After pulling out the warmest of our Orioles gear, it was time for Fanfest! The Oriole Bird himself was there to greet fans and give high-fives to everyone (a rare treat given his busy schedule during the off-season).
The line looks bad (it wrapped around to Pratt Street), but it was very quick once the doors opened at 10AM for season ticket holders. At 11AM, all other tickets were admitted. Once through the doors, some old-time banjo music put you in the baseball spirit. When you reached the main room, the screen above the speaking stage was showing highlights from the last game of the season...which couldn't help but draw smiles and cheers from the fans watching. What Orioles fan doesn't enjoy the joy of knocking the Red Sox out of the playoffs?
Video games, face-painting, batting cages, speed pitch, full field T-ball, Bingo, and lots of other activities were available for kids (and for enthusiastic adults). Free giveaways including Orioles Magazine and Brian Matusz bobbleheads were available upstairs. The new Oriole Bird logo magnets attached to the season schedule were given out at the doors.
After a Q&A session with Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter, it was time for some Oriole Greats.
A welcome back to Brady Anderson (pictured with microphone), who will be a strength and conditioning coach with the Orioles this season. Rick Dempsey (pictured second from the left) mentioned that he will be opening two restaurants this season. One will be at Camden Yards and the other, "slightly more up-scale place", will be at Power Plant Live.
Dozens of current players were on hand to speak, field questions, take pictures, and sign autographs. To see tons of the player pictures (which were free for fans), become a fan of MASN on Facebook and check out the galleries from this weekend. For a summary of events, check this out.
At a time in the franchise when we're mired in 14 straight losing seasons, it's really amazing to see thousands of fans turn out despite snow, freezing temperatures, and icy roads. It speaks volumes to how dedicated the Orioles fan-base truly is.
