In the past 24 hours, there have been plenty of glowing quotes and tributes concerning Ernie Tyler, the Orioles’ longtime umpires attendant who passed away late Thursday night.

I’d like to add my own 2 cents.

Back in 2004, the year Tyler won the Orioles’ Herb Armstrong Award for meritorious service by non-uniform personnel, I sat down with Tyler for an extended feature.

I was the Orioles beat writer for the York Daily Record at the time, but as a Baltimore boy, I was always fascinated with Tyler and his local celebrity. Where else but Baltimore, I wondered, could a guy who runs baseballs to the plate umpire during games receive hallowed status?

Baltimore’s love of Tyler had more to do with the man -- and the work ethic -- than the job, of course. Ernie was a fixture at Memorial Stadium and then at Camden Yards with that head-down sprint that became more of a trot and then a shuffle as Tyler turned 60 and then 70 and then 80.

But it was always there. You could count on it -- and frankly there are so few constants these days in any aspect of life. It’s human nature to take comfort in reliability and dependability.

And Ernie Tyler was as reliable and dependable as they come.

I also learned that day in 2004 that he had a tremendous, self-deprecating sense of humor. At one point, he told me the man who gave him the umpires attendant job way back when was Herb Armstrong, the executive for whom the award he was receiving was named.

That day, Tyler said Armstrong would have been proud -- then added in deadpan style: “He’d be proud of the award, not me.”

After reading the fantastic comments about Tyler in the past day -- from Orioles fans and players and personnel -- it’s obvious this city and franchise were proud to call Tyler one of its own. This city loves a tireless worker.

And I want to share one example of Tyler’s work ethic -- and his Christian faith.

He kept an air mattress in his small room in the bowels of Camden Yards. He couldn’t figure out a way to get his work done after a Saturday night game, drive home to Forest Hill, go to church on Sunday morning and then get back to the stadium in time to complete his pre-game work -- including taking the shine off six dozen new baseballs each day -- before the umpires needed him.

So he'd blow up that mattress on Saturdays and sleep in the office. Every home Saturday night. He’d then wake up at 7 a.m., do some work, go to 9 a.m. Mass and be back at his office to finish his pre-game duties. Even at age 80-plus.

That’s the man I’ll remember.

Here’s that story I did in 2004. Hope it holds up half as well as the seemingly indestructible and energetic Tyler did for all those years.

So join me in a toast and raise your glasses to Ernie Tyler, the self-proclaimed "glorified ballboy."