Everyone came hoping for a Luke Scott T-shirt jersey. One fan left with a whole lot more.
Kevin Gracie, 24, of Ellicott City, won $50,000, season tickets for five years and a personalized Orioles jersey for being the 50 millionth fan to enter Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Tuesday.
Gracie entered the ballpark at 5:24 p.m. with friends who purchased tickets at the stadium. He carried a backpack to store his friends’ T-shirt jerseys that were given away before the Orioles’ 7-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox in front of a season-high crowd of 48,515.
Gracie, who has been attending Orioles games for more than two decades, began his second year as a law school student Wednesday at University of Baltimore.
“I don’t have any money, so until the Maryland Lottery gives me a check at the end of the week,” Gracie said, “I’m still figuring out how to pay for books for class.”
Gracie was given a white Orioles hat and a No. 50 jersey before he took questions from the media as he stood on the field’s grass behind home plate.
“I’ve always dreamed of having season tickets — they’d be great to have — but I’m obviously not in the financial spot to have it, up until today apparently,” Gracie said. “I’ll come to as many games as I can when I have time.”
The Orioles reached the 50 million mark in attendance at Camden Yards in just 17 seasons — the fastest of any major league park.
But it’s not the only milestone the Orioles will surpass this season.
The club is on the cusp of welcoming its 100 millionth fan since moving to Baltimore in 1954. Before Tuesday’s game, the club was 157,273 fans shy of reaching that mark.
With an average home attendance of about 26,000 fans per game, the Orioles could break the 100 million mark by Sunday’s game against the Yankees.
