Orioles Fans

When he charges onto the infield grass, makes that barehanded pickup and throws a rocket to first, Manny Machado reminds Orioles fans of a superstar third baseman of yesteryear. When he breaks out of the batter's box on a liner into the gap and hits first base in full stride on his way to another double, Machado shows old-school hustle. And when he quietly strolls through clubhouse, proudly wearing his "Hakuna Machado" T-shirt while nodding to teammates, and, occasionally, breaking out an infectious smile, he flashes a necessary balance of confidence and respect.

When he charges onto the infield grass, makes that barehanded pickup and throws a rocket to first, Manny Machado reminds Orioles fans of a superstar third baseman of yesteryear. When he breaks out of the batter's box on a liner into the gap and hits first base in full stride on his way to another double, Machado shows old-school hustle. And when he quietly strolls through clubhouse, proudly wearing his "Hakuna Machado" T-shirt while nodding to teammates, and, occasionally, breaking out an infectious smile, he flashes a necessary balance of confidence and respect.

Orioles fans are chortling this morning after the Detroit Tigers routed the New York Yankees 8-1 Thursday for a four-game sweep of the American League Championship Series. This was an unbelievably humiliating series for the Yankees, which always plays well here. It's been fun watching the notorious New York media savage the home team, too. The Yankees seemed intent in mailing this one in from the beginning. It didn't help that Yankees' ace  C.C. Sabathia, who surrendered 11 hits and six runs, appeared to be throwing batting practice to the Tigers yesterday.

Charlie Zill, the popular long-time usher at Camden Yards who entertained Orioles fans with his “Zillbilly” dance during the seventh-inning stretch, died late Saturday night of lung cancer. He was 56. Zill, who had been diagnosed with cancer three and a half years ago, attended his final Orioles game April 17 as a guest of the club.  Wearing an Orioles cap and jersey over his trademark “Zillbilly” overalls, he threw out the first pitch from his wheelchair before the Orioles took the field against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Have any Orioles fans flown south for the final series? We want to hear from you. Please send an email to sports@baltsun.com letting us know if you'll be there tonight for the opening game. Give us a cell or way to contact you.

Some Orioles fans who purchased playoff tickets for games that never occurred have complained about the lack of refunds for a $6-per-order service charge from Ticketmaster. Receipts for the orders stated that processing, shipping and handling charges would be non-refundable, but that didn't stop one fan from calling it a “travesty” in an e-mail to The Sun. The Orioles have also heard a handful of complaints. The Orioles have corrected earlier information that they were not responsible for the playoff refund policy.

On Sunday, we told you about The Horsebox , a bar in New York's East Village that Orioles fans have adopted. Josh Adams was among the displaced Marylanders who found their way to Avenue A to watch the Orioles take on the Yankees in ALDS Game 3. Here's Josh's report: The Horsebox was packed with Orioles fans, making it feel like a little slice of Fells Point in the East Village. The familiar Oriole Bird hat was in full display among the patrons and when Ryan Flaherty went deep in the third inning, an ear-splitting "Let's go O's!"

It's got the bumper sticker. It's got the little flag.  But your car, hopped up on Opening Day excitement, wants a little something more. Lucky for the ride, you can now order it one of the new Orioles cartoon bird license plates. A collaboration between the Orioles and Maryland's Motor Vehicle Administration, the plates are rather adorable, all orange and black with the little birdie logo in one corner. The cartoon bird is a throwback to the cartoon bird of the '60s and '70s, brought back by the team this year for the 20th anniversary of Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Todd Bolton guessed Friday afternoon that he's been to about 35 games at Camden Yards since the place swung open its black gates 20 years ago. That's still 45 or so short of his total trips to Memorial Stadium, the 58-year-old said. It's also enough to appreciate what he calls Baltimore's “fabulous cathedral” of baseball. The ambiance of springtime, the inundation of orange and black, the vibrancy of the streets swelling with fans - looking around Friday, it was like a time portal to his first visit on Opening Day 1992.

When it comes to tailgating, the policy at downtown stadiums is simple: Ravens fans can do it. Orioles fans can't. Now there's a Facebook campaign to try to change that. The drive was started by two lifelong Orioles fans: Austin Bogus, 26, of Fulton and Joe Norman, 28, of Laurel. Both are engineers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Bogus and Norman say they plan to attend the Orioles' Opening Day game April 6 with a group of 40 friends and are looking for an alternative to their pregame socializing in bars near Camden Yards, such as Pickles Pub and Sliders.

For those of you who get all worked up about how Pedro Strop wears his cap - and I hear about this every time he takes the mound - you may want to start worrying about another Orioles pitcher right now. Yes, I'm talking about Jake Arrieta, who has issues that go well beyond wearing his cap at a crazy angle. In his fourth start of the season, the 27-year-old righty had another rough outing in the Orioles' 7-4 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers Sunday. And it was a major reason why the Orioles couldn't sweep the inter-league series against a Dodgers team with a $216 million payroll that seemed ripe to be put away in the first few innings.

Few people were walking around downtown Laurel Tuesday evening, but at Main Street Sports Grill, nearly every seat at the bar was taken for happy hour. Since April marks the start of Major League Baseball play, the multiple flat-screen televisions behind the bar were showing ESPN's highlights from games across the nation. However, come 7 p.m., ESPN would be replaced by coverage of two games, one featuring the Baltimore Orioles, and the other the Washington Nationals. Laurel is sandwiched between Baltimore and Washington, about a half-hour drive away from either city, and at Main Street Sports Grill, baseball loyalties were divided between the two teams.

Charlie Zill got his wish - and then some. The long-time usher at Camden Yards, who has stage 4 lung cancer, watched his beloved Orioles play one more time Wednesday night. Wearing an Orioles cap and jersey over his trademark "Zillbilly" overalls, he also threw out the first pitch from his wheelchair to new Orioles pitcher T.J. McFarland. "Sinkerball," Zill said in a weak voice of the pitch that was low and away and drew a nice ovation from the crowd. "Incredible. I didn't think this was going to happen.

A visibly increased police presence greeted Orioles fans Tuesday as they ventured to Camden Yards for Baltimore's first major sporting event since the previous day's deadly bombings at the Boston Marathon. Nonetheless, fans, players and team officials spoke defiantly of refusing to give up day-to-day pleasures because of the specter of terror. "There are so many places where someone could do so many things that you can't worry about everything," said Kevin Ridgely of Severna Park, who attended the game with his 19-year-old son, Will.

The only thing the Orioles have proven at this very early point in the new baseball season is how many ways a team can toy with your emotions in a single week. Orioles fans were mentally printing World Series tickets after the season-opening road series against the Tampa Bay Rays and the electric victory over the Minnesota Twins in the home opener at Camden Yards. Now, they're going to have to sweat out the rest of the current road trip through Boston and New York to see which O's team returns next week to Baltimore.

Beautiful blue sky at Camden Yards on Sunday. Not a cloud in sight. In fact, it was so beautiful it helped cost the Orioles a win. Here's what you take from that 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins: The Orioles are 3-3 to start the new season. And in all three losses, they basically beat themselves. The high fly ball to Adam Jones in the third inning off the bat of Twins clean-up hitter Justin Morneau was a case in point. Two on, two out and it looked like a can of corn or whatever other cliché you want to use. But the Gold Glove center fielder staggered under it almost from the start, fighting the high sky and the sun and maybe the stiff breeze a little bit, too. Seconds later, the ball dropped harmlessly between Jones and left fielder Nolan Reimold for a double as two runs scored and the O's lead was cut to 3-2. "It went in the sun and I missed it," Jones said.

Orioles fans really represented in Tampa Bay this week, so we'd like hear from any Orioles fans in Texas for the wild-card playoff game. Please send an email to sports@baltsun.com letting us know if you'll be there tonight. Give us a cell or way to contact you.

It's early fall in Baltimore, that time of year when purple banners, car flags and sweatshirts normally dominate the landscape, as surely as the colors are soon to hit the trees. But Charm City isn't just NFL country now. In grade schools and taverns, at water coolers and along busy streets, Baltimoreans are sporting Orioles orange and black, following out-of-town scores and relishing every Adam Jones line drive, Mark Reynolds bomb or Jim Johnson strikeout. The O's are in a pennant race, the franchise's first since 1997, and a baseball town wounded by years of losing is buying in. "We were wandering out there in the desert for so long, but look at all the orange here now," said Christina Barth of Mount Airy as she sat in the Camden Yards flag court before Tuesday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

For his 60th Orioles home opener, Justin Vitrano didn't dress in orange. He didn't paint his face, pull on a team cap or arrive hours early to guzzle beer. He didn't jump to his feet, scream or even clap as players jogged, one by one, onto the field. But when the announcer told everyone that after a long baseball-less winter, it was time to play ball, the 84-year-old — who might have enjoyed more consecutive Orioles openings than anyone else in town — allowed himself a little fist pump.

If you're heading to Camden Yards for today's opener and you want to smoke during the game, you're going to have to leave the stadium to light up. Orioles fans will be able to smoke only in a designated area just outside of Gate E1 on the third base side of the ballpark. On March 4, the Maryland Stadium Authority's smoking ban went into effect at the Camden Yards sports complex, which includes Oriole Park and M&T Bank Stadium. The new code “prohibits smoking or carrying lit tobacco products (cigarettes, cigars and pipes)