Winter Warm-up, Birdland Brunch, and Brews and O's

[weams]

1 hour ago, MurphDogg said:

Heading over in a few minutes. Light rain off and on for the next couple hours, and it isn't too cold out so it shouldn't be bad.

[weams]

 

[weams]

 

[weams]

 

[TonySoprano]

 

[Chavez Ravine]

13 hours ago, atomic said:

Outdoor events are frequently fun.  I don’t think going to an event in pouring rain with temperatures in the 40s with a small child is going to be fun.  I am going to skip it unless a weather change happens quickly.  

Cold rain is the worst. It’s the weather in western Oregon for half the year. It’s also why I am in Puerto Vallarta at the moment

[fansince1988]

I took my wife and son. We arrived around 12:45. There were maybe, maybe 75 people there including staff. The ticket taker seemed confused when we brought two winter coats for free admission, as no one was there to take the coats. After ten minutes at the window in the rain they let us in free. Inside the Oriole bird was “on break” and I practically had the beg staff to get him back on position so I could get a picture with my son. The entire thing felt minor league. 

[atomic]

12 minutes ago, fansince1988 said:

I took my wife and son. We arrived around 12:45. There were maybe, maybe 75 people there including staff. The ticket taker seemed confused when we brought two winter coats for free admission, as no one was there to take the coats. After ten minutes at the window in the rain they let us in free. Inside the Oriole bird was “on break” and I practically had the beg staff to get him back on position so I could get a picture with my son. The entire thing felt minor league. 

Sorry about your bad experience.  Did they have anything inside the stadium?  Or was everything in the rain. If anyone had any sense they would have postponed it until tomorrow when they saw the weather forecast.  

I think the team needs new management.  Whomever decided to cancel fan fest and replace it with an outside event in Mid-December should be put in another role.  
 

I guess you had no problem getting the giveaway blanket despite your late arrival.

 

[atomic]

3 hours ago, TonySoprano said:

 

Looking at the photos it doesn’t look like even 100 people were there.  Seems like something out of Spinal Tap.

[atomic]

3 hours ago, Chavez Ravine said:

Cold rain is the worst. It’s the weather in western Oregon for half the year. It’s also why I am in Puerto Vallarta at the moment

Wish I was were you are.  

[beantownrefugee]

I attended, and thought it was fun.  Guess anything Orioles related and being inside the ballpark is a nice reprieve from winter.  I would estimate the attendance as 250 - 400.  But I might be underestimating, since the guy behind me in line at the O's Team Store said that they were out of sherpa blankets when he arrived, and the O's had said the first 1,000 would get a sherpa blanket.   The rain was not too bad, alternated between a mist and light rain.  

There wasn't too much to do, besides the segment with Hyde, Elias and Sig.  I did, finally (!), get to exchange my voucher for the Hawaiian shirt (XLs were wrong size on gameday last July).  Also everything in the team store was 50% off, which brought some prices to the right price point for me.  Others, like the $150 polo shirt, not so much.

Not too much newsworthy during the Hyde, Elias, Sig segment.  Putting together Elias' answers to two separate questions.... (paraphrasing) "Villar was a big part of our team last year, but we want to give a chance to others who have more than one year remaining before free agency" and "we're going to look for a veteran player to play middle infield this year, no one in the upper minors ready" (seems like Villar fits that description), not retaining Villar was a pure money play.  Another interesting question asked was, would the O's consider taking on salary in a trade if that player was paired with prospect(s), Elias seemed to genuinely say it was a possibility.  

[fansince1988]

39 minutes ago, atomic said:

Sorry about your bad experience.  Did they have anything inside the stadium?  Or was everything in the rain. If anyone had any sense they would have postponed it until tomorrow when they saw the weather forecast.  

I think the team needs new management.  Whomever decided to cancel fan fest and replace it with an outside event in Mid-December should be put in another role.  
 

I guess you had no problem getting the giveaway blanket despite your late arrival.

 

No fan access aside from Eutaw St, the flag court, and the team store. They were out of the blankets by the time we arrived, but we saw more than a few people with bags full of them. Overall, it was a terrible promotional event. I can't really describe it any other way.

[atomic]

17 minutes ago, fansince1988 said:

No fan access aside from Eutaw St, the flag court, and the team store. They were out of the blankets by the time we arrived, but we saw more than a few people with bags full of them. Overall, it was a terrible promotional event. I can't really describe it any other way.

I find it funny they have a tent for the Orioles management speaking but none for the fans. If the fans can stand in the rain why can’t they stand in the rain?

Maybe they  just had self service on the blankets. 

[fansince1988]

23 minutes ago, atomic said:

I find it funny they have a tent for the Orioles management speaking but none for the fans. If the fans can stand in the rain why can’t they stand in the rain?

Maybe they  just had self service on the blankets. 

I was happy in the end to get my sons picture with the Santa Oriole Bird, that made it worthwhile for me. I don't think we will be going back next December though.

[Going Underground]

42 minutes ago, fansince1988 said:

No fan access aside from Eutaw St, the flag court, and the team store. They were out of the blankets by the time we arrived, but we saw more than a few people with bags full of them. Overall, it was a terrible promotional event. I can't really describe it any other way.

Someone I know said they were giving out the blankets just to get rid of them as fast as they could.So claiming around 1,000 so they can say they gave all the Sherpa blankets away.My friend said some wanted to get some former players and some of the minor leaguers but were turned down .Not sure why.The Hot Stove Show thing is good if you want free food but every player and anyone else besides the GM has called in.I would have gotten some Ravens to come to this since no game on Sunday.Two Ravens were signing in Aberdern at an auto dealership and two in Cockeysville for free.