My Baltimore Sun article from 2004

[Tony-OH]

I know there are actually few people who have been a Hangouter since or even before 2004, but I also know many people have found us since. I know most of you probably know the background of the Hangout but I happened to find the article the great John Eisenberg did on me while I was deployed to Afgahnistan in 2004. 

This was supposed to run on the front page of the sports section on Christmas day, but the death of Johnny Oates rightfully knocked it to the second page. So if you don't remember, here's the article.

*******************************

LIKE MANY PEOPLE who root for the Orioles, Tony Pente would love to find Carlos Delgado or a new starting pitcher among his holiday gifts.

But Pente has more basic desires this year, such as a safe return to his wife and four children in 2005, and good things for the people of Afghanistan, where he is in a yearlong Army deployment.

Pente, 34, is an intelligence specialist with deep Baltimore-area roots. He grew up in Anne Arundel County and graduated from Northeast High School. His grandfather is the unofficial mayor of Little Italy whose bedroom serves as the projection room for the open-air summer movie festival.

A baseball fanatic, Pente founded and owns OriolesHangout.com, a popular Web site among fans of the team. Started as a lark in 1996, it now includes daily game reports, news and analysis from the Orioles' minor league system and a sizable bulletin board community.

"It's amazing how far we've come," Pente wrote in an e-mail from Afghanistan after I contacted him recently. "And we have big plans for the future."

But first things first. He still has three months to go in Afghanistan, where his work has included supporting the recent presidential election.

"Things are getting pretty monotonous now," he wrote, "but it's extremely satisfying to see that we've helped change a country from a lawless safe haven for terrorists into a democratic country headed in the right direction."

When his time is up, he will return to Hawaii, where his family currently resides. Married to his high school sweetheart, he hopes to move everyone back to the Baltimore-Washington area in 2006 and retire from the Army in 2008.

"I figure I can serve my country for the first 20 years of my adult life and then spend the next 20 years involved with baseball," he wrote.

He was a player himself, a high school outfielder who also played on military teams. He said he made the cut from 90 outfielders down to six at an Orioles tryout camp at Memorial Stadium in 1990 and was asked to come back.

But his chance evaporated when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and the Army called. He spent the next year producing intelligence products for Desert Storm.

After taking the basic course for military intelligence warrant officers in 1996, he was assigned to Fort Bragg, N.C., and began tinkering on the Internet. His account came with 500k of Web space, and he decided to start a page devoted to the Orioles, as much to amuse himself as anything.

They had brought in Roberto Alomar, Rafael Palmeiro, Pat Gillick and Davey Johnson, and "I couldn't have been more excited about the team I've always loved," he wrote.

He spent the next few years surviving start-up kinks, adding content, developing a following, moving back to the D.C. area, covering Oriole minor leaguers and bringing in a Webmaster. A network takeover put some money in his pocket.

His baseball acumen was indisputable; one National League assistant general manager invited him to become a scout after a conversation in the Camden Yards press box. But he had another life, a job in intelligence.

"One time I flew across an ocean, briefed a foreign government, got back on a plane, and the following day, I was at Bowie watching a prospect pitch. That was quite surreal," he wrote.

By 2003, the site had become a reliable source for Orioles minor league news and opinion, and Pente was working harder than ever. But he knew an overseas deployment was coming in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The Army dispatched him to Hawaii for a three-year assignment in June 2003 and on to Afghanistan in March 2004.

OriolesHangout.com is still going strong with managing editor John Domen and Webmaster Richard Legendre in charge. (Legendre is the site's "unsung hero," Pente wrote.) Pente has broadened its scope by posting moving diary entries from Afghanistan.

"I figured it would be neat for my family and friends to see what it was like for me over here," he wrote in his e-mail to me. "Although my work is still mainly classified, I'm able to talk about everyday life here as well as the few times I've been out on some missions.

"The hardest entry to write was the one that chronicled my youngest son Matt's journal once I left [Hawaii]. It broke my heart to see how much he missed me and how it had affected him."

Although Pente doesn't have much time to think about baseball now, he monitors the site and the bulletin board and keeps up with the Orioles' moves, or lack thereof.

"Once I get back to Hawaii [in April], I will be more active in the Hangout again," he wrote.

Meanwhile, he continues to post diary entries from Afghanistan, which have prompted such a response that he recently posted a bulletin board thank-you note:

"I'm probably preaching to the choir with most of you who have read these diaries, but I hope the one thing you take from them is the fact that I'm just a regular guy. That's why I write them from my perspective. I try to give you the thoughts that crossed my mind as I go through this deployment so you can see that I'm probably a lot like you."

Just an Orioles fan. But a special one, indeed.

**************************

By the way, Michael Williams (weams) is the Hangout's unsung hero now. He keeps the daily content flowing and does all the things that help keep the Hangout going. Many thanks to him, Luke Siler, Chris Slade, Shane Bauer and folks like Richard Legendre and John Doman in the past for keeping the Hangout going. Without them the Hangout would not be the longest running Orioles website on the internet!

[MDtransplant757]

That's awesome

[joelala]

Super cool article Tony, thanks for re-posting

Also :"and keeps up with the Orioles' moves, or lack thereof"

Some things never change.

[Uli2001]

Thanks for your service. I advise a graduate student who is deploying to Afghanistan this Fall. This is an incredible thing, a personal sacrifice for a greater cause. I also enjoyed reading up on the history of the OH.

[Tony-OH]

2 hours ago, Going Underground said:

Nice article. i did not know where to put this but this guy was also a sportswriter who is no longer with us . If you want to move this to somewhere else it is all good. Puts perspective on a bad Orioles season. This reporter will never see another Oriole game whether they are good or bad. This is from Mark Zuckerman and also from Roch . And thanks for your service.

 

From Roch :

John was in the Camden Yards press box just a few days ago. Such a nice guy. Such a tragic turn of events. Another shooting leaves me deeply saddened and intensely angry.

Capital Gazette shooting victim John McNamara: Sports reporting was his dream job.

 

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/anne-arundel/bs-md-john-mcnamara-20180628-story.html

 

Could you post this is in it's own thread in the Hangout Forum? He deserves his own thread vs being a footnote in this thread.

[ChrisP]

Was that really from 2004? Oh yeah, I’ve been here for 20 years. Great owner and great staff the entire time. 

[Dipper9]

4 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

I know there are actually few people who have been a Hangouter since or even before 2004, but I also know many people have found us since. I know most of you probably know the background of the Hangout but I happened to find the article the great John Eisenberg did on me while I was deployed to Afgahnistan in 2004. 

This was supposed to run on the front page of the sports section on Christmas day, but the death of Johnny Oates rightfully knocked it to the second page. So if you don't remember, here's the article.

*******************************

LIKE MANY PEOPLE who root for the Orioles, Tony Pente would love to find Carlos Delgado or a new starting pitcher among his holiday gifts.

But Pente has more basic desires this year, such as a safe return to his wife and four children in 2005, and good things for the people of Afghanistan, where he is in a yearlong Army deployment.

Pente, 34, is an intelligence specialist with deep Baltimore-area roots. He grew up in Anne Arundel County and graduated from Northeast High School. His grandfather is the unofficial mayor of Little Italy whose bedroom serves as the projection room for the open-air summer movie festival.

A baseball fanatic, Pente founded and owns OriolesHangout.com, a popular Web site among fans of the team. Started as a lark in 1996, it now includes daily game reports, news and analysis from the Orioles' minor league system and a sizable bulletin board community.

"It's amazing how far we've come," Pente wrote in an e-mail from Afghanistan after I contacted him recently. "And we have big plans for the future."

But first things first. He still has three months to go in Afghanistan, where his work has included supporting the recent presidential election.

"Things are getting pretty monotonous now," he wrote, "but it's extremely satisfying to see that we've helped change a country from a lawless safe haven for terrorists into a democratic country headed in the right direction."

When his time is up, he will return to Hawaii, where his family currently resides. Married to his high school sweetheart, he hopes to move everyone back to the Baltimore-Washington area in 2006 and retire from the Army in 2008.

"I figure I can serve my country for the first 20 years of my adult life and then spend the next 20 years involved with baseball," he wrote.

He was a player himself, a high school outfielder who also played on military teams. He said he made the cut from 90 outfielders down to six at an Orioles tryout camp at Memorial Stadium in 1990 and was asked to come back.

But his chance evaporated when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and the Army called. He spent the next year producing intelligence products for Desert Storm.

After taking the basic course for military intelligence warrant officers in 1996, he was assigned to Fort Bragg, N.C., and began tinkering on the Internet. His account came with 500k of Web space, and he decided to start a page devoted to the Orioles, as much to amuse himself as anything.

They had brought in Roberto Alomar, Rafael Palmeiro, Pat Gillick and Davey Johnson, and "I couldn't have been more excited about the team I've always loved," he wrote.

He spent the next few years surviving start-up kinks, adding content, developing a following, moving back to the D.C. area, covering Oriole minor leaguers and bringing in a Webmaster. A network takeover put some money in his pocket.

His baseball acumen was indisputable; one National League assistant general manager invited him to become a scout after a conversation in the Camden Yards press box. But he had another life, a job in intelligence.

"One time I flew across an ocean, briefed a foreign government, got back on a plane, and the following day, I was at Bowie watching a prospect pitch. That was quite surreal," he wrote.

By 2003, the site had become a reliable source for Orioles minor league news and opinion, and Pente was working harder than ever. But he knew an overseas deployment was coming in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The Army dispatched him to Hawaii for a three-year assignment in June 2003 and on to Afghanistan in March 2004.

OriolesHangout.com is still going strong with managing editor John Domen and Webmaster Richard Legendre in charge. (Legendre is the site's "unsung hero," Pente wrote.) Pente has broadened its scope by posting moving diary entries from Afghanistan.

"I figured it would be neat for my family and friends to see what it was like for me over here," he wrote in his e-mail to me. "Although my work is still mainly classified, I'm able to talk about everyday life here as well as the few times I've been out on some missions.

"The hardest entry to write was the one that chronicled my youngest son Matt's journal once I left [Hawaii]. It broke my heart to see how much he missed me and how it had affected him."

Although Pente doesn't have much time to think about baseball now, he monitors the site and the bulletin board and keeps up with the Orioles' moves, or lack thereof.

"Once I get back to Hawaii [in April], I will be more active in the Hangout again," he wrote.

Meanwhile, he continues to post diary entries from Afghanistan, which have prompted such a response that he recently posted a bulletin board thank-you note:

"I'm probably preaching to the choir with most of you who have read these diaries, but I hope the one thing you take from them is the fact that I'm just a regular guy. That's why I write them from my perspective. I try to give you the thoughts that crossed my mind as I go through this deployment so you can see that I'm probably a lot like you."

Just an Orioles fan. But a special one, indeed.

**************************

By the way, Michael Williams (weams) is the Hangout's unsung hero now. He keeps the daily content flowing and does all the things that help keep the Hangout going. Many thanks to him, Luke Siler, Chris Slade, Shane Bauer and folks like Richard Legendre and John Doman in the past for keeping the Hangout going. Without them the Hangout would not be the longest running Orioles website on the internet!

What a great article.  I've been here for many....many...many years, and I've come to know Tony and the guys in real life, but for those who come on here and use this forum to discuss our favorite team, I implore you to take a few minutes of your time to read this article and learn about the man who started it all.

Tony, thanks for your years of service to our Country, and for keeping the Hangout going through the good times and the bad!  

[weams]

5 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

I know there are actually few people who have been a Hangouter since or even before 2004, but I also know many people have found us since. I know most of you probably know the background of the Hangout but I happened to find the article the great John Eisenberg did on me while I was deployed to Afgahnistan in 2004. 

This was supposed to run on the front page of the sports section on Christmas day, but the death of Johnny Oates rightfully knocked it to the second page. So if you don't remember, here's the article.

*******************************

LIKE MANY PEOPLE who root for the Orioles, Tony Pente would love to find Carlos Delgado or a new starting pitcher among his holiday gifts.

But Pente has more basic desires this year, such as a safe return to his wife and four children in 2005, and good things for the people of Afghanistan, where he is in a yearlong Army deployment.

Pente, 34, is an intelligence specialist with deep Baltimore-area roots. He grew up in Anne Arundel County and graduated from Northeast High School. His grandfather is the unofficial mayor of Little Italy whose bedroom serves as the projection room for the open-air summer movie festival.

A baseball fanatic, Pente founded and owns OriolesHangout.com, a popular Web site among fans of the team. Started as a lark in 1996, it now includes daily game reports, news and analysis from the Orioles' minor league system and a sizable bulletin board community.

"It's amazing how far we've come," Pente wrote in an e-mail from Afghanistan after I contacted him recently. "And we have big plans for the future."

But first things first. He still has three months to go in Afghanistan, where his work has included supporting the recent presidential election.

"Things are getting pretty monotonous now," he wrote, "but it's extremely satisfying to see that we've helped change a country from a lawless safe haven for terrorists into a democratic country headed in the right direction."

When his time is up, he will return to Hawaii, where his family currently resides. Married to his high school sweetheart, he hopes to move everyone back to the Baltimore-Washington area in 2006 and retire from the Army in 2008.

"I figure I can serve my country for the first 20 years of my adult life and then spend the next 20 years involved with baseball," he wrote.

He was a player himself, a high school outfielder who also played on military teams. He said he made the cut from 90 outfielders down to six at an Orioles tryout camp at Memorial Stadium in 1990 and was asked to come back.

But his chance evaporated when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and the Army called. He spent the next year producing intelligence products for Desert Storm.

After taking the basic course for military intelligence warrant officers in 1996, he was assigned to Fort Bragg, N.C., and began tinkering on the Internet. His account came with 500k of Web space, and he decided to start a page devoted to the Orioles, as much to amuse himself as anything.

They had brought in Roberto Alomar, Rafael Palmeiro, Pat Gillick and Davey Johnson, and "I couldn't have been more excited about the team I've always loved," he wrote.

He spent the next few years surviving start-up kinks, adding content, developing a following, moving back to the D.C. area, covering Oriole minor leaguers and bringing in a Webmaster. A network takeover put some money in his pocket.

His baseball acumen was indisputable; one National League assistant general manager invited him to become a scout after a conversation in the Camden Yards press box. But he had another life, a job in intelligence.

"One time I flew across an ocean, briefed a foreign government, got back on a plane, and the following day, I was at Bowie watching a prospect pitch. That was quite surreal," he wrote.

By 2003, the site had become a reliable source for Orioles minor league news and opinion, and Pente was working harder than ever. But he knew an overseas deployment was coming in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The Army dispatched him to Hawaii for a three-year assignment in June 2003 and on to Afghanistan in March 2004.

OriolesHangout.com is still going strong with managing editor John Domen and Webmaster Richard Legendre in charge. (Legendre is the site's "unsung hero," Pente wrote.) Pente has broadened its scope by posting moving diary entries from Afghanistan.

"I figured it would be neat for my family and friends to see what it was like for me over here," he wrote in his e-mail to me. "Although my work is still mainly classified, I'm able to talk about everyday life here as well as the few times I've been out on some missions.

"The hardest entry to write was the one that chronicled my youngest son Matt's journal once I left [Hawaii]. It broke my heart to see how much he missed me and how it had affected him."

Although Pente doesn't have much time to think about baseball now, he monitors the site and the bulletin board and keeps up with the Orioles' moves, or lack thereof.

"Once I get back to Hawaii [in April], I will be more active in the Hangout again," he wrote.

Meanwhile, he continues to post diary entries from Afghanistan, which have prompted such a response that he recently posted a bulletin board thank-you note:

"I'm probably preaching to the choir with most of you who have read these diaries, but I hope the one thing you take from them is the fact that I'm just a regular guy. That's why I write them from my perspective. I try to give you the thoughts that crossed my mind as I go through this deployment so you can see that I'm probably a lot like you."

Just an Orioles fan. But a special one, indeed.

**************************

By the way, Michael Williams (weams) is the Hangout's unsung hero now. He keeps the daily content flowing and does all the things that help keep the Hangout going. Many thanks to him, Luke Siler, Chris Slade, Shane Bauer and folks like Richard Legendre and John Doman in the past for keeping the Hangout going. Without them the Hangout would not be the longest running Orioles website on the internet!

We wondered if you'd make it back ok and I, like many here, read your blogs that eventually became your book "Afghanistan Diaries."

We have been extremely proud of how you served this country and how you have kept this site going through adversity. 

[Moose Milligan]

Thank you Tony for serving and for the OH!

The first line made me laugh.  Remembering that we were trying to sign Carlos Delgado.  Man, time flies.

[weams]

34 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Thank you Tony for serving and for the OH!

The first line made me laugh.  Remembering that we were trying to sign Carlos Delgado.  Man, time flies.

Delgado would have beast in Camden Yards.

[weams]

Just now, weams said:

Delgado would have beast in Camden Yards.

Plus he was a stone cold roider. 

[TGO]

53 minutes ago, weams said:

Plus he was a stone cold roider. 

Well, when we missed out on him we traded for Sosa instead.

[Tx Oriole]

9 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

I know there are actually few people who have been a Hangouter since or even before 2004, but I also know many people have found us since. I know most of you probably know the background of the Hangout but I happened to find the article the great John Eisenberg did on me while I was deployed to Afgahnistan in 2004. 

This was supposed to run on the front page of the sports section on Christmas day, but the death of Johnny Oates rightfully knocked it to the second page. So if you don't remember, here's the article.

*******************************

LIKE MANY PEOPLE who root for the Orioles, Tony Pente would love to find Carlos Delgado or a new starting pitcher among his holiday gifts.

But Pente has more basic desires this year, such as a safe return to his wife and four children in 2005, and good things for the people of Afghanistan, where he is in a yearlong Army deployment.

Pente, 34, is an intelligence specialist with deep Baltimore-area roots. He grew up in Anne Arundel County and graduated from Northeast High School. His grandfather is the unofficial mayor of Little Italy whose bedroom serves as the projection room for the open-air summer movie festival.

A baseball fanatic, Pente founded and owns OriolesHangout.com, a popular Web site among fans of the team. Started as a lark in 1996, it now includes daily game reports, news and analysis from the Orioles' minor league system and a sizable bulletin board community.

"It's amazing how far we've come," Pente wrote in an e-mail from Afghanistan after I contacted him recently. "And we have big plans for the future."

But first things first. He still has three months to go in Afghanistan, where his work has included supporting the recent presidential election.

"Things are getting pretty monotonous now," he wrote, "but it's extremely satisfying to see that we've helped change a country from a lawless safe haven for terrorists into a democratic country headed in the right direction."

When his time is up, he will return to Hawaii, where his family currently resides. Married to his high school sweetheart, he hopes to move everyone back to the Baltimore-Washington area in 2006 and retire from the Army in 2008.

"I figure I can serve my country for the first 20 years of my adult life and then spend the next 20 years involved with baseball," he wrote.

He was a player himself, a high school outfielder who also played on military teams. He said he made the cut from 90 outfielders down to six at an Orioles tryout camp at Memorial Stadium in 1990 and was asked to come back.

But his chance evaporated when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and the Army called. He spent the next year producing intelligence products for Desert Storm.

After taking the basic course for military intelligence warrant officers in 1996, he was assigned to Fort Bragg, N.C., and began tinkering on the Internet. His account came with 500k of Web space, and he decided to start a page devoted to the Orioles, as much to amuse himself as anything.

They had brought in Roberto Alomar, Rafael Palmeiro, Pat Gillick and Davey Johnson, and "I couldn't have been more excited about the team I've always loved," he wrote.

He spent the next few years surviving start-up kinks, adding content, developing a following, moving back to the D.C. area, covering Oriole minor leaguers and bringing in a Webmaster. A network takeover put some money in his pocket.

His baseball acumen was indisputable; one National League assistant general manager invited him to become a scout after a conversation in the Camden Yards press box. But he had another life, a job in intelligence.

"One time I flew across an ocean, briefed a foreign government, got back on a plane, and the following day, I was at Bowie watching a prospect pitch. That was quite surreal," he wrote.

By 2003, the site had become a reliable source for Orioles minor league news and opinion, and Pente was working harder than ever. But he knew an overseas deployment was coming in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The Army dispatched him to Hawaii for a three-year assignment in June 2003 and on to Afghanistan in March 2004.

OriolesHangout.com is still going strong with managing editor John Domen and Webmaster Richard Legendre in charge. (Legendre is the site's "unsung hero," Pente wrote.) Pente has broadened its scope by posting moving diary entries from Afghanistan.

"I figured it would be neat for my family and friends to see what it was like for me over here," he wrote in his e-mail to me. "Although my work is still mainly classified, I'm able to talk about everyday life here as well as the few times I've been out on some missions.

"The hardest entry to write was the one that chronicled my youngest son Matt's journal once I left [Hawaii]. It broke my heart to see how much he missed me and how it had affected him."

Although Pente doesn't have much time to think about baseball now, he monitors the site and the bulletin board and keeps up with the Orioles' moves, or lack thereof.

"Once I get back to Hawaii [in April], I will be more active in the Hangout again," he wrote.

Meanwhile, he continues to post diary entries from Afghanistan, which have prompted such a response that he recently posted a bulletin board thank-you note:

"I'm probably preaching to the choir with most of you who have read these diaries, but I hope the one thing you take from them is the fact that I'm just a regular guy. That's why I write them from my perspective. I try to give you the thoughts that crossed my mind as I go through this deployment so you can see that I'm probably a lot like you."

Just an Orioles fan. But a special one, indeed.

**************************

By the way, Michael Williams (weams) is the Hangout's unsung hero now. He keeps the daily content flowing and does all the things that help keep the Hangout going. Many thanks to him, Luke Siler, Chris Slade, Shane Bauer and folks like Richard Legendre and John Doman in the past for keeping the Hangout going. Without them the Hangout would not be the longest running Orioles website on the internet!

Tony, thank you for posting this. 

[Flacco Machado]

I remember that article like it was yesterday, Tony! 

Thank you for Orioles Hangout! Thank you to everyone involved. This site has been such a huge part of my life and my fandom.

I take great joy in being here from the early years. My name was mattman, many moons ago. From scouting reports, articles, and the interaction with many, many posters, this is truly more than a website. It's a family.

Now, someone find SportsGuy and draw up a Casey Kotchman 3-way trade...

Hang on for the Ride!!!

[Tony-OH]

11 hours ago, Flacco Machado said:

I remember that article like it was yesterday, Tony! 

Thank you for Orioles Hangout! Thank you to everyone involved. This site has been such a huge part of my life and my fandom.

I take great joy in being here from the early years. My name was mattman, many moons ago. From scouting reports, articles, and the interaction with many, many posters, this is truly more than a website. It's a family.

Now, someone find SportsGuy and draw up a Casey Kotchman 3-way trade...

Hang on for the Ride!!!

Appreciate all of that. The thing I've always taken pride in is the fact that the Hangout has been just that, an online family. We've shared so much over the years with each other, and I seem to learn something new each and every day from the many amazing Hangouters.

I appreciate everyone who calls themselves a Hangouter. I especially appreciate our longtime members who have supported us through thick and thin, but also the ones that left and then came back and of course our newer members who keep things fresh.

The internet has changed so much since we first started up the Hangout. Social media has changed how people get their information and how they communicate, but the Hangout has lasted because it's still the one place where you can get Orioles news, information, and opinion from knowledgeable Orioles fans and where anyone can voice an opinion and not be shouted down by the "Internet mob" that exists on many social media platforms.

I've said it many times, but this community is the strength of the site. While Michael, Luke, Chris and I will still continue to produce Orioles news, minor league scouting reports, and some inside information when we get some, this message board will continue to be our bread and butter because of people like yourself! 

So thank you and all of our Hangouters!