Holiday gifts for the Oriole fan in your life
It’s the day after Thanksgiving, and if you’re ready I have some holiday gift suggestions for the baseball fan in your life.
Go to an Orioles away game
That’s something I always suggest. There’s not a bad place to go, and this year, the Orioles have some fun road trips. Besides the annual American League trips, the Orioles have a trip to San Francisco (August 29th-31st) and San Diego (September 1st-3rd). I hope to see you on that one.
There’s their trip to Wrigley Field with three afternoon games from August 1st-3rd, with a second leg in Philadelphia to follow (August 4th-6th). I’ll see you on that one, too.
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As always, if you want some dining recommendations, reach out.
The Orioles will go to Atlanta, Arizona and Milwaukee, too. This year, they’ll play three road games against the Nationals in D.C. from April 22nd-24th.
There are no new parks in the major leagues for 2025, but the Orioles get to visit two temporary homes.
From June 6th-8th, they’ll play the Athletics, who are supposed to play for three seasons at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, which holds about 14,000. In 2028, the Athletics are scheduled to move to Las Vegas. In the meantime, if you’re looking for an intimate baseball experience and aren’t afraid of some late spring heat, you might enjoy the capital city of California.
Sadly, Tropicana Field’s roof was destroyed during last month’s Hurricane Milton, and the Tampa Bay Rays can’t play there in 2025. While the Rays and St. Petersburg thought they had an agreement for a new ballpark near the Trop for 2028, the two parties are bickering over its future.
For at least 2025, the Rays will play at the spring home of the New York Yankees, Tampa’s George M. Steinbrenner Field. The Orioles will play there June 16th-19th and July 18th-20th.
It’s the largest spring training facility in Florida and seats just over 11,000.
If you’re planning a trip to Sarasota, and I’ve already spoken to a number of fans who are, I’ll have my annual guide to spring training early in the New Year.
Go to the Jackie Robinson Museum
Surely you’ve been to the Babe Ruth Museum, and perhaps Cooperstown for the Baseball Hall of Fame, but there’s another must-see that should be on your list.
It’s the Jackie Robinson Museum, located at 75 Varick Street in lower Manhattan, near the Holland Tunnel.
For younger fans who are unfamiliar with the story of Jackie Robinson, and for older fans, this new gem of a museum combines storylines that are well known with information that’s new.
There’s an introductory film and exhibits on Robinson’s early life and prowess in several sports as well as his activism after baseball.
The museum is open from Thursday-Sunday from 11-6. Admission is $18 for adults, $15 for seniors, students and youths from 5-17.
Get them some Orioles’ merchandise
What is Black Friday without a sale? If you haven’t made plans for today, the Orioles’ store is open from 9-5, and all men’s, women’s and children’s apparel, with the exception of jerseys, are 40 percent off. So is headgear. The first 150 visitors will receive an Orioles Holiday ornament, and if you spend $150 or more, you’ll receive an Orioles Mini Bat.
All purchases get a chance to spin the Orioles’ Prize Wheel.
Complimentary parking is available in the North Warehouse Lot.
Get them a book
I’m always in the market for baseball books. I own several hundred, and there’s usually a stack that I’d like to find the time to get to.
“The Last Manager” by John W. Miller won’t be published until March, but you can preorder it now on Amazon.com. Miller, who played baseball for Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg, shares great information on Earl Weaver, whose early use of analytics has garnered even more respect for him.
The author traveled to St. Louis, where Weaver was born, to minor league cities where he managed and interviewed his players.
We featured an article with Miller a few weeks back as part of John Eisenberg’s “The Bird Tapes.”
An excellent gift would be a subscription at: https://birdtapes.substack.com/subscribe?r=157evu
A neighbor of mine in Bolton Hill, Tom Delise, co-authored with Jay Seaborg a book about another legendary Orioles manager. “Foxy Ned Hanlon, The Baseball Life of a Hall of Fame Manager.”
Like Weaver, Hanlon was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1996, but he managed the original Baltimore Orioles from 1892-1898.
Weaver loved the three-run homer while Hanlon adored small ball, the hit-and-run and the Baltimore chop.
Hanlon lived about 300 yards from my house. His home no longer exists and is now part of the Maryland Institute College of Art, and his funeral, attended by Connie Mack, was held at Corpus Christi Church about 200 yards away, which last week celebrated its final mass after 144 years.
There are two other baseball books, not Orioles specific, worth mentioning. “The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City,” by Kevin Baker is an outstanding history of baseball in New York from the 1800s-1945 and “Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose and The Last Glory Days of Baseball,” is the definitive story of the late, embattled star by Keith O’Brien.
Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: [email protected].