The Baltimore Orioles Wore Braille Uniforms, Gave Away Braille Alphabet Cards for Awesome Promotion

Hannah Abrams

Now that it’s happened, we can’t believe it’s taken this long. In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the National Federation of the Blind moving its headquarters to Baltimore, the Orioles created uniforms with Braille lettering.

According to the Washington Post, the Orioles wore the uniforms in a game against the Blue Jays, and Braille was used to spell “Orioles” on the front and the players’ names on the back, too. Each fan in attendance at the game also received Braille alphabet cards.

The Orioles also invited Carlos Ibay, a blind concert pianist, to sing the national anthem before the game.

“It really means a lot that the Baltimore Orioles are acknowledging [the anniversary], and not just in a way that says, ‘It’s nice to have you,’ but in a real way that’s authentic to blind people, by including Braille, which is the means that blind people use for literacy all across the world,” said Mark Riccobono, president for the National Federation for the Blind.

“We enjoy visiting the parks,” said Chris Danielsen, the National Federation for the Blind’s director of public relations, according to the Washington Post. “For a totally blind person like myself, there are different things to enjoy about the ballpark other than the visuals of it. Of course, it’s important that baseball and all sports were broadcast on radio before they were broadcast on television, and both blind and sighted fans have always enjoyed baseball games on the radio when they could not come to the ballpark.”

While the Orioles lost the game, the uniforms were still a huge success, and the positives keep on coming. The team plans to auction off the jerseys with the proceeds going to the federation. And one jersey will go straight to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

We think this whole event campaign was an amazing idea, and we think more promotional apparel items should include Braille.

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