I’m Celebrating Twenty (Plus?) Years of Hanging Out!

[Billy F-Face3]

Happy OH Anniversary Frobby!  That's a long time and the fact you're still hear and one of our most distinguished members of the community is something to be celebrated.

[BRobinsonfan]

6 hours ago, Frobby said:

According to my poster profile, I joined the Hangout on December 10, 2003.  So that makes today my 20th anniversary as a Hangout member.  

Now, I actually don’t believe that’s quite right.   In my memory, I joined the Hangout in the last days of the 2003 season.  Then, when Tony created Plus memberships in December of that year, I signed up for that.  But whatever.  Officially, today is my 20th anniversary.

The Hangout has seen a ton of changes in those 20 years.   A few managing editors have come and gone (and I still miss weams terribly), site writers have come and gone, and some prolific posters have come and gone (and in SG’s case, have come back again).   The whole framework for discussion is different.   WAR existed in some dark corners of the internet but most people (me included) had never heard of it.  Moneyball  was published that year and its concepts like the importance of OBP and fielding-independent pitching metrics were just entering public consciousness.   BB-ref existed but was a little-used resource that not many people were aware of and didn’t have nearly the information and functionality it has today.  Fangraphs did not exist.   Nobody talked about spin rate, or launch angle, exit velocity or dozens of other metrics we talk about all the time.

But two things have remained constant throughout those 20 years:

1.  @Tony-OHhas seen to it that the site provides the most detailed and best-researched information on Orioles’ minor league prospects of any site on the internet.  In fact, that was what brought me to Orioles Hangout in the first place, a couple of years before I even realized there was a message board here.  I’d pop over a few times a year reading things like Tony’s comments on Erik Bedard when he was at Frederick, and the exploits of players like Tim Raines, Jr., Keith Reed and Eddie Rogers.  There was absolutely no better place to go for O’s minor league information then, and though there’s a lot more competition today, OH still reigns supreme.

2.  There’s no better place to discuss all facets of Orioles’ baseball with knowledgeable fans.  I know so much more than I used to about the intricacies of the game and the team thanks to the posters here.  And I can’t count the number of times that I had an opinion on some issue about the team and got talked out of it by good information provided by other posters.  

Anyway, it’s been a great 20 years for me and I hope I’m still on here arguing about the 2043 team 20 years from now!  Thanks to Tony and everyone else who makes this a great place to Hang Out!

 
 

Holy heck I just looked and my official sign-up date was September 22, 2003, so I've got you beat by about 2 ½ months! You've been a little more active about posting than I have though! Happy OH Anniversary Frobby. Many more! 

[BRobinsonfan]

4 hours ago, Frobby said:

Yeah, those post counts have been reset numerous times through the years.   I hate to think of how many times I’ve actually posted.  

I lost a lot of posts to those resets… those were some of my most productive posting years too! It's like Ted Williams and the Korean War, I can't help but wonder where my post totals/reputation score would be if it hadn't been for those resets. 

[CP0861]

Going back even further, which one of you here was bs630 on the old ESPN board?? Frobby?

I've always been curious.

[SemperFi]

Thanks Frobby for your insight and all you do on this board!!

[RZNJ]

1 hour ago, LA2 said:

Just in case: my reply was to RZNJ, whom I trail by only a respectable 9,300-some posts, whereas I'm behind you by over 58,300 (and counting).

Moreover, I think you probably did witness Stu's Slow, Slower, and Slowest; he never had a bad season in his five with the O's (1963-68, ages 35-39), with ERA+'s from 125 to 184. Stu, Drabowsky, Dick Hall et al: sort of a kooky group.

I don’t remember ever seeing Stu Miller pitch but I did have his baseball card.  

[RZNJ]

25 minutes ago, CP0861 said:

Going back even further, which one of you here was bs630 on the old ESPN board?? Frobby?

I've always been curious.

Haha.  Not me.  This was my first message board.  It would be interesting to see posters who changed handles over the years.

[Frobby]

26 minutes ago, CP0861 said:

Going back even further, which one of you here was bs630 on the old ESPN board?? Frobby?

I've always been curious.

I was never on that board.  I used to post on an AOL board.  It was decent for a while, then got absolutely infested with trolls, which is what led me to OH.   Thank goodness that Tony has always monitored this board.  

[Arch93086]

6 hours ago, wildcard said:

I see that RZNJ, SG and I all have a join dates on September 23, 2003.  I too believe there was a system change and that I was on the OH prior to that.

Thanks Tony for 20 years of enhancing my enjoyment of O's baseball!

I logged in to remind Frobby of that. I’m certain there are people here who have been reading the Hangout since 2000 or 2001, myself included.

 

 

[mddisney]

Thank you, Frobby, for all of the stimulating conversation and for being the constant calm voice of reason!  Go O's!

[NCRaven]

You made me look.  I won’t hit 20 until March 18th.  Been fun for sure.

[WarehouseChatter]

Frobby,

While I don’t post often enough, I’m constantly on the board and see your posts. You have great knowledge and a great mind for the game. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and opinions over the years!

[OriolesMagic83]

3 hours ago, CP0861 said:

Going back even further, which one of you here was bs630 on the old ESPN board?? Frobby?

I've always been curious.

I was on the old ESPN boards along with bpilktree, VATech, EvenPar and some others who's name I can't remember.  My name was OriolesMagicHaHa.

[OriolesMagic83]

Just now, OriolesMagic83 said:

I was on the old ESPN boards along with bpilktree, VATech, EvenPar and some others who's name I can't remember.  My name was OriolesMagicHaHa.

The amount of trolls, spam, and outright idiots was hard to fathom on the ESPN boards.  An intelligent conversation was almost impossible. 

[sangar]

I first posted on OH in 1997 and I know you, Frobby, were here long before 2003.