This year, for the second summer in a row, the Baltimore Orioles will host a Jewish Heritage Night at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The 2026 edition of the special night comes on Tuesday, with the stands forecasted to be packed with folks in kippot, wearing tzitzit, and enjoying some O’s baseball.

Mark Fine is a Baltimore Jew who serves as hief marketing officer for the Orioles. He said that last year’s first Jewish Heritage Night was created as a way to honor a part of the local community that plays an integral role in Baltimore’s continued success, and also, of course, loves the O’s.

“This is a large community in the Baltimore area, one which I am a part of, that we didn’t have a specific recognizable night for in the past,” Fine said. “We felt that this could be a good community to recognize and celebrate, so it came about in the offseason leading into the 2025 season and we had a really good first year.”

This year’s edition comes much earlier than last year’s Jewish Heritage Night, which was held in August. For the 2026 game against the Tampa Bay Rays, something particularly special is happening — 101 year old Holocaust survivor, World War II veteran and 2025 Baltimore Jewish Hall of Fame inductee Ralph Brunn will be throwing out the first pitch.
“We’re going to tell his story, which is just unbelievable,” Fine said.

Also new at the ballpark this year that will help boost the environment on Jewish Heritage Night is the Orioles’ kosher stand, opened this spring. The concession stand is Star-K certified with items like hot dogs, hot pastrami sandwiches on rye, soft pretzels, potato knishes, chicken nuggets and chocolate chip cookies.

Mostly, the night is a chance for the Baltimore Jewish community to get together and hang out with each other. Fine said that the environment last year was one of familiarity and fun.

“It’s a very tight-knit community where everybody knows each other, and it was fun, we were all kind of sitting on the third base left field side, and it was just fun to gab with each other and meet up and watch an Orioles game at the same time,” he said of the 2025 Jewish Heritage Night.

When the team announced the special promotional night last year, tickets started selling immediately. Jewish Heritage Night is open to anyone, although there is a special package that gets you the annual giveaway item, which was a hat last year and a jersey this year.

A sobering reality of Jewish Heritage Night is that, unfortunately, like any gathering of Jews, there has to be lots of security measures taken.

“We’ll have enhanced security for this night,” Fine said.

While the ADL reports that antisemitic incidents are up around the country, the outside societal context didn’t play a role in the club’s decision to host a Jewish Heritage Night.

Other teams have held Jewish Heritage Nights for years before the Oct. 7 massacre and subsequent war, and the Orioles didn’t plan the event as a response to what is happening outside of Camden Yards. That doesn’t mean, however, that those outside factors are ignored.

“We have worked with The Associated on messaging around combatting antisemitism … last year we ran messaging with the Blue Box,” Fine said. “Ultimately, why we decided to do this night was because this was something that was being asked for, and we thought it would be really fun and we took advantage.”

The team also has an Asian American and Pacific Islander Night, Hispanic Heritage Night, Greek Heritage Night, Japanese Heritage Night, Christian Faith Night and Italian Heritage Night.

“We’re trying to be a place that congregates all of Baltimore and Maryland in an inclusive and celebratory way,” Fine said.

Fine said that, on Tuesday, he’ll be roaming around Camden Yards saying “hi” to friends new and old. He’s excited as a member of the Orioles, but he’s also excited as a Jew.
“It’s a wonderful community to be part of. It’s a wonderful organization to be part of, and it’s just going to be fun to hang out with friends and see them here, and I’m excited about that. I’m excited about the night. I’ve heard only great feedback, and I’m thrilled and excited for Tuesday night,” he said.

aguckes@midatlanticmedia.com