Henneman has lived the duration of "60 Years of Orioles Magic"

When the Orioles were seeking a writer to chronicle their first six decades in Baltimore, longtime journalist Jim Henneman was a logical choice, one found in their own backyard.

The 79-year-old Henneman's lifetime practically mirrors the Orioles' tenure in Charm City. As a youth, he worked in the clubhouse at Oriole Park, home of the team during its Triple-A run from 1946-53. He attended the 1954 parade down Charles Street welcoming the former St. Louis Browns to their new roost, and was in the stands at Memorial Stadium for the team's first home game. He even worked at the then-new ballpark, first as an usher and later as a press box attendant, before a long career in print journalism.

"I'm pretty sure I've seen more Orioles games than anybody alive," Henneman says.

In 1958, Henneman joined the Baltimore News American as a copy boy (writing about native son Al Kaline of the Tigers playing in the 1958 All-Star Game at Memorial Stadium at the behest of late sports editor John Steadman), and eventually worked his way onto the sports staff . He worked at the paper from 1958-68 and 1973-80, carving out a career writing about the Orioles (with a five-year stint on the Bullets beat), before moving to The Evening Sun and later The Sun, from 1980-95. Now he writes for PressBox and PressBoxOnline.com, when he's not serving as an official scorer at Camden Yards.

But when he was asked by the Orioles to take the lead on a major project that culminated their season-long 60th anniversary celebration last summer, Henneman's reaction was summed up in one word: "Wow!"

"One, how do you go about doing this? I literally had no idea," he explains. "It's a different kind of writing than ... (I'm) used to. The first wow is, 'How cool is this?' The second one is, 'Oh, wow, this sounds a little overwhelming.' "

Drawing on research and personal recollections, his memories of baseball in his hometown and the players he's grown to know over a career that's stretched over parts of seven decades, Henneman has authored the official literary legacy of the Orioles, "Baltimore Orioles: 60 Years of Orioles Magic."

The diamond tome covers the period from baseball's return to Baltimore in 1954 and ends with the 60th anniversary season, which saw the Orioles win the 2014 American League East title and advance to the American League Championship Series. With a little hope, sometime around opening day, the book will be available at Camden Yards; pre-orders, which started at FanFest, are available here for $50.

Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer wrote the forward, and the book contains more than 300 images from the team's photographic archives, including some that have never before been published. Bill Stetka, the team's alumni relations director, worked closely with Henneman on the project, which is a must-read for anyone interested in Orioles history.

Henneman separated the team's 60 years into specific eras, which replace the chapters found in a traditional work. And he put his personal knowledge of the team's time in Baltimore into each of the eras that are represented.

"I tried to find an angle with each era and I tried to make each era a story," explained Henneman, who admits writing a book was significantly different than penning a feature story or a game recap on deadline.

Strangely, he chose to begin the project near the midpoint of the team's 60 seasons in Baltimore, starting in 1983 and working off a comment from 1983 World Series Most Valuable Player Rick Dempsey after the Orioles had dispatched the Phillies in the Fall Classic: "OK, now comes the tough part."

From there, the history flowed. And it was a disaster that preceded the Orioles' transformation from the woebegone Browns in 1954 that was an important point for Henneman to mention.

"People my age and older are going to remember this, but the fire that burned down the minor league ballpark (Oriole Park) 10 years before was really the reason that we had a big league team," he said. "I wanted to tie that in. ... Then I tied it, even though I wasn't around for it, to the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904, which basically allowed the city to be reborn."

The Orioles' history is rich with significant achievements and dynamic personalities: the "Kiddie Corps" and the improbable sweep of the Dodgers in 1966; a time when 100-victory seasons became a birthright for Baltimoreans; stars like Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Palmer, Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken Jr.; a fiery manager in Earl Weaver; the construction of Camden Yards, which became a blueprint for the urban retro stadiums that followed; and the recent renaissance that erased the sour taste of 14 seasons of sub-.500 futility. Since it's a historical recollection, the bad - the lean years early on, World Series setbacks at the hands of the Mets and Pirates - goes along with the good.

And not every important Oriole was a Hall of Famer, though we've seen our share and shared them with Cooperstown. Flashes in the pan, like 1977 backup catcher Dave Criscione, whose entire major league career consisted of 10 at-bats over a two-week period in July, prove Henneman's belief that "even a cup of coffee can be a taste of champagne."

The recent surge by the Buck Showalter-led Orioles, who have reached the postseason twice in the past three seasons, proved a pleasant crescendo for Henneman's remembrance of the team's first six decades.

"What's gone on in these last couple of years has been a lot of fun. '12, '13, '14 were the last era, but the last era started with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning in the last game of '11," he says, referring to the game affectionately referred to as the "Curse of the Andino."

Remember journeyman infielder Robert Andino's walk-off hit prevented the Red Sox from reaching the playoffs? Henneman does - and vividly. He was ready to leave the ballpark early that night, until Chris Davis' two-out double started the rally that ended with a stunning comeback for a 4-3 victory. What was left of the crowd of 29,749 danced in the aisles, celebrating the fact that the O's 69th win didn't become their 94th loss of the season.

What's happened since reminds Henneman of the team's glory days. And sometimes he finds himself torn between seasoned play-it-straight sportswriter and longtime fan of the game in Baltimore.

"It's the energy, feeling the energy and feeling the excitement," he says. "I get more excited, at this stage of my life and my career, at seeing the city respond as I do personally. At this stage of the game, I enjoy it and I get excited, but I also think the nature of what I've done all these years leads you to some feeling of neutrality, enjoy the game and don't let the highs be too high and the lows be too low."

"Baltimore Orioles: 60 Years of Orioles Magic" has given Henneman an opportunity to reflect - not only on the history of the Orioles, but also his own long association with the team he's long covered and the game he's loved since childhood.

The past six decades of Orioles baseball have unfolded before him, and Henneman has taken it all in. It's not like he was preparing to record the team's history, but seeing it happen, experiencing it, has made him uniquely qualified to do so. In effect, he's been writing the Orioles' history since the start.

"Do you envision things? As they go on? I don't know," he says. "But I will say, lately, watching this park open and realizing that it's 20-some years later, you start thinking ... that at this point, I've lived through it all.

"How much closer can you be? I love the era I grew up in."

"Baltimore Orioles: 60 Years of Orioles Magic" is available for purchase here for $50, which includes a voucher redeemable for two upper reserved tickets to select 2015 home games. All season plan members, including new 2015 season plan members, can exclusively save 20 percent off of pre-orders by ordering through their My Orioles Tickets account for a limited time. Season plan members who have been with the club for the past three seasons will receive a complimentary book in appreciation for their continued support of and dedication to the Orioles.