Origin of Blog Name

It was a mid-summer night in 1989, at Memorial Stadium, during my first year living in Baltimore, watching the Orioles take on the Brewers, when it happened. I was sitting in the upper deck, between first and third, when a foul ball came zipping like a dart right up at those of us in that section.

Then in my early 20s, my reflexes were then still sports-like quick (unlike today, now in my mid 40s), and I instinctively reached up over my head and slightly to my left with my black Orioles hat - the new "old" style they had reverted back to, the one with the anatomically correct bird - and in the ball flew, directly. There it was. I could hardly believe it. My friend next to me had ducked for cover, not knowing what happened, and immediately thereafter, in Oriole tradition, Rex Barney announced "Give that fan a contract."

And so they did, handing me an Oriole fan for life contract that I promptly signed, hands shaking a bit, from memory. Soon after, someone just up from me handed me a business card and asked for my autograph - the one and only time I've been asked to sign a contract, and the only time I've been asked for an autograph. In all the games I attended growing up in New England, visiting Fenway Park, or the few other games I attended at other stadiums, I never came close to a foul ball. And now I had one. Even more remarkable, I caught a second one that night! I didn't get a contract for that second one, but nevermind, I already had one. And I had a memory of a lifetime.

Thus, for this first entry, it is only fitting to show Bob Melvin's first card with the Orioles as the first in this blog's journey, chronicling the collection of Orioles cards from their beginning in 1954 to the present time. The Melvin card shown here is a 1990 Donruss, as he did not have an Orioles' one for 1989, having come over from another team prior to that season.

But this card will do just fine. That same stance we see in the card, I can still see him on that night in '89, just before he swung and redirected a blazing fastball right in my direction.