Clancy at Oriole Park in Baltimore

For years I remember hearing the Famous-in-Baltimore yell, “If you want it fancy, get it from Clancy!”

You always knew to look for Clancy, the Budweiser vendor opening a can of beer in a fun way, pouring it over his back into the plastic cup for the enjoyment of its’ buyer.

In the past ten years, those cans have gone away, replaced by plastic bottles with screw off caps, so it no longer can be gotten “fancy”. But Clancy is still there, working hard, making his way up & down a lot of stairs many times.

His more recent pitch is “Who’s Ready?” and many times has a number of hands quickly waving in the air — it could be the Bud, but I think it is more the seller — why get it from anyone else?

I have to imagine he is the top seller of beer, and gets the “best” sections, because he knows the crowd, remembers people & orders, and works so hard.

He literally lugs cases of beer while sprinting up & down the flights of stairs to deliver refreshments to the masses.

His work ethic is incredible, as he appears to always be there. He hustles both literally and figuratively, and is a true unrecognized star in the Orioles organization.

So next time you are at Camden Yards in Baltimore, make sure to seek out Clancy and watch him work his magic!

Charm City Circulator — Free Transportation in Baltimore City

Have you heard of the free bus transportation available in Baltimore City called the Charm City Circulator?

This is a new great idea from the City of Baltimore that will run three routes and transport workers, commuters, students, visitors and the like for FREE. The busses run every 10 minutes from designated stops on the lines.

The first one up & running is the ORANGE ROUTE, which runs from Hollins Market to Harbor East. It runs around Little Italy and along Lombard Street down to the University of Maryland Baltimore right by the UMD Medical Center, and loops back around and heads back to Harbor East going down Pratt Street. It has 26 stops in all, including the National Aquarium in Baltimore and the Inner Harbor, as well as the Convention Center and Camden Yards.

The Purple Route will run Penn Station to Federal Hill, and the Green Route will run run from City Hall to Johns Hopkins.

This is an exciting initiative set forth in Baltimore, and even more exciting is that the busses are DesignLine 2009 EcoSaver IV LF Hybrid Electric vehicles, which conserve gas and are good for the environment. The goal of the Circulator, per the Baltimore.org site,  is to “reduce congestion and greenhouse gas pollution by offering a convenient, reliable and eco-friendly form of public transportation.”

So, hop on the Circulator and help the environment while getting where you need to be in Downtown Baltimore quickly & efficiently.