Orangebird, his sister, myself and Orangebird’s mom all attended Orioles Fan Fest 2009 yesterday. 

The weather was awesome and we had a great time. We got some nice giveaways and met some nice people too!

One of the highlights of the day was the State of the Orioles address and Q&A session with President of Baseball Operations, Andy MacPhail and Manager, Dave Trembley.  Both were enthusiastic, but realistic in their expectations for this year’s team.  They acknowledged that the starting rotation isn’t ideal and that they had problems getting top-notch pitchers to come to the Orioles.  Below is the picture that I took of them on top of the visitor’s dugout.

 

Dave Trembley and Andy MacPhail

During the Q&A session I was able to ask Andy about the status of the O’s spring training facility and the likelihood that they’ll be moving to Ft. Myers, Vero Beach or Sarasota.  He acknowledged that Ft. Lauderdale is less than ideal and that they will be trying to figure out a way to provide the O’s with an improved facility that will allow the major and minor league camps to be located in the same place.  Currently the minor league camp is in Sarasota and apparently the fields there are in bad shape due to 3 other teams refusing to play there!!

 

We then proceeded back upstairs to the Club Level where most of the action was going on, including a variety of Fan Forums (one had fellow MLBlogger Spencer Fordin – who is the O’s beat writer MLB rep), pictures with the Bird, vendors, minor league affiliates, etc.  Below is a picture that I took of the Announcers forum (sorry about the quality – I was fighting the balance between sunlight streaming in and indoor lighting):

(From Left to Right) Buck Martinez, Fred Manfra, Joe Angel, Jim Palmer

 

We then proceeded back down to field level where there were 8 separate autograph stations for fans with at least 3 O’s at each station.  We didn’t waste our time standing in the lines, but instead meandered down to the first rows in the sections right next to the stations and were able to get close-up views of the players.  The pictures that I took are shown below:

Fans waiting for autographs

 

Brian Bass, Gregg Zaun, Nick Markakis

 

Jeremy Guthrie, Danys Baez, Ty Wigginton

 

(From Right to Left) Mark Hendrickson, Jim Johnson, Chad Moeller, Adam Jones (peaking his head out)

 

Aubrey Huff, Chris Ray, Jamie Walker

 

Koji Uehara, Adam Eaton, Felix Pie

 

Melvin Mora, Dennis Sarfate, Cesar Izturis

 

Robert Andino (in hoodie), Luuuuuuuuuuuke Scott, George Sherrill and his straight bill

 

B-Rob, Matt Albers, Ryan Freel

 

The O’s also had a workout in preparation for their game later that night at Nationals Stadium, which happens to be 2 and 1/2 blocks away from my office (it’s not as nice as it seems!).  I was planning on taking more pictures, but somehow the camera was in the video mode and I took some useless video. 

During the workout quite a few O’s were interviewed on the big screen, including a few new O’s, such as Koji, Ryan Freel, Cesar Izturis and Ty Wigginton.

For Opening Day, we’ll be in the Upper Deck behind home plate in the front row.  We plan on having a banner that says, “Enjoy the O’s Pounding of New York,” with ESPN highlighted.  I’ll also be bringing my glove, so hopefully we’ll catch a foul ball.

 

HOW BOUT DEM O’S!!!!