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Baltimore Orioles: Wear special hats for the first game

By Kristen Bentley|
SARASOTA, FL - FEBRUARY 23: Anthony Santander #25 and Luis Sardinas #3 of the Baltimore Orioles pause for a moment of silence to honor the 17 people killed during a mass shooting earlier this month at Stoneman Douglas High School prior to a Grapefruit League spring training game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Ed Smith Stadium on February 23, 2018 in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
SARASOTA, FL - FEBRUARY 23: Anthony Santander #25 and Luis Sardinas #3 of the Baltimore Orioles pause for a moment of silence to honor the 17 people killed during a mass shooting earlier this month at Stoneman Douglas High School prior to a Grapefruit League spring training game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Ed Smith Stadium on February 23, 2018 in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

The Baltimore Orioles and the rest of the MLB wore special hats for the first game of spring training.

As a way to honor the victims and survivors of the shooting in Parkland, Florida, the Baltimore Orioles and all of the MLB wore Stoneman Douglas baseball caps.

These black feature the “SD” initials in red with a white outline. Every single team wore the caps in solidarity.

Players from Southeast Florida

Clearly, the caps were especially meaningful to the five players who grew up in Broward County and Southeast Florida. Manny Machado – lovingly called Mr. Miami – grew up about an hour south of Stoneman Douglas High School. Jose Mesa attended school in Pembroke Pines, Florida, about 30 miles away from Parkland. Nestor Cortes attended school in Hialeah, near where Manny Machado grew up. Richard Bleier grew up in Plantation, just 30 minutes away from Parkland. And, Michael Kelly went to West Boca Raton Community School, which is only 10 miles away from Stoneman Douglas.

These five men wore those caps with pride.

Where you can get one

The caps are currently being auctioned on the Orioles website. You can find them here. The all began with $25 starting bids. They have gone up since the game was over, but there are still plenty with low bids.

More from Orioles News

The caps are autographed, but the MLB website does not clarify whether or not the caps are authenticated. Regardless, bidding on the auction benefits a quality organization and shows your support for the victims and survivors of one of the worst school shootings in history.

The funds raised from the caps will be donated to the Broward Education Foundation. According to the Broward Education Foundation’s website, the organization provides support for:

"“Innovative teaching to increase student learning outcomes from pre-K to grade 12; Educational materials for Title 1 school students; Scholarships for qualified graduating high school seniors; and Fiduciary oversight for community members who join in our educational mission by establishing Foundation agency funds.”"

Next: Ed Smith Stadium tops in the Grapefruit League

Even though all of the MLB teams wore the caps on February 23, only the Orioles are auctioning their caps at this time.

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