Is there a bigger douchebag than Nasty Nestor?

Mothers, don't let your babies grow up to be assholes.

It's hard to believe I was once a big fan of Nestor "Nasty Aparicio.

Actually, maybe not.

He's related to former Orioles shortstop Luis Aparicio for starters. And back in the mid-1990's he was a brash, opinionated Baltimore sports talk show host on small AM radio stations that were a welcome change from the milquetoast sports talk that filled Baltimore airwaves at the time.

I'll always have fond memories of listening to Nestor's show when the news broke of the Cleveland Browns moving to Baltimore. I was eating dinner with my parents with Nestor's excited voice coming through the speakers as he hosted callers who couldn't contain their own excitement of the NFL coming back to Baltimore after 13 long years.

I've also run into Nestor a few times. The first being at BWI Airport the night that Art Modell arrived in Baltimore after the move was announced. The second was while in Cincinnati for a Ravens road trip back in 2008. Both times they were simple exchanges of excited cliches, but I felt like he was a down-to-earth heartfelt guy who loved Baltimore. Especially in that first meeting, before Nestor became who -- or what -- he is today.

So what sent me over the edge and caused me to take to my blog to write about Nasty Nestor?

It's his most recent article on his WNST website, where he tells O's skipper Buck Showalter to "shut up" after Buck made some comments about Derek Jeter and Red Sox GM Theo Epstein.

Buck's comments were harmless. They were simply intended to fire up his players and fans, and get them ready for a season of baseball where losing will not be accepted. But Nestor has it completely wrong -- or simply doesn't want to see what Buck was striving for with his comments. He simply uses Buck's comments as a jumping off point to do what he always does -- remind us how low the Orioles have fallen in the last 13 years -- and how great the Yankees and Red Sox have been in that same period.

We get it, Nasty.

However, Nestor fails to understand that what happened before Buck doesn't mean a thing. So all that "13 years crap" doesn't apply here. Buck has no impact on what happened before he arrived on August 3, 2010. All I know is, since Buck Showalter has been manager of the Orioles, his team has gone 34-23 and managed to play .500 ball against the Yankees and Red Sox.

Even Nasty Nestor would have to hope that Buck Showalter can build on the instant momentum in 2011.

But then again, maybe not.

For better or worse, Nestor has built such a reputation on being so anti-Orioles that it's almost impossible for him to turn back now without looking like a total fair-weather fan asshole. Maybe at his core Nestor still hopes the Orioles return to glory. Maybe his Orioles hatred is simply a tool to gain listeners and attention. But I also think that the damage has been done. Oh well, who cares, right?

Nestor had a legit beef with the Orioles when he started getting dissed by the team in the early 2000's. His media credentials were apparently revoked. And the incident that seemingly sent Nestor over the edge was, get this, the Oriole bird squirting him with a water gun.

Yeah, that's what caused him to throw his Oriole jersey in a trash can and walk away from it like Spider-Man -- an Oriole fan, no more. A fucking water gun.

But it only got worse when Nestor created his own radio station, WNST. He used his Orioles hatred as a publicity tool and wore it as a badge of honor. And he was probably smart to do it since it was easy to hate the Orioles in the early 2000's. Angelos was in full megalomaniac-owner mode and Sid Thrift was going on the radio and saying that Gary Dell'Abate (Baba Booey from Howard Stern) was "looking good" as a prospect when someone called in and pranked him.

Nestor's anti-Oriole fever-pitch reached its pinnacle with "Free the Birds", a night out at an Oriole game where Nestor and his listeners walked out during the middle of the game and roamed around the stadium chanting "Sell Pete Sell".

But since then, the Orioles have at least tried to clean up their image. They hired Andy MacPhail, who despite his shaky track record as GM so far, he's at least brought an air of respectability back to the team. The Orioles have also introduced a ton of promotions at games to bring back fans. And this offseason they've totally revamped their food options, bringing back National Bohemian beer on tap and introducing a slew of local-inspired dishes.

And most importantly, let's not forget, they hired Buck Showalter, who gave the Orioles even more credibility.

But here is Nasty Nestor Aparicio, still thumping his chest and reminding us how bad the Orioles still are. Meanwhile, the few talented hosts that Nestor employed at WNST have all left, leaving Nestor all alone as he spews his tired bullshit to people who don't care any more. It's a mere week from opening day, where hope springs eternal for fans of every team in baseball. People want to believe the O's can get better, at least for a couple of weeks. But Nestor wants to steal even that away from them. Just because Buck Showalter made some harmless comments about Derek Jeter.

Nestor, just take a clue from yourself, dude and shut the fuck up.