10 of 17 home games planned on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays
The Baltimore Orioles have announced that their 2019 Grapefruit League schedule will open on Saturday, Feb. 23, with a home game at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota against the Minnesota Twins.
The club’s Grapefruit League season next year, which will feature 17 home dates, will conclude with a home game on Monday, March 25, against the New York Mets, a news release notes.
Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report on Wednesday, Feb.13, while the full-squad report date is set for Monday, Feb. 18.
The 2019 season will mark the Orioles’ 10th consecutive Spring Training season in Sarasota and the club’s ninth at the renovated Ed Smith Stadium, the release points out.
The Orioles will face nine different Major League opponents during the club’s home schedule, the release adds. The Orioles will play the Minnesota Twins four times at Ed Smith Stadium, and they will play the Boston Red Sox, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Tampa Bay Rays, the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees twice each. The Orioles also will square off against the Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Phillies, along with the Mets, at home.
Ten of the club’s 17 home games will fall on a Friday, Saturdayor Sunday, the release points out. Following Sunday home games, all children between the ages of 4 and 14 will be able to participate in a postgame Kids Run the Bases, the release adds.
The Orioles will play 16 road games during the 2019 Spring Training season: three trips to visit the Twins; two trips to take on the Blue Jays, Phillies, Pirates, Rays, Red Sox and Yankees; and one trip to battle the Tigers, the release says.
“In the nine years since the Orioles moved Major League Spring Training to Sarasota, more than 988,000 fans have enjoyed Orioles games at Ed Smith Stadium,” the release notes. “An independent analysis commissioned by Sarasota County Government concluded that the Orioles generate approximately $97 million in annual economic impact back to taxpayers and residents,” the release adds. By marketing Sarasota to fans in the Mid-Atlantic region, operating a year-round athletic training facility, producing entertainment and sporting events, partnering with charitable causes, and hosting and often subsidizing youth sports tournaments and activities, “the Orioles demonstrate an abiding commitment to their Florida home that goes far beyond baseball,” the release points out.
For more information, visit www.orioles.com/Sarasota.