Who was more fired up than Gary Mangold three hours before first pitch on opening day?

Nobody.

He had left his Allentown, Pennsylvania, home at 8 a.m. to meet his daughter and grandson outside the Camden Yards gates. At noon, when the park opened, the three raced to Section 90. While his 8-year-old grandson, Nolan, perched in the front with his arms hanging over the center field wall, Mangold hung back — just a few rows shy of the Eutaw Street fence — shagging home run balls as Gunnar Henderson, Pete Alonso and Samuel Basallo took turns rocketing batting practice balls into the stratosphere.

Between at-bats, Mangold was shouting with glee and hugging strangers near him clustered in his row. At one point, Mangold turned his hat backward and very nearly wrapped his hands around a Basallo dinger. But it ricocheted out of his grasp.

“I just missed one,” said Mangold, pinching his index and forefinger to show how close he came. “It was what I always dreamed of, then it went off my hands.”

Even the occasional fielding error was not enough to dim the energy of the hundreds of fans who turned out for opening day batting practice, an opportunity the Orioles hadn’t made a regular attraction in years.

This season is the first since the COVID-19 pandemic that the Orioles have early gate openings to select games — meaning it’s the first time since then that fans will have regular access to home team batting practice, the best opportunity to leave Camden Yards with a home run ball.

It had been a staple of Orioles games for generations, and plenty of fans missed it.

Ken Zurawski asked for early gate access in his Birdland survey last season as he renewed his 20-game ticket package. When it returned, he wasted no time bringing his 5-year-old son, Wyatt, whom he cradled in his arms after half an hour of chasing down baseballs.

The Zurawskis got a ball tossed to the stands by Colton Cowser — just the kind of intimate experience with players that is hard to get in any other setting. Zurawski has kept balls dating from the 1990s, when Albert Belle was smashing homers into the Camden Yards stands.

“It’s just a chance to interact with these guys,” Zurawski said. “Once the game starts, it’s hard to see them from far away in your seats.”

Trying to catch batting practice home runs is a tradition for only the most dedicated, most early-arriving fans, but it’s a rich one — a rite to which the big leaguers can relate.

The nearest minor league stadium to Henderson’s hometown was in Montgomery, Alabama, home of the Double-A Biscuits. He and his friends would arrive early for batting practice, collecting home runs for more practical motivations.

“Mainly just to fill up the ball bucket at home — just to give us some extra balls in case we lose them or they got wet,” he said. “But it brings back fun memories, thinking back to that kinda stuff. Especially when it’s you and your buddy getting out there and try to catch as many as we could, just to get them in the ball bucket.”

When Henderson is on the road, he sometimes feels pressure to hit homers during BP when there is an especially large crowd. “When you’re in Wrigley, you gotta have a couple guys hitting homers, because their entire stadium is packed out for BP.”

There is hope that Camden Yards will provide a bit more of a reward to the early-arriving enthusiast. Joe Birch brought his daughters, Addison (10) and Mackenzie (7), to Section 90 with their gloves. They scored a ball tossed to them by Jackson Holliday, the girls’ favorite player.

It felt to Joe like the passing of a torch.

“I did the same thing with my dad for years and years,” he said. “This is their first time, and we’re gonna make it a tradition.”

Hollis Alcarese, 11, was stoked to grab a homer hit by Alonso, the Orioles’ star free-agent signing. But the thrill of his souvenir was neck and neck with the best thing about getting through the gates at noon for opening day. “I was excited because that would mean I got to leave school early.”

Birch, too, acknowledged his girls were missing school. “But it’s worth it,” he added.

Jessica Mangold has gone with her father, Gary, to Saturday games before, but they’ve never opened early enough to catch Orioles BP — only the visiting team.

When she learned how early the gates would open Thursday, her father was the first person she thought of. “I called him and said, ‘We’re going in at 12. We gotta be in line right away.’”

It was hard to tell who was having more fun during the BP session — Gary or his grandson. Between the two of them, Gary was running around more in his pursuit.

Although Gary was less successful than his grandson (who came away with a ball), he was satisfied simply to see the batting practices like he used to — a tradition that returns after too long a sabbatical.

“This is the best thing since sliced bread,” he said. “It’s so nice to be able to see our boys hit again.”