Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 25, 1992 TAG: 9202250045
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Kathy Loan
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
WILL POLICE REPORTER INSPIRE O'S?
Ah spring, and a young woman's thoughts turn to. . . baseball???You bet.
Attention Baltimore Orioles:
1991 was a bad year, guys. You finished second from the cellar in your division. Pitching stunk. Star acquisition Glenn Davis was unable to contribute. You left Memorial Stadium.
Act fast! Assure a winning season this year. Send season tickets immediately to your lucky charm. Me.
That's the letter people are urging me to send to my favorite baseball team after they learn of the Orioles' winning percentage when I'm in the stands. Yep, I guess I'm just like the woman in the baseball movie "The Natural": The O's seem to become inspired when I'm at the ballpark.
For a team that found it hard to string a series of wins together, or even wins at home, they had an amazing 6-1 record with me last season - 9-1 dating back to July 1990.
With me in the stands, Ben McDonald got his first professional victory and the Orioles swept the Chicago White Sox in 1990. Last August, the team swept the Texas Rangers in a four-game series and beat the American League West division leader - and eventual World Champions - Minnesota Twins two out of three games.
Coincidence? I think not.
Baseball fever hit me in 1984 when I began yearly treks to Memorial Stadium with my future husband and his mother.
At first, we only went for series against the Yankees. Until then, all I knew about the game was that Johnny Bench used to be a great catcher and Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's home run record. Football and tennis were my favorite sports.
But I was a quick study. I learned something else. Cal Ripken Jr. was really cute. I ran to concession stands when the other team was batting and paid close attention only when Cal was up to bat.
We returned to Baltimore year after year and by 1987 I actually cared about the whole team's performance, not just Cal.
I still didn't know what ERAs, batting averages and slugging percentages meant. But by 1990, I did.
In the words of a fellow staffer, I became a rabid fan. I watched the games on Home Team Sports. Heck, I even watched the replays that often aired until 3 a.m.
I began to talk of averages, strengths and weaknesses, and to debate the future of certain players.
Last fall, I hardly noticed when football season started, even though my beloved Redskins seemed unstoppable. Baseball was No. 1 in my heart now. And besides, how can anyone concentrate on football when the World Series is being played?
Baseball sure can make you feel like a kid again. I spent the 90 minutes before each game stalking the sidelines for autographs. I got four autographs to add to a Billy Ripken signature I got a few years ago. And I got about a dozen bruises from the real kids who were trying to get autographs too.
Last summer, I began collecting baseball cards. We went to Memorial Stadium twice, and I even stayed in my seat when the opposing team batted. I fought back tears the last day the Orioles played on 33rd Street, especially considering it wasn't aired locally. My seven-year tradition was coming to an end.
I can only hope my winning ways continue when the Orioles open up at Camden Yards, or whatever they finally decided to name the new park down by Inner Harbor.
But just to be sure, I think the Orioles management might want to send those season tickets along.
Kathy Loan, who is caught up in the euphoria of spring training's opening, also is a bingo and lottery nut. Oh, she also covers police and courts for this newspaper's New River Valley bureau.