You’ll have to forgive the Baltimore fan’s insecurities. You see, the last time a player told us he grew up an Orioles fan he used his hometown team to leverage a deal for more money with the Yankees and then told everyone in his introductory press conference that he actually grew up a fan of Don Mattingly and the Bombers despite living in Maryland.

But we’ve gotten over that — sort of.

Virginia native Joe Saunders was acquired by the Orioles on Sunday after the Birds sent Matt Lindstrom and a player to be named later to the Diamondbacks. It was a win-win deal for both teams.

Thanks for the warm welcome @orioles fans! Excited to be close to my hometown and join the team I grew up watching…

— Joseph Saunders (@J_saundo) August 26, 2012

Saunders told MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli that he did indeed grow up a fan of the Baltimore Orioles and is excited to get traded to a playoff contending team. “I was an O’s fan growing up, I went to a lot of their games when I was a kid,” Saunders said.

Welcome to Baltimore, Joe.