The Oriole Advocates' Home Run - the race that used to end on the warning track at Camden Yards - is returning for 2021 as a virtual event. From the late 1980s through 2008, runners participated in the race, which was tied to opening day. Fields numbered from 400 to more than 1,000 athletes. One race even began at Memorial Stadium and ended at Camden Yards. However, conducting road races in race-crazy Baltimore became pricey and increased competition spelled the end of the Home Run. "The...

If you're coming to Sunday's game between the Orioles and Indians, how about bringing along a new or gently used piece of baseball equipment for the Oriole Advocates' annual Cardboard to Leather collection. Members of the Advocates will be at all gates to collect bats, balls, gloves, bases, uniforms and other equipment for distribution to youth players in underserved areas who otherwise wouldn't have new gear. If you don't have any equipment, don't worry - financial donations are always...

Remember last July when the Oriole Advocates collected new and gently used baseball and softball equipment at Camden Yards as part of their Cardboard to Leather campaign? Well, the bats, balls, gloves, jerseys and other gear collected has been given a second life in Puerto Rico, where kids who otherwise wouldn't get such equipment are now wearing and using it in games. Back in November, the Advocates sent 20,000 items via shipping container to Puerto Rico, where former Orioles outfielder Benny...

Rwanda is a small nation in east central Africa, dominated by rainy seasons that drench mountains to the west and savannas to the east. Green bananas are a mainstay of the country's agricultural commerce, occupying more than a third of its farmland. Other exported crops include potatoes, wheat, maize and coffee. But if 11-year-old Jack Fones has his way, baseball will soon be introduced to the African country where activities like soccer, cross-country mountain biking and basketball are the...

It's time to clean out your closets, dig into the corners of the garage and check your depository of old sports equipment for usable baseball gear that can be repurposed to new owners. The Oriole Advocates will hold their annual Cardboard to Leather collection before Sunday's Angels-Orioles game and until the second inning at all Camden Yards gates. Cardboard to Leather is one of the Advocates' signature programs, a means of collecting and distributing new or gently used baseball equipment...

If you're a little late on your spring cleaning, or if you're ready to thin out the baseball and softball equipment you've accumulated now that the youth seasons have ended, the Oriole Advocates have a great way for you to help those less fortunate enjoy a game we often take for granted. The Advocates have scheduled their annual Cardboard to Leather collection for Sunday, Sept. 4 before the Orioles entertain the New York Yankees. Legg Mason sponsors this worthy event, one of the important...

What do you do with a pair of shoes when you're done with them? Maybe you literally walk a hole in them, and they're bound for the waste basket. Perhaps they're re-soled and recycled, or even turned into family hand-me-downs. Maybe there's still some tread left, and you donate them to your favorite charity so someone without proper footwear can benefit from them. But I'll bet you've never considered turning those worn-out shoes into a makeshift baseball glove. In many poorer countries, a...

On Saturday, Aug. 30, the Oriole Advocates will conduct their 2014 Cardboard to Leather collection at Camden Yards, presented by Legg Mason. The Oriole Advocates created the program in 1992 to provide new and used baseball and softball equipment to underprivileged youth in developing countries. Since the program started, the Oriole Advocates have distributed tons of equipment to youth baseball players throughout the world in places such as Afghanistan, Aruba, Belgrade, Belize, Cuba, the...

It's almost fall cleaning time, and the Oriole Advocates are hoping you'll get an early start on your tidying up, helping them and some faraway kids in the process. Sunday's Orioles game against the White Sox marks the annual Cardboard to Leather collection at Camden Yards. Members of the advocates will be stationed at the turnstiles to collect your gently used but usable baseball and softball equipment. So if you've got a spare ball, bat, glove or base collecting dust in a closet, feel...

It's been more than 30 years since the 1979 World Series, a slice of Orioles history that represents both the best and worst for Kiko Garcia, the shortstop on the team that lost a three games to one series lead to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Now 58, Garcia recently made his first trip to Baltimore since the final game at Memorial Stadium in 1991, and got his first in-person look at Camden Yards. Speaking following the Orioles Advocates Hall of Fame Luncheon last week, where he feted former...

The 16 teams that gathered on baseball diamonds in Thurmont, Md., last weekend for a baseball jamboree didn't focus on wins and losses, batting averages and ERAs. They were more attuned to the game's basic tenets - hitting a pitched ball, fielding and throwing, running the bases. When a physical or developmental disability makes it more difficult to play the game you love, you tend to focus on the little things - and like the saying goes, the little things often mean the most. Since 1991,...

Any day now, a ship will chug into a port in Puerto Rico and a 40-foot container will be unloaded. Inside are items that will change the lives of kids who don't have the rudimentary basics to play baseball - balls, bats and gloves - that youths in the United States take for granted. Later this month, the scene will be repeated in Nicaragua. Last summer, another delivery was made to Mexico. Under the auspices of the Cardboard to Leather program started by the Oriole Advocates in 1992, generous...

Root around in your closet, poke down to the bottom of the equipment bag, check out the trunk of your family car. Think of anywhere where you might have some wayward baseball equipment - bats, balls, gloves, uniforms, etc - because some kid far away might be able to use the gear that you no longer need. Saturday marks the annual Cardboard to Leather collection at Camden Yards, when the Orioles and Oriole Advocates accept donations of new or gently used baseball and softball equipment. The...

It's not too late to purchase a ticket for the Aug. 12 Oriole Advocates Hall of Fame luncheon. Former Orioles shortstop Mike Bordick and longtime head athletic trainer Richie Bancells will be honored at the event, which begins at noon on the sixth floor of the B&O Warehouse at Camden Yards. Bordick, who compiled the highest fielding percentage by a shortstop in club history during his six seasons, will be the 49th inductee into the Orioles Hall of Fame. Bancells, in his 35th season with the...