Domenic Vadala: ReOpening Day recalls memories of Fantastic Fans Night

Perhaps I'm a bit biased, but Baltimore has always had the best fans - always. Some might point to the empty seats at Camden Yards in losing years as evidence against that, but work with me. On Monday, we witnessed what was termed "ReOpening Day" in the wake of the civil unrest just a couple of weeks ago. And speaking for myself, it brought back a great memory from my childhood.

For those who are too young to remember, the 1988 Orioles started 0-21. Believe me, as a 7-year old who was following the Birds at that time, it was morbid to watch. However finally on April 29, the O's finally won their first game of the season - in Chicago against the White Sox. They would lose two more games before finally returning to Memorial Stadium with a record of 1-23.

But all that really mattered was that the Orioles had finally won a game. That, combined with the fact that the state had recently passed funding for what would eventually become Oriole Park at Camden Yards, was a cause for a celebration in the city. So when the Orioles returned home from that trip, they hosted a pep rally in the recently refurbished Inner Harbor, as well as what was called "Fantastic Fans Night" at Memorial Stadium.

The O's had a crowd of more than 50,000 people at the venerable old park on 33rd Street that night, and they won their second game of the season by defeating the Texas Rangers. I'm not sure that a 1-23 team had ever drawn 50,000 people before - or since. It was also one of the most enthusiastic crowds in the history of Memorial Stadium. And with good reason.

For some time, there had been musings about the Orioles leaving town, and perhaps relocating to Washington, D.C. (among other places). While the 1988 team was struggling for sure, people still loved the Orioles and certainly didn't want them to leave. This should also be put into the context of the fact that the Mayflower moving vans driving up to the old Baltimore Colts facility four years prior was still fresh in people's minds.

So at that time, the Orioles (and of course the heroic Baltimore Colts Marching Band) were all that people had. So when the funding for the new stadium came through and the Orioles were guaranteed to stay in Baltimore moving forward, it was certainly a cause for a celebration. That celebration was in the form of Fantastic Fans Night.

There can be only one parallel drawn between the circumstances of that event, and those that caused ReOpening Day to come to be. Had the state of Maryland not stepped up with funding for the new ballpark and the Birds had skipped town like the Colts before them, I suspect that many local businesses would have suffered as a result. Heck, lots of local businesses never would have come to be down near the Inner Harbor. Obviously, in wake of the civil unrest, local businesses took a big hit financially - the Orioles being one of them.

However we can't compare the circumstances short of saying that they both represented a rebirth for the city in a sense, with the Orioles being at the center of it. ReOpening Day probably won't be remembered in the same breath as Fantastic Fans Night by future generations, however both events do show how much Baltimore fans love their team. There's just something so uniquely right with the smell of Old Bay mixed in with hot dogs, burgers, Boog's BBQ, seeing that Bird run around like a madman and "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" playing during the seventh inning. There's no other place on earth where one can find these aspects all together at once.

The key point here is that the fans did much of this. Certainly, the team held the pep rally in 1988, and through mentions on MASN among other places they helped to promote ReOpening Day. However, both instances were largely fan-driven. Fantastic Fans Night wouldn't have been anything had those 50,000 people not shown up at Memorial Stadium and been as enthusiastic as they were. And the same is true for ReOpening Day.

And the Orioles, of course, did their part in two ways. First and foremost, they defeated Toronto. Combine all of the drama surrounding the game with the team winning, and you're in businesses. But in honor of the city, they wore home jerseys that said Baltimore. That was a touch of class.

Domenic Vadala blogs about the Orioles at Birds Watcher, and his opinions appear here as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our pages. Follow him on Twitter: @DomenicVadala. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.