Introducing the new Camden Chat writers

If you’ve been following so far this week, you’ve seen some new faces popping up writing on Camden Chat. I am excited to get to bring all of them on board and have them share their thoughts on the Orioles with you as the season progresses. Here’s hoping that the Orioles give everyone something nice to write about.

Joining the staff as the deputy manager is Paul Folkemer, a familiar name for anyone who has been following the Orioles blogging world for pretty much the entire 21st century. Here’s Paul on Paul:

Paul Folkemer is a grizzled veteran of Orioles blogging, like J.J. Hardy but without the dreamy eyes. He’s been writing about the team since high school, when he was a sarcastic teenager posting game recaps to Orioles newsgroups. He is now much older and mildly less sarcastic. Paul has covered the Orioles for PressBoxOnline, Orioles Hangout, and currently for BaltimoreBaseball.com. He also previously wrote for Camden Chat in 2012. He prides himself on being the second most knowledgeable Orioles blogger named Folkemer. (It’s hard to compete with Stacey.)

Along with contributing Bird Droppings, minor league recaps, and O’s game recaps, plus other things here and there, Paul will be helping out with the editing duties around here, making sure that everything posts on time as clean as possible.

One familiar face who will be taking on a bigger role is Tyler Young, who has been with us for a while now. He’s in a role that SB Nation is calling the “lead voice,” which means he will be writing a little more than before. You may have already noticed he’s joined the Bird Droppings rotation as well.

I forgot to ask Tyler for a short bio for this post. Oops! Sorry, Tyler. But here’s what he said about himself in our who’s who introduction post - which you should go chime in on if you haven’t yet:

I’m 25 and this will be my fifth season as a writer at Camden Chat. I grew up in northern Baltimore County and graduated from Towson University in 2015. I just got engaged to my high school sweetheart (aww!) back in January, and we are getting married next September.

My full-time job is at a digital marketing agency. It would be my dream to do some marketing or media work for a sports franchise. I’m hoping to go to grad school this fall to try and make that more of a reality.

Also taking on a bigger role among the familiar faces is Joe Wedra, from whom I also forgot to get a paragraph (I know, I’m sorry!) but what I can tell you about him is that he knows more about University of North Carolina baseball than you. I’m rooting for the Orioles to draft a Tar Heel so he can have a new favorite prospect.

And our new folks who have just come on board after the recent search for writers, who will be joining our returning contributors Brice Freeman, George Battersby, Nick Cicere, and Randy DeCleene, are...

Alex Church

Alex Church is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh, Pa. He inherited his love for the Orioles from his father, and was raised to hate the Pirates because someone was still bitter about the 70’s. Alex graduated from Penn State in 2015, and has experience covering minor league baseball, college football and scholastic sports.

Ben Hansford

Ben is a life-long O’s fan who comes from slightly north of the Maryland-Pennsylvania border. You can find him in Section 85 during many games, where he is usually complaining about the Birds not getting a runner home from third with less than two outs. He was a proud member of the Junior Orioles Dugout Club well into high school. (Cheap tickets!) When Ben isn’t watching the O’s, he raises money for the Gettysburg Foundation, is sad about other Baltimore/DC area teams, travels, and enjoys great food and beer.

Harrison Jozwiak

Baltimore born and raised. I’ve been a baseball fan and more importantly an Orioles fan since the age of 5. I grew up in the Cal Ripken era of the 90s, weathered the 14 year string of losing seasons and have come to enjoy the resurgence of the team in recent years under Showalter and Duquette. I’m an avid listener of 105.7 the Fan sports talk radio; the Big Bad Morning Show, Vinny and Haynie, Scott Garceau with Jeremy Conn, Ken Weinman and Terry Ford. When I’m not spending my time following the Orioles, I’m usually following the Ravens.

Kyle Andrews

I became a Baltimore Orioles when I was a child in Norfolk, Virginia, but soon moved to Baltimore. My fandom expanded as I consistently went to Friday night games with my Little League baseball team and eventually played for a team that was named the Orioles.

During my junior and senior years of high school and freshman year of college, I was on the Orioles tarp crew. Then in 2016, I was a part of the event staff.

Kyle is also involved with covering the Orioles for Fox Sports 1340 AM out of Annapolis and he is to my knowledge the first time we have ever had a Camden Chatter with Camden Yards tarp crew experience.

Kyle and Alex have already started contributing and you’ll see Ben and Harrison over the next couple of days. All of these new folks will be contributing multiple articles per week.

Finally, joining us as an occasional contributor is Samara, who is still in high school so I won’t put her business out there. She lives in Baltimore, listens to the Orioles on the radio a lot, and impressed me with her O’s knowledge and her ability to express it. I’m looking forward to seeing more of what she has to say about the team and I’m excited those thoughts will get to be a part of Camden Chat.

So there’s your new folks! Say hello when you see them posting.