Rochester Orioles Fans

[MijiT88]

Not sure if this is the right spot for this but I had a random thought while at work today. I live in Rochester and work at Wegmans, almost every person I see go by with O's gear on I give them a "nice hat" or "Go O's" or something along those lines. I am not sure how many people on here are from Rochester but it crossed my mind to see if any of you folk are the one of the people I do this to every day at work. Maybe I can find a hangout friend at work? 

[owknows]

Sorry. I work at the other gourmet chain grocer in Rochester.

[CharmCityHokie]

17 hours ago, MijiT88 said:

Not sure if this is the right spot for this but I had a random thought while at work today. I live in Rochester and work at Wegmans, almost every person I see go by with O's gear on I give them a "nice hat" or "Go O's" or something along those lines. I am not sure how many people on here are from Rochester but it crossed my mind to see if any of you folk are the one of the people I do this to every day at work. Maybe I can find a hangout friend at work? 

My wife is from Rochester, born and bred, and when I talk baseball with her uncles it's amazing how many are Orioles fans from way back due to the Red Wings affiliation. Which Wegman's do you work at, just out of curiosity (we're usually up in the area once a month or so to see family and my wife is a dyed-in-the-wool Wegman's fanatic, she'd have married that store instead of me if it were legal so we hit them up with coolers right before heading back south...even though we have Wegman's here now, "But they're not the same!!!"...apparently)

[drjohnnyfeva]

I have a friend from another Orioles board, the old Scout Boards, who lives up there.  I think he might have been a Covid casualty, as I have been unable to contact him, either thru email or a FB page of his since just before last year's season.  He is a really great guy.  Name is Ted.  I know he was an insurance adjuster and a long time Red Wings fan.  Was super knowledgeable about the Orioles and had seen all of our star players of the late 1960's thru the early 80's.  He was beside himself when either name Syd Thrift or Don Buford was mentioned.  He was very upset when the O's necessitated a shift to the Twins being affiliated with Rochester. 

I know from him that there is still a devoted Oriole presence up there.  I met him for a few beers as the family passed thru Upstate NY in 2018.  We had a blast talking about the Orioles of the 70's and 80's and about the many games he attended, including many games that big leaguers played in rehabs up there.

[MijiT88]

6 hours ago, CharmCityHokie said:

My wife is from Rochester, born and bred, and when I talk baseball with her uncles it's amazing how many are Orioles fans from way back due to the Red Wings affiliation. Which Wegman's do you work at, just out of curiosity (we're usually up in the area once a month or so to see family and my wife is a dyed-in-the-wool Wegman's fanatic, she'd have married that store instead of me if it were legal so we hit them up with coolers right before heading back south...even though we have Wegman's here now, "But they're not the same!!!"...apparently)

I work at the penfield store in the cheese shop...pretty easy to spot with a big beard and a lot of tattoos, if you stop in there say hey!

[Tbone83]

I live in Buffalo now, but grew up in Medina, about an hour from Rochester. I became an Orioles fan watching them during the 1983 season as a 7 year old. But when my Dad took me to Rochester to see the Orioles play the Wings in the yearly exhibition in 84, I became a fan for life. Getting to see all the guys I watched win the World Series on TV the previous year up close in Silver Stadium was mind-blowing to me at 8. 

I was just at a Farmers Market in Buffalo yesterday and was wearing an Orioles hat and a vendor yelled "Orioles fan!" and told me he lived in Rochester up until the mid 80s and told me several stories about meeting Cal in 81 and so forth. 

So yeah the AAA affiliation really turned a whole region into Oriole fans. We are getting old now and anyone under 40 who actually watches baseball has moved on to the Yankees, Mets, Sux, or Jays. 25 years from now there probably won't be any vestige of Orioles influence left in Western New York, other than a handful of kids made Os fans by their parents who were part of it. Sad, but time marches on. 

[Snutchy]

My wife is from Rochester. Rochester is full of Orioles fans. I always get complimented on my O's gear.

[ORIOLE33]

On 10/4/2021 at 12:04 AM, Tbone83 said:

I live in Buffalo now, but grew up in Medina, about an hour from Rochester. I became an Orioles fan watching them during the 1983 season as a 7 year old. But when my Dad took me to Rochester to see the Orioles play the Wings in the yearly exhibition in 84, I became a fan for life. Getting to see all the guys I watched win the World Series on TV the previous year up close in Silver Stadium was mind-blowing to me at 8. 

I was just at a Farmers Market in Buffalo yesterday and was wearing an Orioles hat and a vendor yelled "Orioles fan!" and told me he lived in Rochester up until the mid 80s and told me several stories about meeting Cal in 81 and so forth. 

So yeah the AAA affiliation really turned a whole region into Oriole fans. We are getting old now and anyone under 40 who actually watches baseball has moved on to the Yankees, Mets, Sux, or Jays. 25 years from now there probably won't be any vestige of Orioles influence left in Western New York, other than a handful of kids made Os fans by their parents who were part of it. Sad, but time marches on. 

Albion. Lol

[MijiT88]

22 hours ago, Snutchy said:

My wife is from Rochester. Rochester is full of Orioles fans. I always get complimented on my O's gear.

I wouldn't say full anymore lol. A lot of closet O's fans who don't rep the gear. But I wear my O's hat all summer and I have an O's tattoo so I always have something to show lol. There are about 6500 customers per day at my store and I see maybe 2-3 with Orioles hats each day, they always get a go O's from me!

[Snutchy]

2 hours ago, MijiT88 said:

I wouldn't say full anymore lol. A lot of closet O's fans who don't rep the gear. But I wear my O's hat all summer and I have an O's tattoo so I always have something to show lol. There are about 6500 customers per day at my store and I see maybe 2-3 with Orioles hats each day, they always get a go O's from me!

They're there! Funny you mention Penfield. My in-laws live in ER, and that's where we spend most of our time. Penfield is our go-to Wegmans. I'll make sure I wear my O's hat to the cheese shop this Christmas. Senator Robach is also an O's fan. He sought me out in a crowd at an ALS walk up there one time and he hung with us and talked O's.