Honoring "Wild" Bill: The Baltimore Orioles Establish the "Wild" Bill Hagy Award...
As we all know, “Wild” Bill Hagy passed away last week and Oriole fans have celebrated his life in their own little way.
Now it looks like the organization will honor him in their way also. There have been little vignettes of “Wild” Bill on display at some point in every game since his passing, and now the Orioles have established the “Wild” Bill Hagy Award which celebrates a loyal superfan each and every year.
The announcement took place in between the fourth and fifth innings on the huge scoreboard on Eutaw Street.
Well, “Wild” Bill is the first recipient of the award.
Many feel that the Orioles may not do many things right on and off the field; however, they hit a home run with this deed and have found a way to honor and memoralize the passion of Mr. Hagy.
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3 comments:
Geez... how many loyal superfans are there of this team to honor one every year? I can't think of any since Hagy himself, especially during the Camden Yards era.
My prediction is that they either quietly retire this award within 5 years or overreach for people to give it to, sort of how they overreached by putting B.J. Surhoff into the O's Hall of Fame (next year's inductee: Mike Bordick).
Not many, SC.
"Wild" Bill was an original, and I feel a relic of a time that has passed us. There are some fans who I'd consider die-hard and crazies, but they are not in the same class as Hagy.
This is why:
Sports has changed.
The world has changed.
Camden Yards is a stadium that caters and was built for the corporate crowd, and the celebrations seem, well canned and nothing different than what you would see at other sports venues.
Memorial Stadium was a place where fans could be fans without worrying about ushers or what not.
Like I said before, sports is not about catering to the "Wild" Bill's, but to upscale crowd.
It's all about money.
As for B.J. Surhoff being elected into the team Hall of Fame, I agree with you. To me, he was a hard-nosed, great player; however, to me he's a Brewer and will always be one.
He might have been elected in the team HOF because he decided to stay in Maryland after his career ended, and more importantly, he was part of the playoff runs in the mid-late 90's.
Too true and too sad that pro (and major college) sports has sold its soul for the mighty dollar.
Re: B.J. Surhoff, don't forget that he cried when he got traded to Atlanta, and not for joy. I guess that gave him worthy points for the O's HOF too.
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