by Carl Lamy
Went to Fanfest.
There were a lot of people. Seemed like a really big crowd today. Maybe it wasn’t bigger than usual, but it seemed as if it was.
Free stuff giveaway was great. Oriole hat with Md flag brim, 3 teeshirts, what looked like a pet calendar, wiffle ball and bat. But an O’s employee told me the line was so long it took like an hour. HOLY SMOKES! No way did I do that. I went back at 4:30, and she told me the line was still an hour and 15 minutes. Crazy!
Saw Trumbo, Oliver Drake, Kevin Gausman and Ubaldo doing the Charity picture photo op. I got my picture with Gausman.
Listened to Buck take questions from kids, like 8, 9 and 10 years old. One asked him if he played Little League. One asked him how long he owned his dog. He responded by telling the kid that he owned 2 miniature donkeys. Who owns 2 miniature donkeys? Then one kid asked, and this is no lie, why didn’t he pitch Britton in the playoff game? The whole crowed groaned! Buck just looked at Roch Kubatko and said something like “You know his Father put him up to that.” It was great. One kid asked him who was the strongest O’s player physically and mentally. Buck mentioned Joey Rickard first, then talked about some other guys.
The O’s didn’t let you take pictures in the club house or locker room this year for some reason. I snuck a picture in the locker room of a new shuffleboard table that is in there. It is huge, with a giant electric sign mounted on it. There is also a new bumper pool table, the kind with the card/poker table top that covers the bumper pool table. Adam Jones has 3 gloves in his locker (that I saw) that had gold leaf or gold color all over them. The Champagne bottle he had in his locker from winning the division series in 2014 is gone, but there were several other bottles of booze in there. He still has 2 locker spaces instead of one like almost every one else.
At the end of the tour they let you sit at the Press conference table where Buck sits after the game and where they shoot announcements when they sign new players and the like, and took your picture. The Press Room doubles as an alternate locker room for side events like High School games and such. There are actually lockers in it. The table, by the way, is sweet. It is wood, but it has a finish that makes it look like brushed copper.
