Baltimore Orioles tap drag queen as Guest Splasher in kid-friendly Bird Bath zone for Pride Night
If MLB fans thought the San Francisco Giants Pride Night controversy was messy, the Baltimore Orioles had a message for them this week.
Hold our beer.
The Orioles announced that Heidi N Closet, a drag queen best known from "RuPaul's Drag Race," will serve as the Guest Splasher in the Tower Federal Credit Union Bird Bath during the bottom of the second inning for Friday's Pride Night at Camden Yards.
Yes, a drag queen. As the "Guest Splasher." At a Major League Baseball game.
The Bird Bath is the Orioles' popular splash zone in left field, where fans get sprayed with water by Mr. Splash after extra-base hits. The team tells fans in Sections 84 and 86 to "be alert and ready at all times" because "Mr. Splash might be sending water your way."
To be clear, the Bird Bath isn't exclusively for children.
Fans of all ages can buy tickets there, and Mr. Splash has become one of the more recognizable attractions at Camden Yards.
But let's not act like this is some adults-only corner of the ballpark, either.
It's a water-splash attraction at a baseball game. Kids like being splashed by water. Kids like silly ballpark gimmicks. Pretty easy math.
The section also sits directly next to the Orioles' Under Armour Kids Home Run Porch, which the team markets as "the ultimate gameday destination for kids and their families." That area covers Sections 76-82, and kids must be 12 and under and accompanied by an adult.
So, technically, the Orioles aren't putting a drag queen in the kids section.
They are putting a drag queen in one of the ballpark's biggest kid-friendly attractions, right next to the actual kids-only home run porch, during Pride Night.
This is not satire.
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"I'm frankly indifferent on most of these political topics, but isn't the splash zone area for kids?" one X user wrote. "Like this is kinda weird even for centrist, independents, or even slightly left leaning folks right?"
Yes, it is.
One user sarcastically asked whether children would even be allowed at Friday's game, suggesting a drag queen is adults-only entertainment. Another user declared that the Orioles are about to have their "Bud Light moment." Still another wrote, "This is nothing more than activism, all the while ignoring the fact that preferential treatment is ALWAYS divisive."
And this is the predictable problem for the Orioles.
This isn't some impossible-to-see-coming controversy. Some MLB teams hold Pride Nights every year. That's not new. The Orioles are giving away Pride Night jerseys to 15,000 fans Friday night for the game against the Washington Nationals, and the team's official Pride Night page lists pregame music, photo ops, face painters, friendship bracelet making, Pride decorations, Pride merchandise, rainbow candied popcorn and a Pride-themed cocktail.
That's the team's choice.
But choosing a drag queen to lead the Bird Bath, a fan attraction built around spraying water on people in a left-field area tied directly to kids and families, adds a layer that makes the Orioles unique among MLB teams. And they are quite proud of this, by the way.
The team has been pushing the event from its main social media accounts, including the Heidi N Closet Guest Splasher announcement and a separate Pride-themed wallpaper post that read, "Baseball is for everyone" and told fans, "See you at The Yard this Friday for Pride Night!"
The team also promoted free roundtrip MARC Camden Line train tickets for Pride Night, telling fans that rides would be free beginning at 3:30 p.m. and that an extra train would depart 30 minutes after the game.
The graphic included a Pride-colored Orioles logo and told fans to "hop on and arrive right at The Yard for Pride Night."
The team is not being subtle. The Orioles are promoting Pride Night across multiple posts, with giveaways, transit help and a drag queen guest splasher as part of the larger push to get as many people to the ballpark for this specific game as possible.
And it comes at a particularly combustible time for Major League Baseball.
Earlier this month, the San Francisco Giants became the center of a national Pride Night debate after several pitchers wrote Bible verses on Pride-themed caps. MLB issued an oral warning under its uniform policy, and the Department of Justice later opened an investigation into whether the league discriminated against the players on religious grounds.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred later said the players weren't fined or disciplined and said the Giants failed to properly communicate that players could opt out of wearing the Pride caps.
So baseball was already dealing with one Pride Night PR nightmare.
Now, the Orioles may have added another one.
This one is more straightforward. Fans aren't debating uniform rules or religious accommodation. They're asking why the Orioles think it's a good idea to put a drag queen in charge of spraying fans in a kid-friendly section of the ballpark, right next to an official kids-only area.
The Orioles wanted a Pride Night splash.
They got one.
Just maybe not the kind they expected.