be all pumped about rah rah fest if you want. Neg repping me doesnt make you right.

well he did get chen, hammel, saunders, and gonzalez last year. You might think that is dumpster diving but the era was way down from the year before. The orioles are hiring new people and getting better scouts and people in player development. he has had excellent results wherever he has gone and with this team last year. let the team develop a bunch of players and then they can trade prospects for stars. There wasn't really much out there in free agency this year anyway..

[weams]

Nick's two statement about the Yankees were the quotes of the day for me. Great express with both quotes.

Mine too.

And the Buck story Brob told as captured by justD

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/t87zD_qrbBk?list=UU9SxmNWCPD68E_gwalnpVig" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[OriolesBaseball]

Autograph lines seemed to crawl all day except for Station 3. I had the Bundy there at 4:40 (and witnessed most of the 3:20 session while waiting), and as was previously mentioned, I too was very impressed with the pace of that line and the handlers lack of interference. For all other stations if you weren't one of the first 50-100 people in line it took forever to get through. After seeing the volume of people going through the lines I have little doubt over 250 autograph vouchers were issued for some sessions. Additionally, the picture taking during autographs was ridiculous. A quick shot of the player while you move along, okay, but seriously, posing your 3 kids in front of each player at the stage and taking multiple pictures, come on. There were multiple designated photo areas, and the very small donation required goes to charity. Hope this gets tightened up next year.

[CaptainRedbeard]

Mine too.

And the Buck story Brob told as captured by justD

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/t87zD_qrbBk?list=UU9SxmNWCPD68E_gwalnpVig" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

BRob was great telling that story! Man would it be something if he came back to life this season. He's built up a lot of unwarranted fan negativity on this board over the past few years, mostly I think because we're paying him so much and he can't play. When we as fans hear about how payroll is so tight and then our second highest-paid player can't do anything, that's frustrating.

In my mind Roberts really is a true Oriole. Stuck with the team. Loves the city and the team. There's a lot of Orioles that I would have loved to see as part of a real winning Orioles team but it broke my heart that Roberts and Markakis didn't get an at bat in the playoffs last year. The two longest-tenured Orioles deprived of everything they worked for because of injuries. Just sad.

Then again, maybe I'm emotional because a clip of the game 2 ALDS crowd popped up after watching that video. Wow! That still seems fake to say. Last year, we were playing games in Camden Yards in the ALDS. We could have played in the World-effing-Series. That's just surreal. We need to find a way to get back there again, and soon.

[Samatwing]

Came down with appendicitis and had to get it taken out this morning. Super bummed I couldn't make the Fest. Thanks for all the updates though. Hope tomget some autographs later this season.