This season, Oriole Park got ready for its Marvel Night and a Cal Ripken Jr. bobblehead giveaway on June 28. A perfect day for the “Iron Man” of baseball, who hit 431 home runs, for whom fans used to roar in the stands. But this evening was the exact reverse of what the Baltimore Orioles expected.
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The unique collectible was intended for the first 20,000 fans, along with themed activities like Marvel trivia and pregame festivities featuring Cal Ripken Jr. Still, it didn’t look like the stadium was completely full. And the Orioles’ management pulled a price strategy that made things worse.
Baseball enthusiasts are surprised, but also furious. One Orioles fan, Kenny Zurawski, called out the team’s ownership on X. The caption read, “Half empty stadium for one of the biggest giveaways of the year that was pushed by all the media everyday from news, radio, tv and still couldn’t fill up the stadium way to go @Orioles & @OriolesPR with this garbage dynamic pricing upping the price of tickets 80% you deserve it.”
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Half empty stadium for one of the biggest giveaways of the year that was pushed by all the media everyday from news , radio , tv and still couldn’t fill up the stadium way to go @Orioles & @OriolesPR with this garbage dynamic pricing upping the price of tickets 80% you deserve it pic.twitter.com/Qc17Mnb9Z5
— kenny z (@kenzurawski20) June 28, 2025
He uploaded a picture of a regular ticket that costs $25.20 ($19 base price plus $6.20 fees). And just three rows behind, it costs $63.30 ($50 base price plus $13.30 fees). That’s a 151% rise, which is a stark example of how dynamic pricing drove up the value by 80–150% in just less than 2 hours, making fans angry when freebie night didn’t even fill the stadium.
Zurawski was not the only one who criticized the Orioles’ bobblehead night.
There was another harsh tweet from PigTownSports, managed by a sports content creator, formerly a minor league player for the Marlins and Orioles. “This is a really embarrassing turn out for a huge give away. Stadium should be full, and there’s so many empty seats.”
Not only on the Bobblehead, but the Orioles have had an average of 23,749 fans at their 29 home games this season. And it’s about 8% less than they had a year ago. This puts them in the bottom third of the league in terms of attendance.
And it’s not that fans are not willing to pay; they can, but the Orioles’ on-field performance hasn’t convinced them enough.
Orioles’ 2025 woes hit on and off the field
In 2025, the Baltimore Orioles got off to a bad start, going 15–29 and firing longtime manager Brandon Hyde. Tony Mansolino took over as interim manager. Still, the team’s early struggles showed that there were bigger problems. The pitching staff had one of the worst ERAs in MLB (5.76), and the offense was behind in scoring and on-base percentage.
Even while there were times when it looked like it would work, it never did. A 6–0 shutout of the Rangers, thanks to Jackson Holliday’s home run and Trevor Rogers’ strong pitching, was a highlight. But there were more bad times than good, like a 24–2 blowout loss to Cincinnati and an embarrassing 11–3 loss to Tampa Bay, in which starter Zach Eflin gave up four runs in one inning before leaving the game because of an injury.
Baltimore’s offense hasn’t been up to the mark, as well. They are at the bottom in OPS and runs scored. Their team batting average is approximately .226, and their OPS is .681, representing a significant decline from their performance in 2024. Even with talented players like Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson, the squad hasn’t been able to deliver consistently.
Right now, their overall record stands at 35–47. And things aren’t looking really bright there. Think there is a way out?
Written by
Edited by
Ahana Chatterjee