Orioles – Wear Orange Wednesdays

The 2016 Rawlings Gold Glove winners were announced live on ESPN last Tuesday. Two Orioles players, Chris Davis (1B) and Manny Machado (3B), were finalists at their positions yet neither won the award which is based on a vote of managers and coaches, losing to Mitch Moreland (Texas) and Adrian Beltre (Texas) respectively.

Possibly lost in the angst of our boys not being chosen as good enough defensively this year and in the consternation over the Presidential Election is the fact that Baltimore baseball still came out a winner in the award.

Mr. Oriole, Brooks Robinson (HOF 1983) was honored with Rawlings’ Lifetime Achievement Award and Baltimore native, Al Kaline (Southern High School, HOF 1980) was inducted into the Rawlings Gold Glove Award Hall of Fame during ceremonies held this past Friday (Non.11). Brooks, a 16-time Gold Glove Award winner, and Kaline, a 10-time Gold Glove Award winner, are both more than worthy of the honors bestowed upon them. Baltimore Baseball is rich in extraordinary player; is there another town with a baseball history as rich we have or a wealth of native born players as we have?

We here at WearOrangeWednesdays.com would like to congratulate Manny and Chris for being named as finalists and Brooks and Al Kaline for their career awards.

Please don’t fret O’s fans, we are confident that the baseball world will recognize our Birds for the defensive prowess we see each and every day.

#LetsGoOs

chuck-collage-for-blog At approximately 11:35 pm last Tuesday, the Baltimore Orioles season came to an abrupt and heartbreaking end in Toronto. Along with the end of the season, came an end to the formal #WearOrangeWednesdays for the 2016 season. As I reflect on my second year of promoting and tweeting #WearOrangeWednesdays I would like to pen a thank you to a very integral part of our efforts, the Baltimore TV Media.

All of you in the media have been receptive, warm, friendly and supportive of Nancy, myself and the weekly tweets reminding you to wear #Orange. Our weekly interactions and in some cases more frequently than weekly have been wonderful. I thank all of you for accepting our passion and love for the #Orioles. You do not know how much it means to an effort like this to have you on board and supporting #WearOrangeWednesdays…THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

I came to realize that this is something you all enjoyed being a part of once I started receiving tweets from you showing me your #Orange; that was simply #OMazing and let me know in a small way that I was not an annoyance each week (although I do think one of you muted me over my “passion”).

Thank you for allowing me to populate your timelines with reminders and for the conversations and interactions we have shared. Baltimore and the entire region is very lucky to have people like each and every one of you in the community. I am privileged that you have allowed me to make your acquaintance; THANK YOU again!

To all of you, I extend a heartfelt THANK YOU for all you have done for #WOW, be it week after week, occasionally or even by wearing a “close shade.” You and your efforts are so very appreciated!

I will not be going away; I will continue interacting with you if you allow me and I will be right back in 2017 with the weekly #WearOrangeWednesdays reminders for our #Orioles.

You are an amazing group of people. THANK YOU for sharing your love of the #Orioles with all of us.

I will not attempt to list you all individually as I am certain I will unintentionally leave someone out. I will say, however, to anyone in front of the camera, behind the camera or behind the scenes at ABC 2, FOX 45, MASN STUDIOS, WBAL and WJZ THANK YOU for your support of #WearOrangeWednesdays! You mean so much to Nancy and me.

You are an awesome group!

Thank You again.

#LetsGoOs

It’s no secret that the baseball season is a long one. Lasting 6 months and 162 games, it is a grind for the players, coaches and fans; it is a season of highs and lows, ebbs and flows.

Including tonight’s game, the Orioles have 22 games left in the 2016 season. Our Birds are in the #PushForThePlayoffs and are playing hard to return to the Postseason. Friday night’s loss has tightened up the standings. The Orioles currently hold the #2 Wild Card spot with the Tigers and are just 3.0 games out of 1st place in the AL East. The Yankees are nipping at our heels, 1.0 game behind in the Wild Card standings. The final 3 weeks of the season will surely be a wild rollercoaster ride! So BUCKleUp!!!

As fans we could not ask for more, the team is in contention in September and every game means so much. These are exciting times indeed!

I do sense however that the grind of the season is seeing some of the #WOW enthusiasm waning. Social media posts have decreased slightly over the past few weeks. If ever the Orioles needed “the best fans in all of baseball” they need us now. We the fans help create the home field advantage the Orioles enjoy and we NEED to continue building that advantage.

#WearOrangeWednesdays was created in part to help build that advantage and to show the #Birds that the entire town is behind them. Let’s show the team we are there for them; get your #Orange on every Wednesday and let’s paint Baltimore orange! Post your selfies, recruit a friend or two to do the same and let’s raise the excitement level. You are here because you are an Orioles fan so I know #orange is your favorite color; wear it proudly! So come on Wear Orange Wednesdays fans, it’s time to #KeepGrinding.

#BackTheBirds
#HuntForOctober

The #Orioles defeated the #Rays 5-3 yesterday on Kids Opening Day The Yard - Kids Opener to finish week one of the 2016 season as the ONLY undefeated team in the Major Leagues. Yes, you read that right, the #Orioles are 5-0 and are the only team to not have lost a game. Not since 1970 have the #Orioles started a season by winning their first 5 games.

It certainly was a wild week, rain delays, cold, a postponed game and even some snow. Through it all, the #Birds persevered and put all five games in the #wincolumn.

#OPACY saw 8 home runs hit by the #Birds (3 by #Manny Machado, 2 by #Chris Davis and even 1 by the newest fan favorite, #Joey Rickard). The team’s offense has been good enough to rate second in #MLB with a batting average of .300. Even the much criticized (during Spring Training) pitching staff was better than advertised and sits a top all of #MLB with a 1.80 ERA and 1.04 WHIP.

Hitting and pitching, it’s all been there, excitement is in the air at #OPACY and the #Birds are 5-0. The “week that was” has been a very good one. Sit back #O’s fans and enjoy the ride. The #O’s are in Boston and Texas this week and let’s see what they can do on their first road trip. #LetsGoOs!

I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to ALL the #Orioles employees who braved the elements and late nights last week to make the experience at #OPACY the very best in #MLB. Thank You from #WearOrangeWednesdays!

Today, I will be proudly wearing our first official Orange Wednesdays tee shirt made by Todd Unger of Natty Boh Gear! Please check out our shirt on NattyBohGear.com under WOW tab to be able to purchase online! Or stop by at the Thames St shop next to Horse You Came In On to pickup in person! Thank you sincerely Todd for all your help and support!

Finally, Opening Day 2016 is here! We at Orange Wednesdays are so excited to begin this OMAZING baseball season. The Yard is ready, the Baltimore Orioles team is ready, WJZ and MASN are ready and we FANS are more than ready! So let’s go ORIOLES and “PAINT THE CITY ORANGE!” Oooo OOO Oooo Oooo!!!