More on Wild Bill Hagy

Tributes appear inside and outside of the Blog-O's-phere

By Matthew Taylor

“And, today, a generation of Orioles fans mourns their crazy uncle.”

-Dan Connolly, The Baltimore Sun

A round-up of Wild Bill Hagy stories and tributes, starting with some of my favorite details and quotes about the O's legend.

· "If ever an out-of-town fan happened into his cab wearing a Yankees hat, he ordered it removed. If the person refused, he refused the fare."

· "This was a football town when I got here," Palmer said. "The Colts were still the No. 1 team in this town. But he was like everybody else. He was kind of the cheerleader version of Cal. I think people could relate to him. People loved to sit up there. ... He made it exciting."

· "In more personal moments away from the park, Mr. Dempsey rode in Mr. Hagy's cab and talked baseball with him.'He was just a thrilling part of our careers,' Mr. Dempsey said. 'There will never be another like Wild Bill Hagy.'"

· "At the ballpark, fueled by Budweiser and his love for baseball, he became a different person. Mr. Hagy took his inspiration from legendary Baltimore Colts fan Leonard 'Big Wheel' Burrier. He once asked Mr. Burrier if he minded an imitator at Orioles games. 'Big Wheel' gave him his blessing and thus began the routine."

· "If Orioles baseball was his religion, his pulpit was Section 34 - a perch in the upper deck of his church, Memorial Stadium. It's where he and his disciples stood and cheered nightly and drank in, not just soaked in, Oriole Magic."

· “His unforgettable chant, however, remains part of the Orioles' holy trinity of fan traditions along with the "O" during the national anthem and John Denver's "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" during the seventh-inning stretch.It's one of those weird but lovable things that are uniquely Baltimore. It's hard to explain why certain random acts or people become so endearing here, except that they inspire nostalgia and remind us of a simpler, perhaps even better, time.”

AP

Baltimore Sun

Dan Connolly column

O, By the Way

WBAL

WGMD

Carroll County Times

Channel 2 News

Wayward O

Baltimore Mick

Detours and Devotions

Legal Right

SchansBlog

CrabLaw

Dempsey’s Army

Oriole Magic

Oriole Post

Inside Charm City

The Loss Column