Toronto Blue Jays – Baltimore Magazine

O’s to Become First U.S. Pro Team to Wear Braille Jerseys

Ron Cassie — Fri, 07 Sep 2018 14:29:00 +0000

As we are all aware, the Orioles are in the midst of a historically bad season for the franchise. Nonetheless, some pretty awesome things are happening on the field this month.

The O’s are set to become the first team in American professional sports history to incorporate Braille lettering into their game-day uniforms when they take on the Toronto Blue Jays at Camden Yards this September 18.

The Orioles also will host international concert pianist and singer Carlos Alberto Ibay, who has been blind since birth, to perform the traditional pre-game Star-Spangled Banner. The president of the National Federation of the Blind, Mark Riccobono, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

During the 7:05 p.m. Tuesday night contest, O’s players and coaches will wear specially designed jerseys with the script lettering of “Orioles” and player last names in Braille. Afterward, the game-day jerseys will be autographed, authenticated, and auctioned via the Orioles team website to benefit the National Federation of the Blind.

“The National Federation of the Blind is proud of our 78 years of working together to help all blind Americans live the lives they want,” said Riccobono. “For 40 of those years, we have coordinated that work from our headquarters here in Baltimore, where we have invested tens of millions of dollars to create a top-notch facility that benefits our organization and the surrounding community.”

The first 15,000 fans will receive a co-branded NFB/Orioles Braille alphabet card, the team said in a press release, which will be distributed by National Federation of the Blind volunteers.

The NFB, founded in 1940, is the oldest and largest nationwide organization for the blind, with 50,000 members. With affiliates in every state, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, the NFB offers programs and resources to enhance learning, advance job opportunities, help with recreation activities, and improve the quality of life for blind persons.

Though this is a marketing campaign for the team, the sentiment has been hitting home with baseball fans around the country.

@JLevering4 Hey Jeff my father is blind and a HUGE Brewers fan. Seeing how the Orioles are representing the Blind Community is absolutely amazing. We hope that seeing the orioles doing this will influence all the mlb teams to do this as well. It would mean the world to him — 1/2 pic.twitter.com/ARN6D9FxoG
— :honey_pot: (@PochaConcha_xx) September 7, 2018

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Orioles Make Playoff Ticket Pitch

Ron Cassie — Wed, 20 Aug 2014 12:36:00 +0000

Last week we were frankly nervous posting a blog about how the O’s had practically locked up a playoff spot. We didn’t want to jinx the boys in orange and black.

The hell with holding back now.

The O’s have won three straight after a dominating performance from Chris Tillman on the hill last night, moving their American League East lead to 8.5 games over the despised Bronx Bombers and 9 games over less-hated, but still not well-liked Toronto Blue Jays.

By the way, did you see Nick Markasis rob the White Sox’s Conor Gillaspie of a go-ahead, two-run home run the other night?

With the O’s hitting on all cylinders, the team is sending out postseason ticket invoices this week to season-ticket holders.

Fans with full-season plans will be able to buy tickets to all potential Camden Yards playoff games while those with 29-game plans will be able to buy tickets to six games. Thirteen-game holders will be able buy tickets to three games—or one game per postseason round, according to the Baltimore Business Journal.

Meanwhile, the organization is making a strong pitch to potential new season-ticket buyers: Fans making a deposit on a 2015 season-ticket plan will be guaranteed the opportunity to buy 2014 Orioles postseason tickets before the general public.

Also, individual game tickets will be made available to orioles.com “ticket opportunity” registrants. Although details for that registration is not yet up on the O’s website.

There’s still an outside chance (less than 5 percent, according to Fangraph.com, we’re not worried) that the Orioles don’t make the playoffs this season. One thing we are 100 percent certain about, however, as soon as the playoff schedule comes out, we’ll be hitting up friends with season plans and hunting tickets.

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Orioles Stud of the Week

Jess Mayhugh — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 10:57:00 +0000

Orioles coverage sponsored by Baltimore Marriott Waterfront

Going into tonight’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Orioles are 12-12, a solid .500. And, while it hasn’t been the most glorious start to a season, at least we are back on a clean slate of sorts. But there is one thing for certain—we are happy to have this guy on our roster.

Stud of the Week for April 21-27:
Nelson Cruz

The line:
Cruz, who the Orioles signed for a mere $8 million in February, is leading the ball club in home runs (7), RBIs (25), and on-base percentage (.376).

Studliest moment:
Though watching the O’s outfielder hit a shot is now par for the course, he outdid himself last Wednesday against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rodgers Centre. Cruz earned his 11th multi-homer game of his career, as he hit a solo shot in the third and a mammoth go-ahead grand slam deep to left-center in the fifth.

The clincher:
The very next day, the Orioles announced that the game against the Detroit Tigers on May 13 will be Nelson Cruz T-shirt night. The shirt design is inspired by the power hitter’s nickname, which you can hear echo throughout Camden Yards whenever he hits a dinger: “Cruuuuuuz!”

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