FanPost

FanPost Friday - Reimold Walks It Off; Get Out of Jail Free Cards For All

I can't really remember all that much about the most memorable Orioles game I've ever attended. Alcohol will do that to you. In 2012, the Orioles called it the 16th best game in the history of Camden Yards.

The game I am writing about occurred firmly in the center of my "funemployment" period. I was laid off from my day job a few months prior at the peak of the Recession. Luckily, I was able to support myself with a weekend bartending gig. So life consisted of going to DC Friday afternoon for work, coming home Sunday morning, then doing whatever the hell I wanted during the work week with industry friends following similar schedules.

The Wednesday, May 27 2009 Orioles game vs. the Toronto Blue Jays was a businessman's special. We started out at Pickles and Sliders, enjoying those long-gone $2 drinks. We bought the cheapest seats we could find. This was back in the dark days where you could sit wherever you wanted during a sparsely attended game, so we ended up in the third row between third base and the LF foul pole on a perfect spring day.

The Jays' offense managed to drop eight runs on us by the end of the 6th inning, so it was looking like another typical blowout. Things got interesting in the 8th when the O's were able to BABIP their way into an 8-8 tie in exciting fashion. The game went to extras, and Aaron Hill hit a two run homer that likely sealed our fate. However in the Bottom of the 11th, Nolan Reimold hit a walkoff three run home run off our old friend BJ Ryan to win the game.

You can see in the video linked above that the third base line crowd was going crazy. By this time, my brother and I were the only ones from our group left as some people had to leave for work. Some shirtless bro who was somehow even more drunk than we were hopped the fence and began running celebratory circles in the left field grass. Baltimore's Finest were on him in no time, and the chase began. Idiot Bro jumped back into the stands and was tackled in the aisle right in front of us.

After the excitement calmed down and he was escorted out, my brother noticed a wallet on the ground and picked it up. At first we thought it belonged to the perp and were joking about how we should max out his credit cards to teach him a lesson. But a little digging revealed that it was the cop's wallet. So we walked down Pratt St to the main police building and told them our story. A few phone calls later, and the owner of the wallet is in front of us, thanking us profusely and trying to give us money which we refused. So instead, a few officers scrounged together some police schwag to send us home with. T-shirts, hats, guns, coffee mugs. Okay, maybe not coffee mugs. Wallet Cop then gave us a free ride home - dropping me off in Canton and taking my brother all the way back to Baltimore County.

I've been to more important and maybe more exciting Orioles games, but I doubt I'll ever come away with a story like that again.

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