O's fans host third annual School of Roch Night

To say Roch Kubatko has a strong following is a bit of an understatement.

Every day, Orioles fans visit the School of Roch on MASNsports.com, eager to find out the latest news and notes of the Birds. And just below each entry, in the comments section, those same fans come together to form one of the strongest and most loyal online gatherings of sports fans in baseball.

It's a tightly knit community, rather than simply a group of random commenters. Fans talk baseball, of course, but often times keep each other up to date on everything from weekend plans to pop culture references. There's even a fierce competition to be the first person to leave a comment, often times marked by a "First" or occasionally the more witty "Firsty." And through every baseball season and offseason, countless times per day, the fans are always there in full force.

But once a year, fans get a chance to meet the "professor" himself, the man who works tirelessly each day to give fans the most insightful and up-to-date news on the Orioles. This past Saturday, fans attended the third annual School of Roch Night at Camden Yards. It was a chance for Kubatko to meet some of his fans in person, those same fans who fill his blog with thousands of comments each day.

"A lot of us who are local have become really good friends," said Marc Sassin, who organized the event. "... Roch has a huge following. He allows us to have a lot of fun on the blog. ... We have fights on the blog, but we all know deep down it's just baseball. But Roch is really what brings us all to the site. If he didn't have the site, we wouldn't be there, so it's really him that brings us all together."

Kubatko joined the approximately 135 fans in attendance - up from 95 at last year's event - to chat about baseball and even take part in a raffle for some sweet Orioles gear. Though he couldn't stay for the actual game (hey, he still has to write something for the fans to read!), Kubatko took time out of his pregame schedule to stop by and visit with the fans who enjoy reading his blog every day and give him the drive to do what he's been doing for several years.

"Everyone is thanking me, but I'm the one who feels like I need to be thanking everyone," Kubatko said Saturday night. "We started this blog, but it's like, 'if a tree falls in a forest and there's no one there...?' This blog wouldn't make a sound if it weren't for all these people being so loyal to me, reading it every day, morning, noon, night, no matter how the team's doing, good or bad. These people are the reason this blog is going and is as popular as it is."