As another brutal MLB season came to an end in September for the Baltimore Orioles players penned hand written thank you notes committed fans who had endured supporting their team through another terrible season.
To say the Orioles have struggled would be an understatement: this season’s 54 wins and 108 losses record was the second worst in the major leagues (behind the abject Detroit Tigers) and it was only a slight improvement from last season when the Oriels were the worst team in baseball with a 47-115 record.
Yet through the countless trials and tribulations of recent seasons, some fans have remained loyal season ticket holders: these die-hards returned to the ballpark again and again despite few reasons to celebrate so the team offered them a personal player thank you.
During the last week and last homestand of the season, Fan Appreciation Week, some of these fans received special recognition as a random selection of Orioles season ticket holders were chosen to receive a handwritten note from a player thanking them for their support in these trying times.
In total the players wrote between 25 and 30 personal letters to a select set of fans.
The letters, which were both thankful and encouraging, had common themes: with notes thanking fans for sticking with the team, highlighting that the unit grew together through the tough season and that they players all had a common commitment and determination to ensure that there are better days ahead for the team
Some letters were only a few sentences long, while others featured more lengthy prose.
(The club also provided brainstorms for the letter writers and a team translator assistance for some of its Latino players such as Miguel Castro’s).
In one example third baseman Rio Ruiz wrote to a fan named Ron: “I’m sure some games were tough for you as a fan, but things will be back to the way they were soon enough! Hope to see more of you in the next coming seasons. Many blessings!”
Another example saw Dillon Tate, a pitcher who was recalled to the team from Triple-A in August, write a note to a fan named Larry: “I appreciate your support in being a season ticket holder. As you probably have seen, there is work to be done. Something I’ve learned this year is that one’s outlook on any given situation has a lot to do with the result. I’m confident that things will improve. Progress is progress, no matter how little. The O’s are moving in the right direction! Thank you for your continuous support. Go O’s! Dillon Tate.”
There was a powerful and positive reaction across the baseball and marketing media to the notes.
The Orioles had the 2nd-worst record in MLB in 2019. But they led the league in heartfelt, handwritten ‘thank you‘ notes. In a twist on fan appreciation, some season-ticket holders are getting notes from players saying “thanks & hang in there.” The story: https://t.co/dZ8OjbkcsV
— Dan Connolly (@danconnolly2016) October 3, 2019
The personal player letters were part of the team’s wider Fan Thank You programme and were supported by a less personal (and less compelling) video and social messages amplified across the team’s own channels from the club an d some of its players.
Until next year#ThanksOsFans pic.twitter.com/0afp4UtYyH
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) September 29, 2019
Best fans in baseball.@CrushD19 | #ThanksOsFans pic.twitter.com/97qpJQPpAO
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) September 29, 2019
I wanted to say thank you to the city of Baltimore and the @Orioles for an incredible opportunity and the chance to play with a great group of guys! Also, thank you fans for being so supportive all year, we as a whole love you guys!! #Birdland pic.twitter.com/K0JrIOtuIY
— shawn armstrong (@SArmstrong90) September 29, 2019
The idea was conceptualized by Kristen Hudak, director of public relations for the Orioles, who ran the idea by team leaders and players before carrying it out.
“I wasn’t sure what the reaction would be. The guys that I spoke to about it were immediately supportive,” said Oriels Hudak.
“I saw many of them sit down and start writing right away. It felt like they had something on their minds or something they wanted to say and that was an opportunity for them to do it in a heartfelt way. And then, when I started to collect them, I was just really touched and moved by their answers and the time that they took to be thoughtful.”
Kudak commented that watching the players write the letters was “a little bit like watching guys cheat on a test,” but everyone ended up with different, heartfelt ones.
Comment:
Personal letters can be an emotionally powerful way to connect sports stars to fans, family and friends.
One recent stand out example of the personal letter tactic came from Football Ausgtralia sponsor Hyundai which ran parallel campaigns activating its national team partnership such as its paired of men’s 2018 (see case study) and women’s 2019 (see case study) World Cup campaigns
It used to be that receiving mail was more exciting and more personal before the era of text, ecards, Facebook wall messages and Snapchat notes, the Orioles are, at least for this week, making it exciting again for a few fans for a few days.
Some may feel it is a small consolation for a second consecutive 100-loss season, but perhaps the heartfelt feelings and bonding between players and fans might lift the mood at a little at Camden Yards which this season attracted the fewest fans in its 28-year existence.
The team is going through a major rebuilt and its awful performance this year saw falling attendances. The side’s home park, Camden Yards, seats around 46,000 (it began the return to traditional baseball stadium design), but this year the ballpark saw its worst attendance in team history with an average of 64% of the stadium’s seats empty for every game.
In total the Orioles drew just 1.31 million fans to the park this year – placing 28th of 30 teams in the majors.
Links:
Baltimore Oriels
https://www.instagram.com/orioles
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2jqf9lgDjMUtTow1Q4IKzg
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