THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 9, 1995 TAG: 9507090067
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB MOLINARO
LENGTH: Long : 146 lines
Deep inside the bowels of one of Norfolk's most distinguished law firms is the last place you'd expect to find a shrine to baseball.
Enter through the glass doors and you can imagine yourself on the set of ``L.A. Law.'' Now make a right turn and walk past the stacks of leather-bound books and the offices that look out over Main Street, and, suddenly, this charcoal gray corporate world explodes into a celebration of black and orange.
You have arrived at Maureen Kimmitt's desk. You'll know it by the sign that reads, ``Eat, Sleep and Breathe Baseball.''
Baltimore Orioles baseball, that is.
As for Kimmitt, you'll know her by the Orioles earrings, Orioles lapel pin, Orioles wristwatch and Orioles ring.
``It's an obsession,'' she says. ``I don't think being obsessed by baseball is unnatural.''
The Baltimore exile leaves her gaudy Orioles shirt and vest at home. Wouldn't be proper office wear for a legal secretary at Vandeventer, Black, Meredith and Martin.
No such reticence exists when it comes to decorating her work space. She has done up her cubicle in early Cal Ripken. It is a grotto to his greatness.
Amid the pictures of the Orioles shortstop are signs, newspaper clippings, a framed aerial shot of Camden Yards, posters, mugs, cups, pins, postcards, pennants, buttons and shiny Orioles gewgaws of all shapes and sizes.
Pinned to one wall is an old wrapper from some long eaten, and even longer forgotten, Cal Ripken candy bar.
In a corner, half hidden behind some books, is a newspaper photo of actor Kevin Costner. He is wearing an Orioles uniform. Naturally.
``Stuff,'' says Kimmitt. ``Just a lot of stuff.''
But not as much stuff as can be found in her Bird's nest in Virginia Beach.
``It's a Cal Ripken shrine,'' she says of her apartment. ``In my bedroom, there is no bare wall space. It's all magazine covers and posters of Cal Ripken.''
And even more Orioles mugs, pins, hats, and stuffed animals, not to mention 10,000 baseball cards.
Stuff. A lot of stuff.
Recently, Maureen Kimmitt, 45, posed in her Orioles outfits, holding Orioles memorabilia, for the Super Fan Contest sponsored by Home Team Sports, the cable outfit that carries the Birds.
She won, of course. Perhaps the judges were impressed by her 100-word essay, in which she revealed that she tapes Orioles games for viewing over the winter.
Next weekend, along with her sister, Barbara, she will drive to Baltimore. Prior to the July 15th game against the Kansas City Royals, she will walk onto the field to be introduced to the Camden Yards crowd.
``Hopefully,'' she says, ``I'll get to shake Cal Ripken's hand.''
There's more. In September, she wings her way to Cleveland to watch the Birds play a couple of games. All expenses paid by HTS.
Looking at the pictures she submitted for the contest, she says, ``I can just hear those people saying, `Wow, is she sick or what.' ''
But in the next breath, she adds, ``I'm proud of my obsession. I just wish they were playing better ball.''
As a kid, she'd walk the three blocks from her home to Memorial Stadium to watch the Orioles play.
``The best part of growing up in Baltimore,'' she calls it.
Ten years ago, things changed. First came the divorce. Then she moved down here to be with her sister. Today, Orioles games are a once- or twice-a-year occasion, though she does take in as many as 20 Tides games each season.
Wherever she is, Ripken is never far from her thoughts. Sometimes, on visits to Baltimore, she and her sisters will be riding in the suburbs and decide to take a spin past Cal's ``huge mansion up on a hill.''
``We just sort of wave and keep going,'' Maureen says.
Ripken has his mansion, while Maureen Kimmitt keeps watch over the shrine.
All O's, all the time. It's the stuff of her life.Deep inside the bowels of one of Norfolk's most distinguished law firms is the last place you'd expect to find a shrine to baseball.
Enter through the glass doors and you can imagine yourself on the set of ``L.A. Law.'' Now make a right turn and walk past the stacks of leather-bound books and the offices that look out over Main Street, and, suddenly, this charcoal gray corporate world explodes into a celebration of black and orange.
You have arrived at Maureen Kimmitt's desk. You'll know it by the sign that reads, ``Eat, Sleep and Breathe Baseball.''
Baltimore Orioles baseball, that is.
As for Kimmitt, you'll know her by the Orioles earrings, Orioles lapel pin, Orioles wristwatch and Orioles ring.
``It's an obsession,'' she says. ``I don't think being obsessed by baseball is unnatural.''
The Baltimore exile leaves her gaudy Orioles shirt and vest at home. Wouldn't be proper office wear for a legal secretary at Vandeventer, Black, Meredith and Martin.
No such reticence exists when it comes to decorating her work space. She has done up her cubicle in early Cal Ripken. It is a grotto to his greatness.
Amid the pictures of the Orioles shortstop are signs, newspaper clippings, a framed aerial shot of Camden Yards, posters, mugs, cups, pins, postcards, pennants, buttons and shiny Orioles gewgaws of all shapes and sizes.
Pinned to one wall is an old wrapper from some long eaten, and even longer forgotten, Cal Ripken candy bar.
In a corner, half hidden behind some books, is a newspaper photo of actor Kevin Costner. He is wearing an Orioles uniform. Naturally.
``Stuff,'' says Kimmitt. ``Just a lot of stuff.''
But not as much stuff as can be found in her Bird's nest in Virginia Beach.
``It's a Cal Ripken shrine,'' she says of her apartment. ``In my bedroom, there is no bare wall space. It's all magazine covers and posters of Cal Ripken.''
And even more Orioles mugs, pins, hats, and stuffed animals, not to mention 10,000 baseball cards.
Stuff. A lot of stuff.
Recently, Maureen Kimmitt, 45, posed in her Orioles outfits, holding Orioles memorabilia, for the Super Fan Contest sponsored by Home Team Sports, the cable outfit that carries the Birds.
She won, of course. Perhaps the judges were impressed by her 100-word essay, in which she revealed that she tapes Orioles games for viewing over the winter.
Next weekend, along with her sister, Barbara, she will drive to Baltimore. Prior to the July 15th game against the Kansas City Royals, she will walk onto the field to be introduced to the Camden Yards crowd.
``Hopefully,'' she says, ``I'll get to shake Cal Ripken's hand.''
There's more. In September, she wings her way to Cleveland to watch the Birds play a couple of games. All expenses paid by HTS.
Looking at the pictures she submitted for the contest, she says, ``I can just hear those people saying, `Wow, is she sick or what.' ''
But in the next breath, she adds, ``I'm proud of my obsession. I just wish they were playing better ball.''
As a kid, she'd walk the three blocks from her home to Memorial Stadium to watch the Orioles play.
``The best part of growing up in Baltimore,'' she calls it.
Ten years ago, things changed. First came the divorce. Then she moved down here to be with her sister. Today, Orioles games are a once- or twice-a-year occasion, though she does take in as many as 20 Tides games each season.
Wherever she is, Ripken is never far from her thoughts. Sometimes, on visits to Baltimore, she and her sisters will be riding in the suburbs and decide to take a spin past Cal's ``huge mansion up on a hill.''
``We just sort of wave and keep going,'' Maureen says.
Ripken has his mansion, while Maureen Kimmitt keeps watch over the shrine.
All O's, all the time. It's the stuff of her life. MEMO: Write Bob Molinaro at 150 W. Brambleton, Norfolk, Va. 23510. Call him at
446-2373. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
PAUL AIKEN/Staff
Baltimore Orioles fan Maureen Kimmitt of Virginia Beach has built a
shrine to the Birds at her Norfolk office.
by CNB