Scenes From an Interview

The Baltimore Orioles Build a Year-Round Nest in Sarasota

By Gus Mollasis

A ball,

A glove.

Two people who care about each other.

A father. A son. A daughter. A couple of friends.

We each have our own cherished memory of a game of catch. 

Tossing a baseball to each other.

That’s how it usually starts.

This love affair with the game.

That’s passed on as time goes by.

More than any other sport, baseball is passed on from generation to generation.

Memories build that special bond between parents and their children, and grandparents and grandchildren.

Children of yesteryear listening to the game with the radio tucked under their pillow. Listening to a spring training broadcast from sunny Florida as you stare at your car covered with four inches of snow in your driveway up North. Catching a game on the tube with friends and family as your team finally clinches the pennant. Going to the ballpark as a family, counting the moments before you eat your first hot dog at the park. 

It is a rite of passage that feels so darn right. This passing of the torch of our national pastime to people we care about. Nostalgic. Heartfelt. And always thoughts of home. Baseball has always been about home, and baseball has always been about family. Maybe that’s why baseball has a home plate.

Those were the thoughts that danced through my mind as I stared at the pristine home plate on our “Field of Dreams” – Ed Smith Stadium, spring training home to the Baltimore Orioles. 

Standing next to me as I got lost in my thoughts looking out at the luscious green of the field was Vice President of Orioles-Sarasota, David Rovine.

“Do you ever take this for granted?” I asked the man who is fact from Baltimore, and who as a kid was an Orioles fan. 

Smiling widely he said, “No I never get tired of this. I never take it for granted. Isn’t it beautiful?”

“This has to be your dream job,” I asked – me, the guy from Detroit who grew up worshipping another kid from Baltimore, the great Detroit Tiger Al Kaline. 

“It is. For this stage of my career it is definitely a dream job.” A dream job helping run a key component of an iconic baseball franchise with such a rich history. 

Rovine shares that the building is 200,000 square feet on a 36-acre campus, including five baseball fields and a baseball operations center. The players practice on the back fields and one is a synthetic field. The minor leaguers practice at Twin Lakes, which Orioles Sarasota also runs.

My generous tour continues around the ballpark and includes a stop into a luxury suite adorned with significant Orioles memorabilia and historic moments captured in photographs. The view is stunning. To me, there are few things in life that are as beautiful as a well-cared-for baseball field. And this field is immaculate. I stare at it again. Lost in its splendor. Its majesty.

Almost reflexively, I blurt out, “When I’m having a tough day, can I come by and just look at the field?” Smiling with understanding, the elegant gentleman from Baltimore obliges. “Sure, just give me a call.” 

I smile like a kid who was just promised World Series tickets.

No tour would be complete without viewing the acknowledgments of the retired Oriole numbers that adorn a special place behind home plate next to Jackie Robinson’s revered number 42, which is retired and hangs in every Major League ballpark. 

These hallowed numbers represent the rich history of the Baltimore Orioles family throughout the years – 20, 5, 4, 22, 33 and 8.

Together we rattle off the Hall of Fame names starting with Frank Robinson’s number 20 representing the powerful Oriole slugger who recently passed away.

“The great Frank Robinson. Still the only player to win the MVP in both leagues,” says Rovine.

 “He was something else. He and Brooks (Robinson; #5), the two Robinsons, wrecked many days for my dad and me over the years.” Rovine smiles and finishes the rest of the list. 

“Number 4 is Earl Weaver, number 22 is Jim Palmer, number 33 is Eddie Murray, and of course number 8 is Cal Ripken.”

They are magical numbers. Revered numbers. Numbers that represent history, and the Orioles family. But they are only part of the story here in Sarasota.

The numbers David Rovine wants to turn to now represent the future.

There were other major league teams that have called Sarasota home. The Chicago White Sox was one of these teams, and they were here when Michael Jordan made his attempt to play in the Majors. A media circus followed the superstar basketball player’s pursuit of his baseball dreams. The Cincinnati Reds played here from 1998-2009. 

The Baltimore Orioles are in their second stint here, having first played spring training games in 1991. Now, they are dedicated to making Sarasota home, not only as their winter and spring training nest, but most importantly, as a place that serves the community year-round.

“This is our tenth year of Major League Baseball in Sarasota and this season we will welcome our one millionth fan to Ed Smith Stadium,” Rovine shares with great pride.

On that special day, the Baltimore Orioles will select a fan at random to receive a $5,000 shopping experience at Diamond Vault, two Spring Training season tickets for five years, as well as many other goodies. 

With the first-class renovation complete, and a solid commitment that will assure that Sarasota will be home to the Orioles for at least another 19 years, our conversation turns to the Orioles’ place in our community. 

“We are committed to Sarasota and to supporting our community all year long,” Rovine states. “People have accepted the Orioles and I’m proud of that. Other teams played here and we asked ourselves what was going to make us part of the community. I think it is being a good business partner as well as a good neighbor, and you become a good neighbor by giving back to the community in your support of nonprofits and charities. The fact that we partner with the Sarasota Orchestra to do a performance, as well as the West Coast Black Theatre Troupe, is proof of our commitment. And we also do a lot of free family-friendly activities that include Spring Fest.”

Rovine shared that the goal from day one was to have the Baltimore Orioles become synonymous with Sarasota. It is very much a desire of ownership to keep this a year-round operation. Many spring training clubs tend to leave at the end of spring training and they let the county or municipality manage the facility. Not here. There is Oriole staff here year-round driving all the activities occurring throughout the year. These activities include the Gulf Coast League and Instructional League Baseball that are free to the public.

Emphasizing their presence in Sarasota County goes well beyond baseball and Spring Training. Rovine points out a commitment that includes year-round philanthropic “OriolesREACH” initiatives that embrace youth activities, charitable causes and civic priorities.

During a typical spring training game, the Orioles honor members of the extended Orioles community who have distinguished themselves by selflessly working or volunteering in fields that care for, serve, teach, protect, and improve the lives of others.

But it is outside the base paths and into the schools where the Orioles go to reach the children and provide important mentoring to middle schoolers in Sarasota County. 

To talk about how the Orioles impact kids and healthy lifestyles, Jennifer Grondahl, the Orioles Sarasota Director of Corporate and Community Partnerships, joins in the conversation.

“Our partnership with Sarasota County Schools teaches students about the importance of physical fitness, healthy eating, and tobacco-free living,” says Grondahl.

The Orioles Health and Fitness Challenge is a five-week program that exposes more than 4,500 students in grades six through eight to join in a variety of health and fitness activities led by Sarasota County Physical Education teachers.

“The Challenge focuses and emphasizes healthy tobacco-free living that includes better nutrition. We’re really proud of this program, which is part of the school curriculum, that helps children make the proper food choice, such as choosing an apple over chips.”

Each participating student is eligible for two free tickets to the Orioles Spring Training game and receives a voucher for $20 in food and beverage from the Orioles Healthy Fit Grill.

“To be able to bring kids and teach them that even in a ballpark setting you can make healthy choices like grilled chicken sandwiches, yogurt and a salad is rewarding. Our philosophy is to eat, live and train like the pros,” says Grondahl.

But don’t worry, there are still hot dogs.

“When Sarasota Orchestra was here for a concert, we fretted what to serve these folks. Wine and Cheese? No. They all wanted hot dogs,” Rovine adds with a grin.

Just as their many healthy choices of things to eat and drink at the ballpark, there are just as many things to do at the ballpark all throughout the year.

Other noteworthy events include “Arts in the Ballpark,” a variety of family-friendly arts and entertainment events for the public at Ed Smith Stadium, and “Athletes & Artists Play for Kids,” a weekend of song and sport to support arts education and girls’ empowerment. The weekend features the fourth annual “Nashville’s Music Row Comes to the Ballpark” charity benefit, two Orioles home games, artist workshops and health and wellness sessions for local youth, and an on-field performance from Country music rising superstar and 11-time number one singer/songwriter, Cole Swindell. The benefit is Saturday, March 2 at 7:00 p.m. 

Since its inception, “Nashville Comes to the Ballpark” has raised more than $250,000 for Nashville and Sarasota Charities including Music Health Alliance, Girls Inc., Library Foundation of Sarasota County, Sarasota Academy of the Arts and the YMCA Foundation of Sarasota.

These are just some of the many examples of how the Baltimore Orioles family is committed to helping Sarasota families and organizations. “We’re extremely proud that we are a year-round organization,” Grondahl shared. 

“People know us for spring training, but we’re doing things all summer long. Once the ballplayers are up in Baltimore, we have clinics with hundreds and hundreds of children with our major league players who are in rehab or minor leaguers teaching them the fundamentals of baseball.”

“We bring the kids here and they get a tee-shirt and hat and they spilt up in groups on the back fields. Our players are teaching them how to hit, throw, catch and run the bases. And of course the Oriole Bird mascot is out there. It’s really cool.” 

Grondahl says that the Orioles hope to be here and call Sarasota home forever. Everyone that works there is from the Sarasota area. To Grondahl, that demonstrates the organization’s commitment to the community. “We all want to be here and we love the Orioles and we love Sarasota.” 

Owner John Angelos comes to Sarasota regularly and was integral to the Orioles moving to Sarasota from Fort Lauderdale. “You can see him around Sarasota having dinner and interacting with the community,” says Rovine.

For Rovine, his personal feelings about baseball are the same as so many have expressed to him. “As a Baltimore kid, I watched them growing up. One of the things that baseball is, is a family experience. Almost everybody that loves baseball was taken by a parent or grandparent. There’s this communal feeling when you’re sitting there.”

“When my brother and I would get into battles growing up, my mother would say, David, you go to the ballpark with your father so you can work this out. There is something about looking at the grass, just like you talked about, that gives you a peaceful feeling and allows you to relax and put things in perspective. To come to this stage of my career after having traveled all around and to work for my boyhood baseball team is really a dream come true.” 

Rovine finds the opportunity to partner with groups in the community unique given the iconic Baltimore Orioles brand. “We have stars in the clubhouse who want to go out on those fields. When I see them interact with these kids, not only are they introducing something that is simple, nice and wholesome such as baseball to these kids, but they are also reinvigorating the love that they have for the game.”

For Grondahl, who has experienced her share of special moments with local kids and the players, she has a favorite moment. “We had kids from Oak Park school here for our health and fitness program and for our clinic. It’s a school attended by children who are physically and developmentally disabled. One of our players, Pedro Araujo, who had already made his major league debut, was there rehabbing. While he was here, this little boy with Down syndrome was playing catcher and Pedro was the catcher for the pitcher. The little boy went right next to Pedro and got down next to Pedro. And to just see them together was so special. I sent Pedro the picture and he said that’s what it’s all about.” 

That is what it is all about. This game called baseball. A ball. A bat. A glove. A kid. A hero. And a simple game of catch.

As simple and sublime as a perfectly manicured baseball diamond in the heart of Sarasota on a spring day. A place the Orioles call home for a couple of months a year while making a difference year-round. By reaching out. Making a pitch. And by providing a field of dreams for the whole community to enjoy.