Baseball fans can catch a few games prior to Opening Day this Sunday at Camden Yards, but it won’t be the Orioles up to bat just yet.
(From Navy Athletics in Annapolis, Md.) — A multi-dimensional partnership between the Baltimore Orioles and Naval Academy Athletic Association was announced on Wednesday, February 28 that is highlighted by the March 25 Army-Navy doubleheader moving from Annapolis to Camden Yards and the return of the Major League Baseball to Max Bishop Stadium in 2019.
Originally scheduled to be contested in Annapolis at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium on Sunday, March 25, the 2018 Army-Navy doubleheader per the partnership announcement released in February will move the matchup to Camden Yards. Game one of the twinbill will start at 11 a.m. and be televised live on CBS Sports Network. The second contest that is scheduled to start approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game will be streamed on the Patriot League Network.
“Playing at Camden Yards will be a tremendous thrill for everyone involved with Navy baseball,” remarked Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. “The Orioles organization could not have been more gracious in offering both Navy and Army the opportunity to play at Camden Yards. The Naval Academy and the Orioles have had a long standing relationship, one that we are certainly proud to be a part of now and into the future.”
Tickets for the doubleheader will be $10 and allow all spectators general admission access to lower level seating. The proceeds from the event will go to both the Fisher House Foundation and the Naval Academy Athletic Association. The Fisher House Foundation hosts military and veterans families, while their loved ones are in the hospital. Tickets are on sale at www.orioles.com/navy now. Members of the military in uniform will receive free admission at the gates.
The games on Sunday, March 25 are the first two of five between the Mids and Black Knights in 2018 as the new Patriot League schedule has expanded annual series from one four-game set per weekend to five total games split over two weekends. The final three games of the 2018 Army-Navy series will be on the weekend of April 20-21. The game on April 20 will be hosted by the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
This will be the first Army-Navy regular season game to be played at a neutral site since the Mids hosted the Black Knights on April 23, 2006 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Playing in the home park of the Baltimore Orioles, the teams split a doubleheader with Army taking game one, 4-0 and Navy winning game two, 2-0.
All-time in the history of the Army-Navy series dating back to 1901, the Mids lead the Black Knights, 120-109.
The entire partnership between the Orioles and Naval Academy Athletic Association will also see the Orioles play a Major League Baseball exhibition game at Max Bishop Stadium in March of 2019, the Orioles host “Navy Day” at Camden Yards in August and invite the entire plebe class for its first off-campus outing since the beginning of plebe summer, as well as the Orioles host the Navy baseball team at the team’s spring training complex in Sarasota in future years.
