Have you ever been sitting in Camden Yards gripping your Natty Boh tallboy tightly with outrage as “Let’s go Red Sox” chants echo off the Warehouse? We all have unfortunately.
Well “Operation Hagy” is here to help. I reached out to the man who refers to himself as Osorganizer on Reddit for more information on this movement that he hopes will take over Camden Yards.
What is Operation Hagy?
Operation Hagy started as a relatively random idea when I came across a blog talking about the original Wild Bill. While reading I got to thinking, Wild Bill is the only O’s fan in history to be inducted into the Orioles hall of fame, and the chants he started have become engrained into Orioles tradition- would it be possible to take what he started and grow it into something bigger?
With what feels like a new age of Orioles baseball and a new generation of Oriole fans, I thought it would be awesome to find a way to bring Orioles fans together, creating not only a greater sense of community between people that share the same passion, but to also create new chants that are organically from Baltimore to support players and the team.
As an active member of the Orioles Subreddit community, I thought that would be a great place to start. So I posted a rough outline of the idea a few weeks ago and created a Google Doc that anyone could edit and contribute their chants/ideas too. After about a week, people in the community voted on their favorite ones and that’s essentially how the idea got off the ground. We thought it would be a good idea to start a Twitter handle to help spread the word and over the last week, we have been trying to drive as much traffic to @operationhagy as possible.
How do you plan to coordinate with other fans?
The twitter handle is going to be the go to source for people to get updates @operationhagy. Major updates will also be posted to Reddit.com/r/orioles and to the Facebook Group Page Operation Hagy.
Why is now the time to take back the Yard?
We can’t afford to wait any longer! Is there anything worse than being at the Yard for a big game against a division rival and being surrounded by Red Sox or Yankee fans? People in Baltimore are hungry for the O’s to compete and are ready to embrace them. We just need to harness that energy and turn people out for games. I think having a tighter community of fans and a more engaging game day experience could not only make the game more enjoyable, but could actually translate into more wins.
What has the reception been like for Operation Hagy so far?
So far people seem to be really excited about it. The biggest hurdle has been how to take an idea online and translate it into something that actually happens. But I think over the next month, as we continue to promote and schedule meet ups, we will have a nice core group of people ready for opening day.
What coordinated cheers have already set up?
We have some funny ones for Machado and Lough and I think we have some solid ones for pitchers and the team as a whole. You can see everything on the google doc, and feel free to add your own or tweet them @operationhagy. But to get the full experience, you’ll have to meet us at the yard.
How can we help?
Great question! Follow us on Twitter @operationhagy and join the Subreddit for updates. And of course come out to the games.
The only problem with Operation Hagy is that we would have to invite The Little One, Nestor Aparicio. The good part is that he can still get in on a kid’s admission ticket.
I’m in!
You know the Washington Caps have a great answer when the opposing team chants “Lets go Fly-ers” they immediately replay “Fly-ers Suck!” after each refrain. Wish we could organize this at OPACY.
You want to organize that at OPACY MGW? So would the reply be “Ori-oles Suck!” this year?
I am loving this!
I’m all for anything that will bring O’s fans together and drown out the the opposing fans. But I’m bummed that this is what it has come down to. Organizing a “Dookie” like chant sheet as opposed to just showing up and being loud. I know Game 2 of the ALDS was a playoff game and not a mid July weeknight game against the Yankees. But even then, it was just crazy Orioles fans, showing up, being loud and creating an awesome atmosphere. I hope this Operation Hagy is a success. But I hope that organizing an online cheer sheet won’t be necessary at some point.