Camden Chat community introductions (2023 edition)

Mar 28, 2023 - 3:00 PM

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Hey, you. Yes, you. Are you a lurker who’s been watching Camden Chat from afar, waiting for the right chance to jump in and introduce yourself, only you haven’t found your chance? Have you been here for a little while but you’re not quite sure if anyone has noticed?

Here is the one place each year where we are all on equal footing, brand new people and lurkers and the most recognizable veteran community members: The annual Camden Chat introductions.

For the first time in a while, there’s some reason to be excited heading into the coming Orioles season. Any excitement that exists is there in spite of the team not signing any free agent to a multi-year contract, nor joining the trend from across the league to sign any exciting young players to a contract extension. Even so, last year was fun and it seems like this year should be fun too. I hope you’ll spend it chatting here with us.

If you’re brand new, make sure to go to the upper right of the page to sign up for an SB Nation account first, then come back here and join our site down below in the comments section.

Once you’re set up, head down to the comments to tell us a bit about yourself. Then, next time you come back, just act like you’ve been here forever. As long as you correctly remember to use the reply button to respond to a specific comment when you are talking to someone else, no one will even notice that you’re new. That’s all there is to it.

You’re nice enough to read this post, so I bet you’re already nice enough to follow the rules without my telling them to you. Just so we’re all clear, though, you can find SB Nation’s Community Guidelines here. Please be excellent to each other as much as you are able, even if you have just read the dumbest comment you have ever seen on the Internet.

Now that that’s out of the way, we would all like to know about you, not in a creepy way, but in the way that it’s fun to get to know your fellow fans.

Where are you from? Where are you now? How did you become an Orioles fan? Who’s your favorite Oriole of the present, if you have one right now? Who’s your favorite Oriole of all time? What’s the thing you’re most excited about for the 2023 Orioles season?

If you’re still feeling loquacious, and it’s OK if you’re not, here are some more: Why did you choose your screen name? What do you do when you’re not watching baseball? Do you have a favorite story that everyone else in your life is sick of hearing but you want the chance to tell it to someone new? Here’s your place.

As for me, I am Mark. I am a Maryland lifer and I probably always will be, although these days I’m closer to the Washington beltway than the Baltimore beltway. In the comments, you’ll see me show up as Eat More Esskay, which was a name I thought was cool to pick when I joined here in 2008 and has since become retro now that the hot dog brand has been gone from Camden Yards for a number of years.

Thanks to my parents, I have been an Orioles fan since before I was even born. They attended Game 2 of the 1983 World Series, and so did I, although I had a bit of an obstructed view seat: My mom was eight months pregnant at that time. I have loved the Orioles for as long as I can remember.

My favorite Oriole of all time is Cal Ripken Jr. The 2131 game where The Streak became a record is the coolest thing to happen to the team in my whole life. My favorite Oriole of right now is tentatively Adley Rutschman. A boring pick, I know, but he was the best player on the team last year and he’s been everything we could have hoped for and more, so it’s hard not to be excited about him. Plus he does the post-game hugs.

Here’s my story that people are probably tired of hearing: When I was five years old, a family friend took me and their son to an Orioles game at old Memorial Stadium. This was my first game. I was excited and I talked a lot, almost constantly. As it happened, the seats were really good, right next to the visiting team’s dugout. After a few innings, a player from the other team (the White Sox) came over and said, “Hey, kid, why don’t you shut the hell up and buy me a beer?”

He turned and walked off. On the back of his jersey it read “KITTLE,” for Ron Kittle, who ever since that day has been my least favorite baseball player of all time. Thanks to Baseball Reference, I have figured out the game was this one from May 14, 1989, and I guess he had good reason to be feeling cocky because he went 4-5, including a seventh inning, two-run, go-ahead home run. He’s going to have to keep waiting on that beer.

So, that’s me. Who are you? If you’re a longtime Camden Chat commenter, thank you for having stuck with us through so many bad seasons to get back to the fun from last year. If you’re brand new, welcome to the party. I hope that CCers old and new will have some great Orioles moments to talk about as this season goes along.