By Peter Schmuck The Baltimore Sun Baltimore Sun

6:03 a.m. AKDT, September 21, 2012
Southwest Airlines Flight 327 from BWI to Boston has been delayed slightly today, but that hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm of what looks like an Orioles fan charter. There are dozens of people in Orioles regalia ready to cheer on the team during the critical three-game series that starts tonight at Fenway Park.

“I’ve been a longtime fan, but this is the first time I’ve been excited about the postseason since the 1990s,’’ said Will Jones of Sykesville.  “I’ve been a quiet fan for awhile, but now that they are doing a lot better, I’m all riled up.”

Jones and Jeremy Martin of Glen Burnie are part of an Orioles sponsor trip, but there are plenty of fans who are on this Southwest bandwagon.

The appropriately named Birdie Insley of Timonium bought the tickets for this series for her husband Jerry for Fathers Day. They’re taking the whole family, including a child meeting them from New York. How’s that for some strange karma?

“We got the tickets early and it’s worked out great,’’ she said. “We’ve been Orioles fans forever. Our daughter is named after Brooks and, if you remember at his Hall of Fame ceremoney, there was a group of people spelling out his name in the crowd…that was us.”