"snowball effect by boosting revenues and encouraging ownership to do what ever else it takes to be a contender again."

Uh, I thought MASN was supposed to boost revenues and encourage ownership to do whatever else it takes to be a contender again.

Pete, could you give us a summary of the Q/A part of fanfest. Would love to hear what fans asked and how those questions were answered.

Also Pete, did anyone ask MacPhail about his contradicting statements about him saying that the O's "would be in the bat business" this season only to turn around and say recently that they're more focused on defense instead?

It ought to show the Orioles that they need to have Fan Fest at the Convention Center every year. That debacle of having it at the ball park to watch a practice like they did the last few years was a joke.

Yes, we can, Pete!

I'm getting excited just hearing about all this. Come on, spring! Come back, Bedard! Welcome back, Tejada!

Naysayers and trolls can kick it. I'm an Orioles fan, and I see the team on the upswing. I'm in.

Birdfan from Birth... wouldn't you be happier being angry about this team? Walk around all day wringing your hands with the shades drawn like Nixon losing his mind in his final months as President?

I'm feeling 3 50 double guys and a bunch of high teen/ low 20 hr guys.

Heres to hoping that batting Tejada in the 5-6-7 spot will garner far less DP's

69 wins would constitute an upswing.

That's not my prediction. Just saying.

There are plenty of things to follow on this team but being excited about an over-the-hill player learning a new position and the possibility of the return of a two-month starter is rather comical.

Unless things substantively changes with the attitude of ownership, this team won't be contending until the owner "kicks it."

Pete, I was there today with my son, and best friend. We enjoyed ourselves. Yes we are glad Fanfest is back at the Convention Center. Best deal I found was the one the Baltimore Sun offered. 6 months of the Sunday paper delivered to my house for $20. Plus two game tickets.

I was at the FanFest today. The highlight for me was getting autographs from the two best center fielders in Orioles history - Paul Blair and Al Bumbry.

Blair become the standard by which all Orioles centerfielders were compared to. Bumbry adeptly upheld that standard.

I also got autographs from Matusz and Bergesen.

The way McPhail glowingly talked about Tejada at the State of the Orioles Fan Forum, I'm not surprised that they signed him today. It seemed like something imminent the way he was smiling when talking about how much other Orioles players liked Miggy.

I am not enraptured with the Tejada signing because he misled Congress about his steroid use.

I think we need more high-integrity guys who exemplify the Orioles Way. I met two of those types of players from the past, Blair and Bumbry.

I would have liked the Orioles to have signed someone like Jim Thome, who I think would be quite productive at Camden Yards.

A big kudos to Orioles fans today. I think they showed in numbers and enthusiasm why they are probably among the best baseball fans in the country.

This is especially evident knowing that this organization has fielded some really bad teams for the past 10 years.

Like a lot of the fans I met today, we're really eager to see better days for the Orioles.

Since Adam Jones has Miggy's old uniform number, perhaps Miggy can ask for number B-12?

BAD IDEA. Miggy was a devisive figure in the clubhouse. Great batting average but he too often dogged it on the bases. This will prove to be a bad move.

I totally disagree about Fanfest being better at the convention center.

When it was at the stadium they had the autograph stations lined up all around the field and they gave you a complete list of who was at what tables and where they were so you could pick which line to go in. The memorabelia was in the bar in the warehouse and the forums, vendors and other stuff was in the club level of the stadium.

At the convention center everything was all in the same place for the most part and me, my wife and our son spent most of the day walking through all the long lines of people to get from place to place. The lines for everything from autographs to cotton candy were all rediculously long which made navigating through them very hard. The food line downstairs was the worst!

At the stadium lines were still long for things but at least it was all spread out and you felt like you could breath. I still enjoyed the Fanfest as I do every year but I enjoyed it alot more at the stadium.

wayne sighting at fanfest. he was wearing a "I heart the plan" t-shirt.

First I saw him yelling at a kid in the batting cages because his swing wasn't right.

I then saw him at the ticket booth demanding a refund.

All was well and he stopped crying when his mom promised him he could go in the ball pit.

First of all, I'm curious. Did they charge you extra to get in if you didn't buy your ticket in advance? And I'm sure that these are the same 12,000 that'll be at every game this year. Oh right, except when the Yanks and Red Sox come and Angelos sells all the tickets to brokers so that they can scalp them. As long as this owner and his two sons who majored in "Pre Dad's Business" are in charge this team will always be clueless and losers. Just sayin.

FanFest was terrible. There was very little communication about autograph appearances, notifications were made about who would be where only an hour in advance, they only allowed a certain number of people in the line, several staff members were rude and aggressive toward fans, the giveaways were george sherrill t-shirts.

Big deal about Tejada too- a retread steroid user who will get $6 mil to play a position he has never played before...excuse me for not running out to buy his jersey. It just shows that this team will continue to suck for years to come.

philly O's... wayne wasn't yelling at the kid. he knows nothing of baseballl fundamentals.

he was yelling that the batting cage was an orioles shill and that angelos was getting rich off it.

JW -

It's not uncommon for a shortstop to switch positions later in their careers. Would you want Tejada to play SS in 2010? I thought not. His defense was never that great to begin with.

Hello Mr. Schmuck,
I finally made it to the Fan Fest for the first time. I have been going to Spring Training for the last ten years.
I didn't get to the convention center until 11:00. Didn't think that there would be that many fans in attendance , that was sure wrong. I only hope that the powers that be pay CLOSE attention to the testimonial of how important this team is to the Locals.
I had some great experiences that I would like to talk about. I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Dave Trembly, talk about being impressed!!!!!! This man flat loves what he is doing. He was not like some past managers, he has time for the fans.He took time to chat with several. He signed an old sweatshirt for me, that Boog had signed many years ago, talk about two fan friendly people! I was treated with great respect, when I told him I had been a fan of the Orioles since 1954. He shook my hand rigorously upon learning that fact.
The players and other people were at ease and seemed to be having as much fun as the fans. Jim Hunter and Gary Thorne both did a great job.
The most important thing that I came a way with, was the feeling that there are still kids out there who still think that this is America's Game. I could not believe that intelligent questions that the youngsters( 7 to 12 yrs. old) came up with. Really warmed my heart.
It was a great place to be to find out that Miggy was returning to the O's. What really impressed me is the terms of the contract that he signed, one year. This shows me that Mr. Andy McPhail is sticking to his plan of working to bring our talented players to the Show.
All in All, a Great Day. Looking forward to going to Sarasota in March, Go O's!

Pete, As a Die Hard Oriole Fans, we have been attending Orioles Fan Fest for the past 12 Years. This year's Fan Fest at the Convention Center seemed unorganized. Forget about getting into the first section, it closed before, we got down the steps. Fans spent most of the day getting into long lines with no idea of who was signing, until 1/2 hour before the players appeared. We spent most of the day trying to find the end of winding lines, unclear what autograph section we would end up in. Prior to to having it at Camden Yards, the Convention Center Autograph Section would distribute (300) "Passes" identifing the players that would appear, and after the (300) allotted "passes" were passed out the section would close, the players would show up 1/2 hour later and all (4)-(6) Autograph Stations would be constantly moving. This year, you would walk into an "Autograph Pen," 1 hour before and wait, while the Autograph Station next to you was "emptying out." 1/2 hour later , you would find out by word of mouth from fellow autograph seekers who was signing in your section, then you would wait for the players to appear 1/2 hour later. Why wait, keep the lines moving...
At least at Camden Yards you would have some idea of who was signing, even though you were not always guaranteed an autograph. And the bathroom facilities were horrendous.
I know that the Convention Center's crew takes care of that area, and this would not be the case at the stadium.
I was informed by my wife, that in the ladies rooms, a few of the toilet seat were covered with plastic trash bags.
We, are Die Hard Oriole Fans from Central New Jersey, and when the 2011 Fan Fest comes up next year, as in the past, we will get up 4:30 in the morning to attend Fan Fest. Hopefully, next Year it will be better organized, as it was 4-5 years ago. Thank you Pete for listening.

You can't pay enough to go watch an O's game! Fire Trembley, then I'll buy a ticket.

Pete

Saturday was my 1st ever FanFest. I wasn't that impressed with it since I'm not a big autograph seeker. I did get to see Amber Theoharis in person and that was well worth the trip...never realized how small she is...even with 4" heels on. Her ring kinda blinded me though.

I liked listening to the players and coaches talk... Markakis looked odd with his beard, Jones looked spiffy in his suit and Mike Gonzalez was very articulate and seemed very happy to be here...even Dave Trembley seemed to be in a good mood.

However, most of the answers were canned and delivered to keep the fans happy.

Looking at a projected everyday lineup, the keys to run production are going to be...1) Roberts & Jones staying healthy 2)Tejada having enough left in the tank, 3) Adkins adjusting to AL pitching after an off year 4) Reimhold, Weiters and Pie continuing what they did last year and either Reimhold or Weiters developing into a big time HR/RBI guy and finally 5) winning enough early to add after the All-Star break rather than subtract. If they don't do that, Trembley is gone and the 2nd half will be another meltdown.

The pitching will be what it will be, though I think since Uehara will be the 7th inning specialist before Johnson in the 8th and Gonzalez in the 9th, the back end should be sound, at least on paper.

Millwood will eat some innings and if someone can show Guthrie how to keep the ball in the yard and Bergeson can come back and pick up where he left off, the strters might be the best we've had in some time...I have no doubt about either Matusz or Tillman being solid before the season ends.

I think they will be much more competitive than last year BUT the entire organization seems jinxed by the injury bug so they'll have to find some way to overcome that too.

..............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I got a chance to congratulate Amber on her marriage and I did notice the rock -- which is not to be confused with the Roch. Normally, you have to go to a boxing match to see a ring that size.

Dave-
Yes, I know that some SS move to third. Cal being one of them. But let's be honest here- Tejada wasn't that great of a SS. His arm and accuracy are suspect at best. We need someone with a whip at 3rd, and that is not miggy.

I'm siding with the posters who liked the Fan fest at the ballpark instead of the Convention Center.

At the ballpark things were more spread out and there was batting practice too. I got a perfect white ML baseball but scratched homerun ball at last year's FF a few minutes after I arrived. I could take a stroll along the concourse w/o running and zigzagging around fans too that I have to do during the season.

Inside the convention center, it seemed things were crammed in to fit everything.

Although the Orioles start on the 2010 season on the road, why couldn't the FO wait till April and warmer weather for the Fan fest?

Also, MASN has a theme 'were you there?"

I ask MASN where were you? Why didn't you broadcast the Fan fest like last year's?

Welcome back Miggy. I wish him well during the 2010 season too. But I am miffed why the Orioles acquired MT in the first place. What is wrong with Ty Wiggington playing at 3rd and platooning extra infielders to help out at 3rd?

And finally, Peter when will the Sun fix the preview/post error in your column? There is no letter box at the bottom of the preview message so I cannot send my message w/o having to back track to the original message to find the letter box and send my message.

What about how Tejada would stop running to first base when he assumed he would be out?

Orioles FO take note: the 12 thousand at Fan Fest will the AVERAGE fans at the 48 thousand seats ballpark with your gouging attitude towards walk-up fans who want to attend a ballgame at the last second. Like I said before enjoy the majority of empty seats.