Dedicated to Promoting and Stimulating Interest in Baseball
******* Celebrating 60+ Years of Community Service *******
******* Celebrating 60+ Years of Community Service *******
ORIOLES HALL of FAME
The Orioles Hall of Fame was conceived in 1977 by The Oriole Advocates at the suggestion of two past presidents, Allen Barrett and Jack Buckley. With the encouragement and cooperation of the Orioles, the Hall was created, with Brooks and Frank Robinson as the inaugural members. In 1989, a veterans committee was formed to reconsider those early Orioles who may have been overlooked by voters not familiar with their contributions to the Orioles. In 1995, the Herbert E. Armstrong* Award was established to honor non-uniformed personnel worthy of inclusion in the Orioles Hall of Fame.
The regular Hall of Fame Committee consists of a small group of media members and Advocates appointed by the current Advocate president. The committee creates a ballot containing the leading candidates for election to the Hall of Fame. Ballots are mailed to prominent media members, members of the Oriole Hall of Fame, members of the Oriole Front Office, selected |
Baltimore baseball figures and eligible Advocate members . The nominee receiving the most votes, but at least 60% of the votes cast, shall be elected to membership in the Hall of Fame.
Veteran inductees and Armstrong Award winners are selected by the Veterans Committee, made up of media members and Oriole Advocates who are familiar with the history of the club. Members of the Veterans Committee are appointed to ten-year terms. Plaques representing each member of the Orioles Hall of Fame can be found on a brick wall along Camden Yard's Eutaw Street walkway, behind the Eutaw Street Reserve (bleacher) sections. There is also an Orioles Hall of Fame exhibit at the Sports Legends at Camden Yards museum which features 9-foot tall display cases each showcasing several Orioles Hall of Fame members, with personal mementos from the players. |
* Following the destruction by fire of old Oriole Park on 29th Street (July 4, 1944), Orioles Business Manager Herb Armstrong achieved the miraculous feat of planning and supervising the conversion of Baltimore Municipal Stadium into a baseball park in the space of ten days! Despite the tragic disruption, the Orioles went on to win the International League pennant and the Junior World Series, breaking all Minor League attendance records, and outdrawing ten of the Major League clubs. That achievement opened the eyes of the Major League owners and paved the way for Baltimore’s eventual return to the Majors. For his accomplishments Herb was named the International League’s front office Executive of Year by the Sporting News. He retired from the Orioles at the age of eighty, but continued to be active for another ten years in many sports related organizations and activities, and as a consultant to the Orioles. He was a founding member and President of the Shrine of Immortals, President of the Maryland Sports Hall of Fame, President of the Maryland Scholastic Association, one of the founders of the Greater Baltimore Chapter of the National Football Foundation, founder and long-time secretary of the Maryland Professional Baseball Players Association, and active in the leadership of many other civic and social organizations. Over his long span of service he was the recipient of more awards, tributes, and recognitions than probably any other person in the State of Maryland before or since. In high demand as a speaker, he was invariably introduced as “Maryland’s most beloved and highly respected sports figure.” The Sports Medicine Department of Baltimore’s Union Memorial Hospital was dedicated to his memory, and two significant awards are given each year in honor: the Herbert E. Armstrong Award for outstanding service to high school or college football, given by the Great Baltimore Chapter of the National Football Foundation; and the Herbert Armstrong Award for outstanding service to baseball, given to a non-uniformed person by the Baltimore Orioles Advocates. (From Minding What Matters)