Manny Machado's Return Brings Strong Crowd To Camden Yards

Padres 3B Manny Machado returned to Baltimore last night for the first time as a visiting player, and he "received a roaring, 40-second ovation from the crowd of 21,644, nearly double the average Tuesday night draw" at Camden Yards this season. The crowd was "relatively large" by '19 Orioles standards, as the club " owns baseball's worst record at 22-57 and ranks 28th out of 30 teams in attendance, with an average of 16,758 fans per game" (ESPN.com, 6/26). The crowd was "dotted with fans in orange-and-white No. 13 Machado jerseys and T-shirts" (WASHINGTON POST, 6/26). Fans "continued to cheer each time he came to the plate" in the Orioles' 8-3 loss. Machado was also "greeted by a 'Welcome Home Manny' message on the scoreboard" (BALTIMORE SUN, 6/26). Fans "came early and they brought signs" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/26).