BALTIMORE (AP) - William "Wild Bill" Hagy, a self-appointed Baltimore Orioles fan who ruled Section 34 in the upper deck at the old Memorial Stadium, has died. He was 68.
Hagy was found unresponsive Monday in his home by his roommate, the Orioles said. Efforts by paramedics to revive him failed.
Wearing a straw hat and a scraggly beard, Hagy led cheers at the Orioles' old stadium during the 1970s and 1980s. He spelled out O-R-I-O-L-E-S with his body while fans yelled each letter in unison.
A cabdriver during the day, Hagy guzzled many a beer in the stands while the fans eagerly waited for him to wave his hands over his head to start his trademark cheer. During important games, the team allowed him to climb on top of the Orioles dugout to rally the crowd with his act.
Hagy was scruffy, had a beer belly and often wore tank tops to the game. Yet he led a generation of Orioles backers in the cheap seats of an aging stadium that drew far more fans for NFL games involving the Baltimore Colts.
Hagy put an end to his antics when the Orioles moved to Camden Yards in 1992, in part because he couldn't stand the new breed of upper-crust fans who spoke on cell phones during the game.
But he reprised his act in the middle of the decade during the playoffs.
Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press
In 1978 November you brought me home from the hospital after my father passed away and you told me that if I need a ticket to go to the game you would take me and I remember you driving that cab. Thank you for the good times at the Oriole games when I used to watch you on TV.
Harry Kellerstapf
October 07, 2024 | Baltimore, MD | Acquaintance
Out of the blue I thought of wild Bill and memorial stadium.Great part of my childhood.
September 15, 2024
Man, I miss him ! We had such good times up there in Section 34. The more time passes , the more your missed, Bill !!!!!!
Joseph Smith
February 11, 2021 | Salisbury, MD | Friend
I rember setting I my seat me and my wife and then the the roar from 34 she loved it god rest both of them . She also loved memorial stadium
Robert Petty
March 29, 2015 | Baltimore, MD
wish you were still here Wild Bill we need you
Wayne Bosley
October 16, 2014 | Dundalk, MD
to bad your non with us anymore.
Wayne Bosley
October 16, 2014 | Dundalk, MD
Wild Bill...give us some of that Orioles Magic from beyond. Go O's!!
Mike D
October 02, 2014 | Aberdeen, MD
Wild Bill,
My Grandson Zach still tells his friends about our last meeting at Camden Yards! Some great times at "Butlers", "EDS INN" on the fields around Gray Manor and Section 34 at Memorial Stadium - RIP my brother!
Dick Cox - Dundalk (Gray Manor)
Dick Cox
August 04, 2010 | Dundalk, MD
I worked with Bill Hagy at Good Humor during the early and mid-seventies and I felt he was a true gentleman. He was knowledgeable about so many things and it was a plesure just to sit and converse with him. I was grateful to have someone like him for a friend and I miss him terribly. And of course, I guess the Orioles probably need him now more than ever! There's little argument there. But Bill, I salute you for the friend and colleague you were to me and you'll always have a special...
Steve Mazer
October 06, 2009 | Phoenix, AZ
