Orioles’ new executive Catie Griggs talks Camden Yards renovations, All-Star Game, working with Elias

Catie Griggs joined the Orioles last month as their first president of business operations. Previously she served in a similar position for three years with the Seattle Mariners.

On Wednesday, Griggs met with the media for a wide-ranging discussion of her new role. Here are excerpts from that conversation. Some answers have been edited for brevity.

Question: What have you been up to since you came to the Orioles’ organization?

Catie Griggs: “I think I’ve sat in roughly 15 different spots in the ballpark so far. This is an incredible location, but it’s new to me. I know that, and the only way I can get to know that is by experiencing it. We serve our fans. I want to understand what they’re going through. I was in the Splash Zone in the sixth inning the other night against the White Sox. I got real wet. It was a lot of fun. It’s been a joy really, getting to walk around the ballpark, get to understand how this space works, get to understand how this fits in our community and then spending a lot of time getting to know our staff.”

Question: How have you gone about learning about the history of the Orioles and the stadium?

Griggs: “This isn’t my first time in baseball. I’ve been a fan my entire life. The history of the Orioles and the stadium, I had a superficial working knowledge. This is a ballpark I came to growing up several times just to watch games because it was that ballpark, it was the bucket-list item.

“It’s a privilege to be here, but it’s learning from all the folks that are here. One of the things that’s wonderful about this organization is that there are so many passionate fans inside of the organization and many, many, many more passionate fans outside of the organization who have not hesitated to share their thoughts and ideas.”

Q: You’re going to be supervising the renovations of the ballpark. What can fans expect to see in the 2025 season?

Griggs: “I think 2025 are likely going to be relatively smaller changes, just because it generally takes time. From a permanent standpoint to ensure that we’re doing things right. You will see things in ’25. I think you’re likely to see much more substantive change in 2026.

“Just looking out behind you right now, we have some opportunities with the video boards. Rumor has it that there might be some audio things that we might be looking to improve as well. One of the things that’s interesting with a ballpark like this, it’s incredible. This is truly one of the ballparks in major league baseball. For us, it’s really important that we respect the history and the integrity of this ballpark, all of the things that make it unique and special and amazing and find ways where we can really accent that and deliver more value to our fans in ways that respects that past, but also embraces the future.”

Q: Do you hope that Camden Yards can host another All-Star Game?

Griggs: “I’d love to have the opportunity to host an All-Star Game. It’s a really amazing opportunity to bring the community together and to really showcase the city.

“I would feel privileged to work alongside this organization, Major League Baseball and all of our partners in and around Baltimore to showcase the city. I’m still getting to know it, but so far, I really like what I see.”

Q: How is ownership empowering you?

Griggs: “It’s been great so far. It’s a large part of the reason that I chose to come to this organization. It’s a combination of an amazing ballpark, a really, really talented team on the field, a talented team behind the scenes, but also a really exciting ownership who’s got a vision. At this point, I think we’re all feeling each other out a little bit, but they’re excited. They believe in this city, they believe in this ballclub. Their goal is to let me really work alongside Mike Elias to serve our fans even better going forward.”

Q: What’s your priority list?

Griggs: “Right now, I’m learning. That’s priority number 1. I know what I don’t know. I have reasonable experience running a baseball team from the business side, but I’ve never run a baseball team from the business side here in Baltimore. I have friends from here, but I haven’t spent a lot of time in this city. I’ve met a lot of people on the staff, but I haven’t spent a lot of time with them yet. So for me, this really is making sure that I’m intentional about taking the time to get to know staff, get to know the amazing ballpark, get to know our fans, get to know the city before jumping straight into an action item.

“With that being said, I’m really excited about sort of some of the things that we’ve already started tweaking from a fan experience standpoint to continue to make the games even more exciting and compelling and engaging for fans, but right now, it’s the learning time.”

Q: Can you share some of the things that you’ve already tweaked?

Griggs: “Whenever you’re looking at ballparks, it’s an opportunity to figure out how do you help bring that energy into the stadium in a way that’s complementary and not distracting. There are a lot of exciting games that have been played here and hopefully many more to come, but when you’re looking at those two strikes, two outs, bottom of the eighth moments, how do you make sure the energy and excitement is palpable, right? And what is the role that audio can play even if you’ve got perhaps an audio system that needs a little bit of support. The team’s been really creative about ways in which we can continue to work with what we have to provide a better experience for our fans.”

Q: Are you excited to be joining this franchise when everything seems to be going so well?

Griggs: “Yes, I’m thrilled, truly. I was not looking to leave Seattle. I had a wonderful home, wonderful friends, a wonderful team, on and off the field. I was not looking to make a move. It took an incredibly special opportunity, which to your point, part of that is the timing. There’s a really amazing window, I believe, both with this team in terms of the young talent you have on the field and an amazing city with a lot of people who are motivated to continue to invest in it and make it even better and you’ve got an amazing ballpark, and you’ve got an opportunity to continue to build on all of the things that we have. It really was that combination of factors combined with fantastic ownership that led me to take it.”

Q: What is the biggest challenge the Orioles face?

Griggs: “I think the challenge is really an opportunity, is to more effectively engage this entire community. We have an amazing ballpark. There are a lot of seats in it. I’d like to see them filled, every single night and to do that we have to create an environment where everyone feels welcome, everyone feels appreciated, and they feel like they are seen and they want to be here and they’re a part of this. The team’s done it before. I very much believe we can do it again. I think that’s the opportunity we have.”

Q: How do you assess Orioles’ attendance?

Griggs: “I think we’re on the right track. We’re building on the success that we’ve had. I think there’s opportunity ahead of us to get better.”

Q: How will you work with Mike Elias?

Griggs: “My goal is to help support him and the baseball operations team, being able to put the most compelling, exciting, dynamic winning team on the field as they possibly can. Part of that is creating an experience where fans want to be. Fans bring the energy to the ballpark, and it’s something where it’s palpable.

“It’s how do I work alongside them to complement them and make sure powering the machine and putting the best team possible on the field.”

Q: You had a ‘Winter Classic’ NHL game in Seattle. Would you like to have one here?

Griggs: “I’d love to. That’s a lot of fun. Again that was an opportunity to showcase an amazing ballpark in T-Mobile Park to a new group of fans and hopefully help them have an experience in a location they may not have had the opportunity to go to before, may not have chosen to go to before. I think we showed them a really good time. Any time you have the opportunity to use an incredible venue like this, like T-Mobile Park to bring in new fans and welcome more of the community, it’s a great thing to do.”