Sean Welsh, The Examiner
2007-10-03 07:00:00.0
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BALTIMORE -

For Orioles fans, its been a long, slow — and most of the time — painful process following a baseball team that has been so bad for so long. But still, about 2.1 million fans attended Orioles’ home games this season, the majority holding onto the slim hope the glory days of Frank, Brooks and Cal will return.

Here are the stories of several fans who showed their allegiance to the Orioles at a time when all hope appeared lost as losses mounted and victories were few.

A FAMILY AFFAIR

Every couple of weeks this season, the Hegberg family — Jim, Cheryl and daughters Tara and Anjali — traveled east from their Parkville home and cheered for a team that suffered more losses than any of its predecessors in the past five years.

“I talked to Cal once at [an autograph] signing, and I asked him jokingly when he was going to buy the team, and he said ‘as soon as they’re up for sale,’” Jim, 72, said. “I don’t know if he was just joking about it, but I’ve heard he’s trying to get a conglomerate together to buy the team. I think that’s what’s holding it back. It seems like every time we get some good players, they trade them off.”

Tara’s favorite players are Brian Roberts, Erik Bedard, Jeremy Guthrie, and J.R. House. She said arriving early to chat with the players during warmups makes watching losses more tolerable.

“It’s been really tough because you see them playing the first half of the year, they got a spark,” Tara said. “And when they fizzle. It rips the heart out of you.”

The two sisters watched the entire 30-3 history-making loss to Texas on Aug. 22, but instead of calling it a night, they watched the Orioles lose again in the second game of the doubleheader.

“It’s been tough, but I’ve been faithful to watch pretty much every game,” Anjali said. “They’ll turn it around, eventually.”

OCTOBER DREAMS

Cristen Bartelheim, 24, is a loyal Orioles fan from Annapolis who enjoys spending Sunday afternoons at Camden Yards. On the second-to-last Sunday home game of the season, she attended the Orioles’ game against the Red Sox with her friend, Jessie Dayton, 22, of Linthicum.

Dressed in her black Orioles clothing on a sun-soaked afternoon, Bartelheim found solace knowing she can watch a game in a stadium regarded as one of the game’s best — even if it was filled with Red Sox fans for a series against Boston in early September.

“The biggest thing lately has been the ballpark,” she said. “I love coming out to Camden Yards. But I’m also a big Orioles fan, and whether they’re winning or losing, I’m always going to be a fan.”

Her plan to improve the team is simple: start at the top.

“Get rid of [Owner Peter] Angelos: Let Ripken buy the Orioles,” Bartelheim said. “I don’t know. I think we definitely need a home run-hitter in the line-up. I think the bullpen is turning around, but maybe get a little bit of help there, too.”

Being outnumbered by Red Sox and Yankees fans every season has frustrated Bartelheim, but it won’t stop her from attending games at her beloved ballpark.

“Hopefully, next season,” she said of a potential turn-around. “I’d like to be able to come here in October next season.”

MY BUDDY, BEDARD

Every fan has their reason for loving their team. But T.J. Michalski’s rationale is a little different than most: Erik Bedard dated his sister.

“I used to like the Phillies,” the 20-year old Frederick resident said. “But I switched to the O’s.”

“We followed Erik when he was coming up through Frederick and Bowie,” T.J.’s father, Tom, said. “He used to come over to the house and hang out.”

Both agreed Bedard was as quiet in their family room as he is in the locker room. However, T.J. said Bedard is one of the team’s biggest strengths, and it doesn’t take long for him to point out the Orioles weakness.

“Ditch the whole bullpen,” he said. “Start over from there.”

But whatever the Orioles do, T.J. said, they must keep Bedard and his team-record 221 strikeouts in an Orioles uniform.

“He’s definitely an ace,” Michalski said. “If he pitches like he did this year, they need to just get him some more runs, and he’s definitely a Cy Young candidate.”

ONE FAMOUS FAN

She’s famous for being a finalist on “America’s Got Talent,” but Julienne Irwin still finds time to cheer for the Orioles.

Before singing the national anthem before the Orioles-Red Sox game at Camden Yards on Sept. 9, the Bel Air teen looked at a crowd that was filled more with Boston red and white than Orioles’ black and orange.

“It’s a sea of red. I don’t want to say anything bad about Red Sox fans, but I can’t say they’re my favorite,” Irwin said. “Every year we say we’re rebuilding, but I hope by ‘09, we can put a second or third place team on the field. By 2010, 2011 — maybe start contending.”

Irwin goes to about 10 games a year, but with her busy schedule this summer, only made it to the Yard twice.

“We go to away games, we go to spring training,” she said. “We get around.”

She became an Orioles fan in fifth grade, and despite spending the previous two months performing in front of a national television audience on NBC’s hit show, finds herself star-struck at her favorite players.

“I just got Brian Roberts’ autograph,” she said, “and I about had a heart attack.”

WORTH THE DRIVE

It’s about an 80-mile drive from Carl Kanefsky’s home in Middletown, Del., to Eutaw Street. But it’s also a trip he cherishes — even if most end with he and his 14-year-old son, Stephen, discussing their favorite team’s latest loss on the way home.

“We’ve never seen a winning season,” Carl said. “So nobody can call us bandwagon fans.”

Their favorite Oriole moment was when Cal Ripken Jr. played his final game in 2001.

“We’ve seen Cal Ripken and all the good guys from the past,” Stephen said.

But what about this year’s team — the one that went 69-93 and was overshadowed by Ripken’s July induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame?

Stephen said: “I don’t think their offense is that bad.”

Carl has a running joke with his coworkers, saying the Orioles are, “about three years away from being about three years away.”

But what pains Carl the most is seeing so many empty seats at the ballpark.

“We were here [recently] and not even 1/3 of the section was full,” he said. “And that hurts as a fan of the game.”

WAITING FOR “NEXT YEAR”

Randallstown resident Andre Brown, 58, has been an Orioles fan since he was a kid. He was 17 when the Orioles won their first World Series in 1966.

As he attended a recent game with his father-in-law, Joe Addison, Brown revealed how he would fix this year’s team.

“Consistent pitching,” he said, “and a bullpen that can come through in [innings] 7, 8 and 9. I think you have the offense to be competitive.”

Brown is optimistic the Orioles can rearrange the hierarchy of the American East, which for the past several years has had the Orioles looking up at Toronto, Boston and New York.

“[There are just a few] times you get to see the Red Sox,” Brown said. “We got to see them beat the Red Sox the last time.”

On this day, Boston prevailed, 3-2. Addison is tired of waiting for his team to win.

“They promise us every year,” he said, “wait until next year.”

But no matter how many games the Orioles lose, Addison will keep returning to Camden Yards, hoping it will be the day everything changes for a down-trodden franchise.

“I’m a fan through everything,” Addison said.

Rebuilding the Orioles

For the Orioles, this 2007 season was filled with far more negatives than positives, and during the next three days, The Examiner will scrutinize the state of the Orioles both on and off the field to determine what team should do to improve what has become one of the game’s worst franchises. From evaluating this year’s team to interviewing the team’s key decision-makers to asking Orioles’ fans, we’ll give you everything you need to know.

» YESTERDAY: Orioles beat writer Sean Welsh explains his rationale for the grades he assigned to players and management. Welsh also interviews Andy MacPhail on what he will do during his first offseason as Orioles president of baseball operations. Also, Welsh and Examiner columnist Matt Palmer argue which Oriole was the team’s most valuable in an otherwise worthless season.

» WEDNESDAY: We walked the concourse of Oriole Park at Camden Yards and asked the team’s fans what they think needs to be done to bring a winner back to Eutaw Street.

» THURSDAY: Columnists Gary Lambrecht, a native Baltimoreans, explains how to transform the Orioles into the team that filled his childhood with fond memories.

Join the discussion and take our poll in today's examiNation Baltimore: What needs to be done to bring a winning franchise back to Camden Yards?