Why loving a team really matters

[Roy Firestone]

First, let me say, I've been an Oriole fan for close to 60 years.I was bat boy for 3 years in Spring Training and many of the members of the 70's teams who are still alive, are still my friend some 50 years later.Thats part of why I care so much...not everything though.

But I wanted to write this.

A long time ago, when I was having a fit after the Mets beat the Orioles in the World Series...my father tried to get me to come to my senses.

He said, "Relax....what did the Orioles ever do for you"?

In a way, it was a fair question. At the time, I didn't have a good answer. My dad is gone now, but if he were here...I'd say this.

The Orioles never put money in my pocket(I've never been a gambler) or food on my table, or gotten me a job or anything like that.

But theres something that still burns in my soul when the franchise is playing well, and is also playing thrilling baseball.

I get a visceral charge out of seeing them , not  just win, but coming from behind to overcome in doing it. Its an almost indescribable feeling.

The Orioles, (with a couple other teams in other sports) put a skip in my step....fire up an adrenaline rush, and make me think of the possibilities of winning...when they play this way.

In 2011-12 when the Orioles spoiled the Red Sox post season with an astonishing end of season comeback win..and later went to the playoffs the next year, there was a palpable joy in my heart. I literally couldnt wait to watch the game every night on the MLB ticket (even living in LA).

Most females in my life rolled their eyes, or almost mocked me, though a couple began to get it.

It's the CARING..passionately and devoutly...caring about almost ANYTHING in our lives that seems to have been muted in other areas of life.

And so, I seized upon the caring.

I dont know these current  players.I've never met a single one.

But theyre my "boys" now.

Like my boys in "real life", these boys occasionally frustrate me, confound me, aggravate me...but the love will never die.

When "my boys"do well..I have a metaphoric hug for them. When they deliver a win in dramatic fashion, I feel it personally.

So to answer my dad's question..."what dd the Orioles ever do for YOU"...I would answer...."They lifted me up...like nothing else in sports can".

Go Birds! 

Edited May 23, 2023 by Roy Firestone

[Roy Firestone]

8 minutes ago, Roy Firestone said:

First, let me say, I've been an Oriole fan for close to 60 years.I was bat boy for 3 years in Spring Training and many of the members of the 70's teams who are still alive, are still my friend some 50 years later.Thats part of why I care so much...not everything though.

But I wanted to write this.

A long time ago, when I was having a fit after the Mets beat the Orioles in the World Series...my father tried to get me to come to my senses.

He said, "Relax....what did the Orioles ever do for you"?

In a way, it was a fair question. At the time, I didn't have a good answer. My dad is gone now, but if he were here...I'd say this.

The Orioles never put money in my pocket(I've never been a gambler) or food on my table, or gotten me a job or anything like that.

But theres something that still burns in my soul when the franchise is playing well, and is also playing thrilling baseball.

I get a visceral charge out of seeing them , not  just win, but coming from behind to overcome in doing it. Its an almost indescribable feeling.

The Orioles, (with a couple other teams in other sports) put a skip in my step....fire up an adrenaline rush, and make me think of the possibilities of winning...when they play this way.

In 2011-12 when the Orioles spoiled the Red Sox post season with an astonishing end of season comeback win..and later went to the playoffs the next year, there was a palpable joy in my heart. I literally couldnt wait to watch the game every night on the MLB ticket (even living in LA).

Most females in my life rolled their eyes, or almost mocked me, though a couple began to get it.

It's the CARING..passionately and devoutly...caring about almost ANYTHING in our lives that seems to have been muted in other areas of life.

And so, I seized upon the caring.

I dont know these current  players.I've never met a single one.

But theyre my "boys" now.

Like my boys in "real life", these boys occasionally frustrate me, confound me, aggravate me...but the love will never die.

When "my boys"do well..I have a metaphoric hug for them. When they deliver a win in dramatic fashion, I feel it personally.

So to answer my dad's question..."what dd the Orioles ever do for YOU"...I would answer...."They lifted me up...like nothing else in sports can".

Go Birds! 

This quote from the great Roger Angell really sums it up for me:                                                                                             “It is foolish and childish, on the face of it, to affiliate ourselves with anything so insignificant and patently contrived and commercially exploitative as a professional sports team, and the amused superiority and icy scorn that the non-fan directs at the sports nut (I know this look - I know it by heart) is understandable and almost unanswerable. Almost. What is left out of this calculation, it seems to me, is the business of caring - caring deeply and passionately, really caring - which is a capacity or an emotion that has almost gone out of our lives. And so it seems possible that we have come to a time when it no longer matters so much what the caring is about, how frail or foolish is the object of that concern, as long as the feeling itself can be saved. Naïveté - the infantile and ignoble joy that sends a grown man or woman to dancing in the middle of the night over the haphazardous flight of a distant ball - seems a small price to pay for such a gift.”  Roger Angell "A Baseball Companion "

[Too Tall]

Roy, I can beat you by almost 10 years. I still remember the 1954 team that got me started. My wife of 61 years still reminds me of the summer letters I wrote her during college that talked more about  the Orioles than anything else. I'm a bit older now but I still have a much better day when they win as opposed to losing. Our team does affect our spirit. I truly appreciate what you posted above. In spite of all the ups and many downs, I bleed orange and always will. And boy did I love every bit of yesterday. 

[Gurgi]

1 hour ago, Roy Firestone said:

First, let me say, I've been an Oriole fan for close to 60 years.I was bat boy for 3 years in Spring Training and many of the members of the 70's teams who are still alive, are still my friend some 50 years later.Thats part of why I care so much...not everything though.

But I wanted to write this.

A long time ago, when I was having a fit after the Mets beat the Orioles in the World Series...my father tried to get me to come to my senses.

He said, "Relax....what did the Orioles ever do for you"?

In a way, it was a fair question. At the time, I didn't have a good answer. My dad is gone now, but if he were here...I'd say this.

The Orioles never put money in my pocket(I've never been a gambler) or food on my table, or gotten me a job or anything like that.

But theres something that still burns in my soul when the franchise is playing well, and is also playing thrilling baseball.

I get a visceral charge out of seeing them , not  just win, but coming from behind to overcome in doing it. Its an almost indescribable feeling.

The Orioles, (with a couple other teams in other sports) put a skip in my step....fire up an adrenaline rush, and make me think of the possibilities of winning...when they play this way.

In 2011-12 when the Orioles spoiled the Red Sox post season with an astonishing end of season comeback win..and later went to the playoffs the next year, there was a palpable joy in my heart. I literally couldnt wait to watch the game every night on the MLB ticket (even living in LA).

Most females in my life rolled their eyes, or almost mocked me, though a couple began to get it.

It's the CARING..passionately and devoutly...caring about almost ANYTHING in our lives that seems to have been muted in other areas of life.

And so, I seized upon the caring.

I dont know these current  players.I've never met a single one.

But theyre my "boys" now.

Like my boys in "real life", these boys occasionally frustrate me, confound me, aggravate me...but the love will never die.

When "my boys"do well..I have a metaphoric hug for them. When they deliver a win in dramatic fashion, I feel it personally.

So to answer my dad's question..."what dd the Orioles ever do for YOU"...I would answer...."They lifted me up...like nothing else in sports can".

Go Birds! 

You are a freaking fanatic.  

 

 

Your in the right place.  

[AnythingO's]

3 minutes ago, Too Tall said:

Roy, I can beat you by almost 10 years. I still remember the 1954 team that got me started. My wife of 61 years still reminds me of the summer letters I wrote her during college that talked more about  the Orioles than anything else. I'm a bit older now but I still have a much better day when they win as opposed to losing. Our team does affect our spirit. I truly appreciate what you posted above. In spite of all the ups and many downs, I bleed orange and always will. And boy did I love every bit of yesterday. 

Sounds like you have me by a few years but I do remember Hanson and Woodling, when Brooks first stuck with the O's, was pissed when Gentile left and believed it was Boog's fault. Ignorance of youth. I also hate TOR more than NYY or BOS. Drug allegations, funny Canadian wood in their bats, guy in the white shirt in CF, the cameras in the hotel room (they were Houston first), Bautista (love Odor), Donaldson vs Manny (roid rage anyone). And lest I forget, CITO STILLSUCKSSSSSSSSS.

[Roy Firestone]

27 minutes ago, Gurgi said:

You are a freaking fanatic.  

 

 

Your in the right place.  

You havent seen my house....fanatic as a word doesnt quite cover it...