Lost in a sea of orange and black

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (Map, News) - A simple sign at the Clark Sports Center stage said it all: “Holy Cal!”

Tony Giordano, an Eldersburg resident, held the sign as fans exited after Cal Ripken Jr.’s acceptance speech at the National Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

“It was very, very moving,” Giordano said. “Just to be here with 70,000 close friends, and to see this, what else can you say. It’s nothing but awesome. This is just fantastic. I wouldn’t have taken anything for this.”

Giordano was almost accurate in the size of the crowd as 75,000 attended — the largest in induction ceremony history. Orioles fans led the cheers throughout the afternoon, saving their loudest ones for Jim Palmer, Frank Robinson, Earl Weaver, Eddie Murray and Ripken, who made them cheer, smile, and cry in his 16-minute speech.

“We knew it was going to be emotional, so it was just a question of how he could hold up,” Giordano said. “He’s the greatest. He always will be.”

Hampstead residents Scott and Stacey Schilling made the trip with their two young children, and met friends Carolyn and Carroll Phillips of Manchester.

“We’re usually outnumbered in our own park,” Stacey Schilling said. “To come up here and see so many people in Orioles T-shirts, it’s great.”

Jan Scott’s son, Lee, played with Ripken at Aberdeen High School in 1978. Scott roamed the crowd before Ripken’s speech, looking to purchase more induction memorabilia.

It was her children’s connection to Ripken that brought Scott to Cooperstown.

“It means a lot to me,” Scott said.

The induction marked Scott’s first voyage to the sleepy village nestled in the Catskill Mountains. “Isn’t it gorgeous?” Scott said. “It just looks like it’s been manicured, freshly painted and groomed.”

Aberdeen resident Joe Wegner, and Aberdeen IronBirds season ticket holder, took in Sunday’s event with particular interest.

“We’ll never see it again,” Wehner said. “You might see some other players come in, but it might be a long time off for the Orioles.”

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