Brooks Robinson and the Baltimore Orioles

[BaltOrioles]

In 1992, an alternate to the programs sold at Camden Yards emerged. The programs were sold outside the stadium and eventually through a yearly magazine subscription. I started collecting them one issue too late and have all the programs printed, except issue #1. I have never seen it, but haven't given up hope of finding one. They lasted from 1992 until their last program in the beginning of 2010. The number of issues each year varied, but there are 192 different. The program was initially called GameDay, but in 1994 was renamed Outside Pitch. The publication's quality improved over the years.

Here is the Vol 1 No 2 issue along with their last issue Vol. 19 No 1.

1992 Gameday (Vol 1 No 2).jpg

2010 Outside Pitch (Vol 19 No 1).jpg

In 1998, Outside Pitch added a cool twist with their programs. From 1998-2004, they printed sets of what they called stat cards. They were distributed with the programs at the stadium and offered as promos to encourage subscriptions. The cards are 5.5" x 8.5" and the fronts varied a little over the years.

1999 Outside Pitch Subscription Thank You Letter.jpg

Here are examples from 1998-2004. In 2002 and 2003, Outside Pitch highlighted former O's players and included a card of Brooks Robinson in the 2002 set.

1998 Outside Pitch (C.RipkenNYY).jpg 1999 Outside Pitch (Mussina,Anderson,RipkenPHIL).jpg

2000 Outside Pitch (C.RipkenANA).jpg 2001 Outside Pitch #3 (C.RipkenCareer).jpg

2002 Outside Pitch #1 (B.RobinsonANA).jpg 2003 Outside Pitch #9 (E.Murray).jpg

2004 Outside Pitch #1 (M.TejadaBOS).jpg

On the backs of the cards were printed the current stats of the teams playing in the series. A few have blank backs and were probably used as the subscription gifts.

SCAN8127.jpg

I have 69 out of the 71 cards I know of. I'm sure there are other back variations out there. I'm also missing card #3 from the 2004 set. Here are the known cards and stat back variations from my research. Additions to the list are welcome.

SCAN8128.JPG SCAN8129.JPG