REBIRTH
Bar Manager
Shopping malls have Black Friday.
Pickles Pub has Orange Monday.
The bar and grille just a Ruthian clout from home plate and adjacent to left field, has one of its biggest days financially on Opening Day, when fans fill the bar knownfor its passion of Baltimore sports to chow down or drink up.
And just like the Orioles? front office, Pickles? management has prepared for this afternoon weeks before Jeremy Guthrie throws the first pitch.
“You pull a bunch of extra people in,” Scott Mitchell, Pickles manager, said. “You have to find the right people, and set up.”
The usual staff of eight or nine will quadruple today, as five cooks, six bar-backs, eight bartenders and 17 other workers will fill out Mitchell?s starting lineup. He expects to be overflowing with fans patronizing Pickles and Sliders ? the two “sister bars” on Washington Boulevard.
Mitchell, 26, has worked the past five opening days, and despite attending about 30 games a year, has never made it to the park to see Opening Day.
And neither do some of the bar?s customers.
“The upper deck doesn?t have anybody up there unless it?s a Boston or New York series,” Mitchell said. “It?s always busy here. Every year we?re growing our profit. People end up coming here and not going to the game.”
spirit of baltimore
Hall of Fame Pitcher
In 1965, a tall, thin 19-year-old pitcher named Jim Palmer was in uniform for his first Opening Day in Baltimore and his first memory was legendary singer Jerry Vale?s performance of the national anthem.
Vale forgot the words.
Fortunately for Vale, Baltimore Mayor Theodore McKeldin was in attendance.
“They booed the mayor,” Palmer said. “I didn?t know about politics in Baltimore. I realized that?s what they do.”
Palmer started six Opening Days ? 1974-77, and 79-80, going 5-1 ? during his 19-year career in which he went 268-152.
Today, Palmer enters his 15th season as an Orioles broadcaster and plans to analyze about 80 games for MASN ? “if they let me.”
Palmer, 62, praises Opening Day for its annual opportunity for every team to start fresh.
“For me, the one constant is whether you?re at Camden Yards or old Memorial Stadium, you know people are really looking forward to it,” Palmer said. “Now we have global warming, so maybe winters aren?t as cold as they used to be. But Opening Day is the harbinger for spring. Hope springs eternal, and that may not be the case this year because the Orioles are in a rebuilding situation. But to me, when you?re playing, it?s another set of challenges.”
FIRST IMPRESSION
Barber To The Orioles
Dewin Gutierrez grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., but his scissors and shears enabled him to become an Orioles fan.
Gutierrez, 26, is the owner of Dewin?s Handtalk Barbershop on Eastern Avenue, where many of the Orioles take a seat and let Gutierrez perform his magic ? on their hair.
Daniel Cabrera, Ramon Hernandez, Miguel Tejada and Sammy Sosa are all satisfied customers ? so pleased with the way Gutierrez has made them look they?ve tipped him with autographed, game-worn jerseys that line the wall of his shop.
“He?s a cool guy who does his job and won?t ask for your autograph or jersey or stuff like that,” Cabrera said. “He treats us like a normal person.”
Many of the Orioles are so loyal to the native of the Dominican Republic they?ll set up a chair for him in the clubhouse at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
“This is like a dream come true,” Gutierrez, whose shop is decorated in orange and black, said. “I used to see these guys on TV. Now, cutting their hair is like a dream come true. It?s a big world, and at the same time, it?s a small world. I?d do it for free.”
The Orioles are so pleased with Gutierrez?s work they?ve recommended him to opposing players, which is why an autographed bat signed by Red Sox sluggers Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz is displayed prominently behind the shop?s front counter.
But Gutierrez?s best customer is Cabrera, who stops by his shop before every time he takes the mound.
“Most of the time, when he pitches, he comes to get a haircut,” Gutierrez said. “When he?s pitching, he likes to look good.”
TRADITION
Master Barbequer
Boog Powell approaches Opening Day with his pit beef crew the same way he did in an Orioles? uniform.
“It just signals the start of a new year,” he said. “Here we go again, lets see if we can do better than we did last year.”
The Oriole Hall of Famer who belted 303 home runs in 14 seasons in black and orange returns for his 17th year on Eutaw Street, where he?ll serve heaping helpings of meat this afternoon for the first of 81 home games.
For Powell, Opening Day is not only one of his best business days of the year because the game is sold out, but also an exciting time to be a fan.
“The adrenaline is pumping,” Powell, 47, said. “At my advanced age, I still get excited. I really do. I wish I could still run. I can still hit. But I can?t run any more.”
Powell will be at his perch today in the concourse overlooking right-center field, but it?s not quite the same for him when he manned first base in Memorial Stadium.
“There?s not quite as much pressure, but it?s still a lot of fun for me,” Powell said. “And I really enjoy going to the ballpark everyday. This is my 17th year doing what I do. It hasn?t lost its luster.”
CONTINUITY
Umpires Attendant
Ernie Tyler didn?t work the Orioles? first Opening Day in 1954, but he certainly remembers it.
“They had a parade and I worked on St. Paul Street, and they marched down Charles Street,” Tyler recalled. “I went over and saw them, and they were throwing plastic balls to the crowd.”
Tyler, the Orioles? umpires attendant, will work his 48th Opening Day ? his 31st consecutive ? as the 83-year-old Forest Hill resident has become as synonymous with Camden Yards as the playing of “Thank God I?m a Country Boy” during the seventh-inning stretch.
Tyler?s streak of working 3,769 consecutive home games was broken last year when he missed two games on July 27 and 28 ? and for good reason.
He went to Cooperstown for Cal Ripken?s induction into the Hall of Fame.
Tyler spends the days leading up to Opening Day preparing the umpires? room under the box seats behind home plate. This year, he oversaw the installation of new ceiling tiles in the umpires? room.
For Tyler, whether it?s his first Opening Day or his 48th, it doesn?t matter. He?ll arrive at Camden Yards with his sons, clubhouse attendants Jim and Fred, and will join the Orioles on the first base line when the team is introduced before taking the field against the Rays.
“They?re all exciting,” Tyler said. Every one is the same way. When it happens, you?re all into baseball. And when you get here, you?re tied for first place.”
