Last weekend’s Orioles Hall of Fame ceremony

[Frobby]

I went to Saturday’s game, and arrived to find they were having the induction ceremony for four new members of the Orioles’ Hall of Fame: Mo Gaba, Joe Angel, Mike Devereaux and JJ Hardy.  I arrived after the conclusion of Mo’s mother’s speech, but saw the rest.   

Anyway, I thought it was great.   Joe Angel was extremely gracious and it was great to hear his voice.   He mentioned, among other things, that he was born in Colombia (which I knew) and didn’t speak a word of English until he was 9, which is pretty amazing.   

Devo was next and they played a video montage of him that included, among other things, his “was it fair?” walk-off homer against the Angels in 1989, and his amazing catch at the wall in a 1-0 game against Toronto the year OPACY opened.   He mentioned that he played at OPACY from 1982-94 and again in 1996, and never once played a game there that wasn’t sold out.   He said getting inducted into the OHOF was the greatest thrill of his baseball career.

Finally came JJ.   Joe Angel did his introduction (double bonus) and they showed a video montage of JJ  that, of course, ended with him scoring from first on Delmon Young’s bases loaded double in the 2014 ALDS.   Angel got the crowd to shout out “J - J - Hardy!!!” as he came up to make his speech.   He was low key and very gracious, and mentioned that he never heard a stadium so loud as when Delmon hit that double.  He definitely looked like he could go play SS right now.

Anyway, it was a great event, far better than the game that followed, and I was there purely by accident.  It was really great to witness the ceremony.  And, though I didn’t see the part involving Mo Gaba, it’s really cool that he was remembered in that way.  


 

[WarehouseChatter]

Wish I would have been there.  So many great moments.  I still watch the Why Not? video a few times a year!  I know the lines by heart including Joe Angel’s fair/foul call.  I was in OCMD on the way back from the boardwalk and heard the call on the radio.  #goosebumps

[Pickles]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

I went to Saturday’s game, and arrived to find they were having the induction ceremony for four new members of the Orioles’ Hall of Fame: Mo Gaba, Joe Angel, Mike Devereaux and JJ Hardy.  I arrived after the conclusion of Mo’s mother’s speech, but saw the rest.   

Anyway, I thought it was great.   Joe Angel was extremely gracious and it was great to hear his voice.   He mentioned, among other things, that he was born in Colombia (which I knew) and didn’t speak a word of English until he was 9, which is pretty amazing.   

Devo was next and they played a video montage of him that included, among other things, his “was it fair?” walk-off homer against the Angels in 1989, and his amazing catch at the wall in a 1-0 game against Toronto the year OPACY opened.   He mentioned that he played at OPACY from 1982-94 and again in 1996, and never once played a game there that wasn’t sold out.   He said getting inducted into the OHOF was the greatest thrill of his baseball career.

Finally came JJ.   Joe Angel did his introduction (double bonus) and they showed a video montage of JJ  that, of course, ended with him scoring from first on Delmon Young’s bases loaded double in the 2014 ALDS.   Angel got the crowd to shout out “J - J - Hardy!!!” as he came up to make his speech.   He was low key and very gracious, and mentioned that he never heard a stadium so loud as when Delmon hit that double.  He definitely looked like he could go play SS right now.

Anyway, it was a great event, far better than the game that followed, and I was there purely by accident.  It was really great to witness the ceremony.  And, though I didn’t see the part involving Mo Gaba, it’s really cool that he was remembered in that way.  


 

Those are some great memories you mentioned.  You're lucky to have gotten to relive them, particularly by accident.

Reminds me of a couple of years ago I went to a Rangers game where Josh Hamilton was being inducted into the Rangers' HOF.

He got up to make his speech and was very dishevelled and confused looking.  His speech was written on what must have been a dozen pieces of full notebook paper, which he repeatedly fumbled with, and the top paper would get blown away by the wind, and someone would go chasing it across the field and Josh would just continue reading the next page, almost unintelligibly.

The crowd seemed mostly puzzled, but knowing Hamilton's history it shouldn't have been too puzzling.  Very sad memory.

 

[Penn Bird]

I’m not sure if I’ve attended an Orioles Hall of Fame game in past seasons, but the MASN broadcast of Saturday’s game made me think that I’ll have to keep it in mind for the future.
JJ’s interview during the third inning seemed to demonstrate the exciting, uniquely Orioles competitive spirit of the mid 2010’s.  We all know that none of those teams advanced to the World Series, but there were times when they looked the part of world champions.  

JJ discussed his career highlights and activities in retirement.  But the real excitement of the interview seemed to occur on the field.  Cedric Mullins laced a game-tying two run home run and Jorge Mateo looked outstanding on the basepaths, hitting a double, stealing third and scoring on an error.  Authentic Orioles Magic seemed to be present in the booth, on the field and in the stands.

While none of the teams of the mid 2010’s will be recognized as a world champion, JJ exemplified the spirit of a team that had all the ability on Saturday.  It felt great to relive so many highlights and remember that Orioles Magic has its own brilliant way of operating on and off the field.

 

 

[eddie83]

Ross Grimsley’s intro of Devo looked like it took him about 20 seconds of effort. 

[Frobby]

9 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

Ross Grimsley’s intro of Devo looked like it took him about 20 seconds of effort. 

He’s the Chris Davis of introductory speakers!

Just making a joke.   I’ve always been reluctant to make assumptions about how hard Davis worked, despite any circumstantial evidence on the topic. 

[eddie83]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

He’s the Chris Davis of introductory speakers!

Just making a joke.   I’ve always been reluctant to make assumptions about how hard Davis worked, despite any circumstantial evidence on the topic. 

I have my suspicions but will never know for sure. 
 

I think regardless of physical effort he never at least admitted publicly what he was doing wasn’t working. He needed to make changes.