Dundalk Man is One of Baltimore Blast's Top Fans

When the Baltimore Blast recently won the Major Indoor Soccer League championship, Lewis Melcher couldn't have been happier if he had been a member of the team itself.

The St. Helena man is a reminder that the word "fan" is derived from fanatic, and Melcher is a Blast fanatic.

He's been a loyal follower of the soccer team for 33 of his 43 years.

"I was 10 when I went to my first game," he said shortly after the Blast secured its seventh championship title. "My youth rec coach took my team to a game, and I was hooked."

The intimacy of the Baltimore Civic Center—now known as the 1st Mariner Arena—the access to players and the willingness of those players to connect with their fan base made an impression on that 10-year-old.

At that first game, legendary coach Kenny Cooper loosened and slipped his tie over his head, autographed it and handed it to the young Louie Melcher.

"I don't remember why that happened," Melcher said. "I think maybe there was an autograph session, and I didn't have anything with me to get signed, so Kenny Cooper gave me the red tie he was wearing."

The experience planted the seed for a lifelong relationship with a team that doesn't enjoy the same spotlight that shines on the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball and the Ravens of the National Football League.

But that matters not to Melcher and his fellow Blast fans.

The small but loyal band of Blast fans shows up at every home game, cheers on the home team and shares a sense of family they enjoy thanks to an access not afforded to fans in many professional sports leagues.

That loyalty does not go unnoticed by either players or front office staff members, according to assistant general manager Mike Conway.

"We appreciate it immensely," Conway said of the team's fans. "It means a lot to the players; they appreciate the support."

Conway said he could not agree more with Melcher's assessment of the intimacy of the arena and the access to players being a big draw for fans.

A former soccer player himself—Conway played for Cooper in the 1992-93 season before moving to the front office—he went to his first game as a child around the same time Melcher got hooked.

He recalls being impressed by the players who took time to talk with fans, give autographs and just hang out.

"And then I got to live out every South Baltimore boy's dream by playing for the Blast," Conway said.

Melcher is a fan who serves almost as an unofficial ambassador of the team, according to Conway.

"Louie's always putting stuff out there about the team," Conway said. "He's always putting stuff up on Facebook, he puts up photos, that sort of thing."

Melcher is also well-known for photographing players and game action, and then giving the photos to the players who might not otherwise be able to get them.

"The players all know him, like him and trust him," Conway said of Melcher. "He gives the players photos they might not be able to get from places like The Sun, or that their wives might not have the time to take. And they really appreciate that—it means a lot to them."

In addition to following the team's every move, Melcher is also an avid collector of Blast memorabilia.

Game jerseys line the walls of his home office and living room, and a curio cabinet is stuffed with Blast souvenirs, including bobbleheads, buttons and pins, a championship ribbon, actual MVP trophies and other awards presented to players and player credentials issued for special events.

During a recent interview, he pointed out some of the more unique pieces in the collection.

"I have the largest MISL bobblehead collection known," he said. "I'm three short of having every single one ever issued."

For the record, he's missing the "nodders," as they were originally called, for Jon Barry Nusum, Brian Farber and the P.J. Wakefield nesting doll, complete with all the nesting miniatures.

Though he has memorabilia from the 1980s through the present, he's had to rebuild his 1980s collection.

"My original ’80s memorabilia is pretty much history," he said. "I have no idea what happened to it."

He's so well-known for his collection— and the missing 1980s items—that other collectors and fan club members alert him to pieces they find that he might be interested in, he said.

He recently paid to have a replica of the 2012-13 championship trophy made, and he hopes to eventually commission replicas of all seven of the team's championship rings.

Asked whether she supports her husband's spending on items like replica rings and other high-dollar memorabilia purchases, Connie Melcher laughed and said, "No comment."

Melcher may or may not ever complete his bobblehead collection or commission those rings, but that doesn't diminish his relationship with the team and the sport he loves.

Little did Kenny Cooper know, on a night some 30 years ago, that he may or may not remember, that the simple gesture of taking off his tie, scribbling his name on it and handing it to a wide-eyed 10-year-old planted the seed of a lifelong relationship with the soccer team.

The players come and go, some games are won and some are lost and championships are won fairly often—and seemingly under the radar of mainstream Baltimore sports fans.

But one thing that never changes is the passion and loyalty of Lewis Melcher and other fans like him.

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