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 grew to its present size of approximately 100 men and women, representing
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 has attracted over a quarter-million members age 16 or
younger, the majority of whom have remained Orioles fans as adults.
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The
longest-running cooperative effort between the two groups, however, is
one of which most baseball fans are unaware. Each season the Orioles
hold various pre-game promotions 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.
Since
1972, the Advocates have supported amateur baseball through a unique
program under which sports equipment is donated to needy groups and
organized leagues. Through 1984 the program has furnished approximately
$90,000 in equipment to such organizations.
Also
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.
Another contribution to local baseball by the organization is sponsorship of the complex at Essex Community College, which
is recognized as one of the finest amateur baseball parks in the State.
A
sports writer once described the Advocates thus: "a unique group of men
and women from all walks of life joined by an unflinching love of
baseball, the Oriole Advocates may be the only organization of its kind
in the world." A more meaningful tribute is the fact that of the nine
charter members, six were active 25 years later, with the remaining
three deceased. That is a clear indication of the camaraderie and
stability of the organization as well as a declaration to the
popularity of baseball.
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