Orioles News - 10/30/07 - Ripken's Tour

Happy Halloween! Well, now that I've got that out of my way, I can speak some baseball. Baltimore Orioles baseball, that is. To be more specific, I can speak about Cal Ripken Jr. and what he is doing China. I'll do just that.

Longtime Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken Jr. is in China right now. Not as a coach or manager in a Chinese League, but as a special envoy for the State Department. He is attempting to get the Chinese youth more into baseball. This way, in a few years, everyone will know baseball and hopefully want to play it. This in turn will produce more Chinese baseball players and grow the market for Major League Baseball in China. There's not much more information right now about the trip that is available. But, from what I could tell, the trip is going well. - John T.

Orioles News - 10/27/07 - Iron Man Is Headed For China

Longtime Baltimore Orioles great Cal Ripken Jr. is headed to China. What is he doing in China? He will go on a 10 day tour through China teaching baseball to the Chinese youth and coaches. What he does to teach baseball to the youth will be similar to what he does in Aberdeen. He will set up skill clinics just like he does in Aberdeen for the Cal Ripken Jr. baseball camps. Cal will leave for China today, and arrive on Monday. On Tuesday he will host two baseball clinics with the youth. On Wednesday, Cal will host two more baseball clinics for the young and a coaching clinic too. On Friday he will have a meeting with the Chinese Baseball Association followed by two more clinics. He will have a clinic with kids and a clinic with coaches on Saturday. On November 4th, there will be a coaching clinic held. On November 5th, Cal will host two clinics and meet with the Chinese Baseball Association. On Tuesday, November 6th he will go the airport and depart home after a long trip of helping out the youth. - John T.

Orioles News - 8/20/07 - Tribute to Wild Bill

The Orioles game against the Texas Rangers last night was postponed because of rain. It was rescheduled for Wednesday as part of a doubleheader. Meanwhile, for O's fans, there is bigger news. William "Wild Bill" Hagy died yesterday. He was the Orioles biggest fan, attending all home games for the O's in the late 1970's and early 1980's. He lead chants from his section 34 in Memorial Stadium. He made up the famous O-R-I-O-L-E-S! chant where he would bend his body to form the letters and the O's fans would yell out the letters. He was so popular with fans that the O's even let him stand on top of the dugout to perform his cheers. Wild Bill was there in the glory days, when there was Orioles Magic. Sadly, Wild Bill would eventually boycott Memorial Stadium because of a rule that didn't allow him to bring his own beer into the stadium. He would eventually return, but this time to Camden Yards.

Just last month, Wild Bill led his last O-R-I-O-L-E-S! chant at Cooperstown, New York where he was watching as Cal Ripken Jr. got inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame. This chant was shared with those who were sitting near him. Fortanately, I was one of the lucky few who was there to share this time with Wild Bill. This is my fondest memory of Wild Bill, and it will mean even more to me now that he is gone. Wild Bill was 68 years old. William "Wild Bill" Hagy, R.I.P. -John T.