Orioles, Red Sox will play in 2020 Little League Classic; update on Stewart’s concussion

BALTIMORE—The Orioles and Boston Red Sox will play in next year’s Little League Classic game in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

The game, on August 23, 2020, will be played at Bowman Field, the home of the Williamsport Crosscutters of the New York-Penn League. Bowman Field, which is the second-oldest minor league ballpark in the country, is about eight miles from the site of the Little League World Series.

Next year will mark the fourth time the game has been played. The Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates will play in this year’s game on August 18.

The Orioles will be the home team for the 7 p.m. game that’s part of ESPN Sunday Night Baseball.

“Participating in next year’s Little League Classic is a tremendous honor for our club,” said Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias. “Our entire organization is deeply committed to growing the game at all levels, and to celebrating the invaluable life lessons learned through youth baseball. As a Little League Baseball alumnus myself, I look forward to visiting Williamsport as we come together to share the game of baseball with the next generation.”

Orioles and Red Sox players will attend Little League World Series games earlier in the day. Participants in the World Series and Williamsport baseball and softball players will make up a large part of the crowd. The seating capacity for Bowman Field is just 2,366.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “Just watching it on TV, how much fun it looks like the players have, the interaction with the kids.

“Williamsport is something we all dreamed about when we were kids, trying to get there … I’ve never been there. To go there and experience that, to meet everybody up there and to play on Sunday Night Baseball in front of that kind of environment is going to be a really cool experience.”

Stewart concussion update: DJ Stewart was placed on the seven-day concussion injured list. Stewart, who was playing left field, was hit in the head by a ball hit by New York’s Mike Ford in the top of the fourth. Stewart appeared to slip on the wet grass when he came in on the ball and lost sight of it when he went down. He stayed on the field but was pinch-hit for in the bottom of the inning.

“Hopefully, he checks all the boxes coming up soon and we’re able to activate him at some point after the seven days,” Hyde said.

“He actually joked with me when I went out there. He felt pretty comfortable. He joked that ‘we have to stop meeting like this.’

Hyde’s last visit to Stewart came in his previous game with the Orioles, on June 5 in Arlington, Texas. Stewart, playing right field, collided with Hanser Alberto in foul territory going after a pop fly and sprained his right ankle.

“I thought that showed some pretty good awareness,” Hyde said.

Assistant athletic trainer Patrick Wesley cleared Stewart to remain in the game.

“As the inning went along, he started feeling a little funny and a little dizzy so we got him out,” Hyde said.

Stewart was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk before Tuesday’s game.

The corresponding roster move for Stewart was activating John Means to start the game. The Orioles have a day off on Thursday.

“We thought about a lot of things,” Hyde said. “We’ll reassess after the game tonight.”

Alberto in left: Anthony Santander is the Orioles’ designated hitter for the second straight game, and Hanser Alberto gets his first start in left. Alberto played an inning in left earlier this season and did start one game in right.

“He hasn’t had a whole lot of experience out there but does work out there quite a bit during [batting practice],” Hyde said. “He’s been out there with [outfield coach] Arnie Beyeler on occasion … if something like this happens and to increase his value and versatility

“I think Alberto likes to be in the lineup. If you put him behind the plate, he would go for it. I think he just likes to play.”