[Orioles1954]

My father, John Feagin Sr. passed away this afternoon at the age of 70 from complications of prostate cancer. I was kind of an oddity in my family because I was the only person who, in fact, LOVED sports. When my family moved to Maryland in 1984, I was just 8 years-old. While trying to find a father/son activity that would help ease the pain of moving 3,000 miles, he took me to my first Orioles game at Memorial Stadium. In entering that stadium I became immediately and totally hooked. That love for baseball, and my dad has not subsided. He didn't care for the game. But he know I cared for it and that is all that mattered to him. During my baseball card collecting days he was constantly buying packs and taking me to shows. He bought my first T206 card, a tattered Red Ames Portrait for ten bucks when I was just 10 years-old. Five years later, when my first girlfriend broke up with me, he thought a 1957 Topps Brooks Robinson rookie would do the trick in lifting my spirits. It did. On and on and through the years, the man who didn't like sports supported my love for the Baltimore Orioles and the hobby. Last week, I said my goodbyes to him as he gradually began to slip away. I'm so grateful for the 40 years of memories I shared with him and his selflessness. He engaged in our interests for no other reward than to build a personal relationship with each of his children. It is my hope that I will pass that legacy forward to his three grandchildren, my young son and two daughters.