Congratulations are in order to Baltimore's own Oriole Bird for being inducted into the Mascot Hall Of Fame over the weekend!
The Oriole Bird joined Boomer (Indiana Pacers), Youppi! (Canadiens de Montreal) and Blue (Indianapolis Colts) to make up the class of 2020.
The four mascots were honored with a virtual ceremony that highlighted some of their most memorable moments on the field/ice and shoutouts from some members of their respective organizations! 1989-1995 Baltimore Orioles' pitcher Ben McDonald offered "congratulations to an old friend" and shared how proud he was of Oriole Bird for the impact he's had on the community.
In order to be considered for the Hall of Fame, a mascot must be a performing character for the major and minor league sports of baseball (MLB, MiLB, etc), basketball (NBA, WNBA, etc), football (NFL, etc), hockey (NHL, AHL, ECHL, etc), and soccer (MLS, NWSL, USL, NASL, etc) as recognized in the United States, College Divisions of NCAA Divisions I, II, III, NAIA or an independent. In addition, the mascot have been active as a performing character for their team, school, or organization for the previous 10 years prior to the year being elected and be prepared to show documented proof. A screening committee will then select nominees for the hall and vote on finalists based on if they can demonstrate a major impact on their sport, and/or community, have memorable and/or groundbreaking performances, memorable design and letters from community leaders and stakeholders detailing the mascot’s impact on their particular community.