Details about the Orioles exhibition game at Max Bishop Stadium will come after the '18 seasonGETTY IMAGES
The Orioles have signed a multiyear partnership with the U.S. Naval Academy that will "include playing a major league exhibition game at the academy’s Max Bishop Stadium" in March '19, according to Eduardo Encina of the BALTIMORE SUN. The team yesterday said that details of the game "will be announced" after the '18 season. Orioles manager Buck Showalter said, “That’s something that’s been in the works for a while. That’s exciting. That’s something that I know ownership has been talking about for a while and this year we were finally able to put it together." Encina notes the partnership comes "four months after news emerged that the Orioles took part in the termination" of the Nationals’ annual exhibition game played at the Naval Academy because it was "being played within Orioles’ territory" as designated by MLB. The Orioles’ partnership with the Academy "not only includes next year’s exhibition game, but Camden Yards will also host an Army-Navy doubleheader for charity on March 25" (BALTIMORE SUN, 3/1). In Baltimore, Amanda Yeager noted the Orioles also will "host the Naval Academy’s baseball team at their Sarasota facility for spring training in years to come." In August, the Orioles will "offer free tickets to more than 1,000 plebes for 'Navy Day,' which will mark their first off-campus outing after entering the academy." Navy AD Chet Gladchuk said that partnering with the MLB team "offers an educational experience for midshipmen." The school has other partnerships with the NHL and NBA (BIZJOURNALS.com, 2/28).
