Roar from 34 Silenced
Tuesday, August 21st, 2007
You’ll never call me an Orioles fan – I’ll be a NY Mets fan till the day I die, but living here on Delmarva it’s hard to avoid everything orange and black during the spring, summer and fall. But I will admit to watching a few O’s games in my day – especially when it came to some of the bigger games – like championship games and Cal’s streak, but now, the era of Orioles’ Magic is truly over.
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While Orioles’ Magic generally refers to the team’s glory years in the 1970s and 1980s, the man who was as well known to O’s fans as Cal Ripken and Jim Palmer has given fans their last spelling lesson. William “Wild Bill†Hagy has died at the age of 68.Â
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Hagy ruled Section 34 at the old Memorial Stadium – and with his long beard, beer belly and wearing his straw cowboy hat - led cheers spelling the Orioles team name – using his body to create the letters.Â
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In a statement on the Orioles website –
“The Orioles organization is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of “Wild Bill” Hagy. While leading cheers from “The Roar from 34″ at Memorial Stadium, Wild Bill became a Baltimore institution. He was one of the great characters of the Baltimore sports landscape and was a true die-hard Orioles fan, supporting the club year in and year out. He will be missed by everyone who knew him and by everyone for whom he led the “O-R-I-O-L-E-S” cheer. All of us in the Orioles organization extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends.â€
 Hagy was a cab driver until his retirement a few years ago. He was found dead Monday morning at his home in Arbutus by his roommate – and efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.
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Hagy did make the transition to Camden Yard, but didn’t lead cheers any longer as he said he was not happy with the ‘new breed’ of O’s fans who talked on their cell phones through games. However during the playoffs – he did bring his cheering back in the mid-1990s when the O’s were contenders for a few years.Â
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Like Max Patkin, the clown prince of baseball, Hagy was one of a kind and though he’s not been around Camden Yard much, preferring to watch the games on TV, he will be missed.
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 Tribute to “Wild Bill’ Hagy
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most of my creatures have been cats – and 2 dogs. Puddkitty is the current critter and while she isn’t as animated as some that I’ve had, she does keep herself and me entertained. She also makes sure that any creepy crawly critter that manages to get into the house doesn’t stay for long. Now if only she would decide that cricket legs taste like chicken! She leaves those behind – I guess it’s just her gift to me, but it’s better than leaving ‘other’ things! Pudd likes height – the top of anything is a great perch – doors, furniture, the mantle. Even with only hind claws, she’s still a great climber.
Most of the cats I’ve had through the years have been social – they like the company of the humans in the house rather than going off on their own to sleep in a sunbeam.  Sam was a fighter – he protected the property from any other cat in the neighborhood. He was my only outside cat, but met his match when he went after a large four-legged – car.Â
Samantha was my mouse cat. She could find any mouse that had the unfortunate luck to come into the house. Of course she didn’t hunt it – she played with it to death. And then just left it for Mommy to dispose of. She liked everyone and had the knack of finding the one person in a group who didn’t really like cats and
did her best to change their mind.
Mickey was the lover of the bunch. He knew he was cute and worked it to the max and then just sat on you and purred, but sometimes I think he thought he was a dog. He is the only cat that actually came when you called him and he would play fetch with his toys!
she and Puddkitty came to me at the same time. Mo was 5 and very unhappy to be in such a noisy place and Pudd was 6 months and the baby in the cat room. Mo was like Pywich – older and aloof, but she was more sociable. Pudd you’ve already met. 
