Dedicated to Promoting and Stimulating Interest in Baseball
******* Celebrating 60+ Years of Community Service *******
******* Celebrating 60+ Years of Community Service *******
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A LONG LONG TIME AGO...
Baltimoreans were enjoying the seventh season of the city's return to major league baseball when nine local businessmen envisioned a need for a volunteer organization that would promote the sport on both the professional and amateur levels. After several feasibility meetings, the group extended invitations to other area businessmen to join the organization. The first formal meeting of the baseball enthusiasts was held on July 9, 1960, at Memorial Stadium, and was attended by 25 individuals, including three officials of the Baltimore Orioles. That initial meeting was significant because two issues were decided that would remain an integral part of the organization for the next 40 years: "The Oriole Advocates" was adopted as the official name of the organization, and its purpose was established as "an organization of volunteers joined together to promote and stimulate an interest in baseball at all levels, among youths of all ages." From that innocuous beginning, the Advocates have continued to flourish for 60 plus years with members of diversified interests and occupations, but united by a common bond - a love of baseball. The first promotion staged by the Advocates was Camera Day, in 1961, which allowed fans to photograph their favorite Orioles' players on the infield of Memorial Stadium. The very popular event remained an annual fixture for the next decade. |
In the years that followed, there were many joint undertakings between the Advocates and the Orioles, including the Orioles Hall of Fame, started in 1976, Little league Clinics, and the Junior Orioles program. Introduced in 1962, the Junior Orioles program has evolved into the O's Dugout Club and had attracted over a quarter-million members age 16 or younger before further evolving to the evolving Kids Cheer Free program currently run by the Orioles. The longest-running cooperative effort between the two groups, however, is one of which most baseball fans are unaware. Every season the Orioles hold various pre-game promotions (giveaways) where fans receive premium items, including bats, balls, caps and mugs, when they enter the stadium. The men and women who distribute those items to fans are members of the Oriole Advocates. The Advocates were one of the main sponsors of the 1967 effort to the restore the Baltimore house where Babe Ruth was born and convert it into a museum. The house is now an established attraction and monument to "The Babe," attracting visitors from around the world, and the Advocates remain a major sponsor of the Babe Ruth Museum. In 1972, the Advocates made another unique contribution to local baseball in the form of a parade float. The specially decorated vehicle was made available to Little Leagues and communities for their parades, and often was the only motorized entry in a given parade. The Advocates received numerous awards, commendations, and letters of appreciation from grateful parade organizers for the float's appearance. |
A good description of the Oriole Advocates, as once noted by a sports writer, is that we are "a unique group of men and women from all walks of life joined by an unflinching love of baseball [who] may be the only organization of its kind in the world."
50th Anniversary
In 2010, the Oriole Advocates celebrated their 50th Anniversary! Dick Patterson, one of the original Oriole Advocate members, aptly described the group as this: "The Oriole Advocates are unique. No other major league team boasts such an active partner ready to help when needed."
Two Oriole Advocates visited the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in early June 2010 and presented Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson with a pin commemorating the organization's 50th anniversary. They chatted with Mr. Idelson about all the charitable work the Advocates have done over the past 50 years, especially the Cardboard to Leather program.
Two Oriole Advocates visited the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in early June 2010 and presented Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson with a pin commemorating the organization's 50th anniversary. They chatted with Mr. Idelson about all the charitable work the Advocates have done over the past 50 years, especially the Cardboard to Leather program.