Dave Newhan, Sidney Ponson, Eugene Kingsale, Albert Belle, Mike Timlin, Boog Powell, and Cal Ripken, Jr. Thats all I can think of, but if there’s anyone worse than that list that I forgot, maybe I repressed it.

my dad and I were at some sort of fanfest at CY and we were waiting in line to get somebody or other’s autograph and I went to take a piss and Brady Anderson was pissing at the other urinal. So I start pissing and pretend like it’s not a big deal and he looks over and goes “You didn’t actually follow me in here did you? Because that would be weird.” Looking back now it’s really funny, but at the time I was terrified that he actually thought I followed him in. haha

I also met Cal, Larry Bigbie, and BRob at various times. Cal was obviously the biggest thrill for me, but it was pretty brief.

in additon to Melmo, Palmeiro, and Scott Erikson. I’ve met Buck Matinez, but that’s pretty much it,.

Brooks, Palmer, Eddie, Boog, Flanagan, Billy Ripken, Todd Frohwirth, Baines, Bordick.

but my sister used to go on the Orioles cruise every year, and met them all, even became decent friends with a few lesser known players in the early 2000’s. She said that Larry Bigbie ran around the ship and tried to bang every woman that had a pulse. I kinda wish she’d have gone for it.

My great grandfather got inducted into the HoF the same year as Earl, so we went up to Cooperstown for that whole thing. I was young at the time, 12 I think. As family we had all sorts of sweet access to the behind the scenes stuff, and my cousin and I approached him for an autograph. He seemed aggrevated with all the attention, but he was still a funny guy, and told us to meet him in the VIP section (he saw our passes) to get an auto later. We didn’t, but I did end up with Marge Schott’s autograph instead.

My parents also went out to dinner with Cal and his girlfriend (Wife now) in 1984 with a mutual friend they both had.

I will only list the significant players…otherwise Larry Bigbie gets more props here that he doesn’t deserve!

Classic O’s: Cal, Brooks, Boog, Palmer, Weaver

Current O’s: Markakis, Jones, Reimold, Roberts, Wieters, Matusz, Tillman, Bergesen, Guthrie

Prospects: Snyder, Erbe, Arrieta

The most personable former O has to be Brooks…which many here already know. Of the current players, I would have to say Brian Matusz may have the most welcoming personality of all.

Brooks (super friendly), Boog, Cal and Billy Ripken (any story you’ve heard about Billy is likely true), Tippy Martinez (also very nice).

I’ve also been to two autograph sessions. A spring training meet and greet in 2007 with all of the flotsam and jetsam – Terry Tiffee (!), Jeff Fiorentino, Brandon Fahey, Hayden Penn, Brian Burres, Kurt Birkins, Freddy Bynum. Freddy was exceedingly polite, but most of the other guys looked like they wanted to crawl into a hole. Then again, they’d just lost a rain shortened game to Sir Sidney and the Twins, 16-2. Yes, Trachsel was our starter. There was also a Q n A with Sam Perlozzo. Good sense of humor, not that it helped him as a manager. At the next day’s game, former manager Phil Regan was sitting a row in front of me for a few innings but I didn’t talk to him. He did sign an autograph for someone else.

Last year I did one of the O’s alumni autograph session before a home game. It was the Why Not guys – Dave Schmidt, Dave Johnson, Mickey Tettleton, and Mike Devereaux. Devo seemed the most approachable, although Johnson laughed when I told him that we used to go to the same dentist.

I’ve written about most of these encounters on my blog at one time or another, but I’m too lazy to link ’em up at the moment.

but I did meet Jay Gibbons before a game once. (Go on, laugh it up.) I didn’t have anything to write on, so he signed my ticket, and my brother’s. We got on the giant escalator to get back to our seats, and somehow (due to either a gust of wind or my own klutziness) midway up the escalator my ticket/Gibbon’s autograph flew out of my hand, never to be seen again. I then proceeded to beg my brother to give me his ticket (he refused).

Oh and I’ve talked to Boog, of course.

I also went to some O’s fanfest thing in I think the early 2000s and had a bunch of players sign a baseball, but they were a bunch of nobodies as I recall. I should study it and see if I can decipher any of the signatures…

Brooksie three or four times, Paul Blair at a resturant next to my hotel, BrianBob at his first spring training (w/ autograph), Trembley at Fanfest, DannyCabs at fanfest (=,

The coolest had to be Meeting Doc, Luke and Guts outside Wrigley Field and getting all of thier autogrpahs.

hardly any of these guys. I guess the closest I’ve come was at that blogger event last summer when I briefly shot the shit with Al Bumbry about the beer and crabcakes available in the MASN Suite. Although I had no idea it was Al Bumbry until later. Boog Powell took my order at his BBQ stand once. Other than that I’ve just sort of seen some of the players around Baltimore on occasion. But I’m not really into autographs or anything.

I’ve had a few decent hookups though. There was that blogger event of course, which was great. Also when I was a child, my mother got incredible tickets, right behind home plate, like 4 or 5 rows back – in the shot on every AB on TV – from a co-worker of hers whose father was a VP at the club at the time. This was during the early 80s also, including 1983, so the team was awesome. Another cool thing was going to a ST game a few years back where Earl Weaver was in attendance about 10 rows in front of me. He signed autographs between each and every inning he was there, and when he got up to leave after they brought the scrubs in, he got a huge standing ovation. It was really gratifying to watch.

In some ways I kind of prefer not meeting the players though. The image you can produce for yourself of any type of famous person, and especially an athlete, is almost to a man going to be much more impressive than the person in real life.

Case in point, the other night I was at Union Station in DC, wolfing down dinner before catching a train and looking out over the expanse of the food court I spied Congressman Dennis Kucinich eating with several younger people including his tall, lithe, beautiful redheaded wife. It was an interesting little show while killing some time. But my not even particularly strong or well formed image of the diminutive legislator was forever altered when I observed him perform the pedestrian activity of taking his tray over to dump in the public trash can. Even his existence was preferable as a figment of my imagination, stoked by media, rather than something as ordinary as real life.

I met Cal, Brady, Murray, and BRobs. Cal was definitely the most friendly. He is just the coolest.