For a whole lot of people, Orioles fandom is something we were born with and had no more say in than the color of our eyes. For others from elsewhere, it may have been more of a conscious choice to embrace this team for whatever reason seemed like a good one at the time. We all stuck it out through some dark years, whenever we got started.
What I am interested in today is: What is your earliest memory as an Orioles fan?
You can choose to define that however you want. Maybe it was the first game you ever went to and you’re digging decades into the past to recall it. Maybe you were a little older and you remember it a lot more clearly.
Comments are closed on this post. Tell everybody your story by writing a FanPost. Drop into today’s Bird Droppings (visit the front page of Camden Chat to find it) and let us know you’ve shared your story so people can check it out.
And fair is fair, I’ll leave you with mine. Longtime readers know this story already. Sorry.
The first thing I remember is the first game I ever went to, a day game against the White Sox during the 1989 “Why Not?” season. I was five years old and a family friend took me and their son, who was my age, to a game at old Memorial Stadium, with really good seats. They were right next to the White Sox dugout.
Being five, I spent the whole time talking because I was excited to be there. Several innings into the game, a White Sox player came over near us and shouted, “Hey, kid! Why don’t you shut the hell up and buy me a beer?” He turned and walked away and I read the name KITTLE on his back.
With the magic of Baseball Reference, I have found out this game was this one from May 14, 1989. The Orioles lost, 8-5, with Kittle having a 4-5 day, including a seventh inning go-ahead two-run home run. No wonder he was feeling cocky that day. But he never got that beer that day - or at least, not from me.