Ben McDonald is synonymous with the Baltimore Orioles.
From being the top overall draft pick in 1989, a seven-year career in Baltimore, in which he amassed a 3.89 ERA, and now a color commentator for the MASN broadcast team, O’s fans hold a special place in their hearts for Big Ben McDonald.
He’s a very likable individual who has a story for any topic, is excited to talk about the Orioles any chance he gets and will gladly start a conversation with just about anyone.
Luckily for this writer and our editor and co-creator of The Baltimore Battery, Jared Watson, we had the pleasure of attending the 2024 Delmarva Shorebirds Hot Stove Banquet in Salisbury, Maryland, with McDonald as the special keynote speaker.
The evening was fantastic, with compelling conversations with fellow Birdland fans, a silent auction that included items such as signed baseballs, bobbleheads and even 2024 game tickets for multiple teams, wonderful food and an opportunity to individually meet the 6’7″ McDonald.
Impressively enough, the event was sold out with over 400 people attending, as the line to meet McDonald wrapped around the back portion of the room. McDonald would pose for a picture, sign memorabilia and have a conversation with whomever was standing with him.
Of course, I went all fan boy with my chance to meet one of my heroes growing up. I wore No. 19 during my baseball career because of Big Ben and tried to emulate his style on the mound. But as I shook hands and explained why he was one of my heroes, he brought me back to Earth as he laughed about how long ago that was.
He thanked me for supporting him, and I, of course, thanked him for taking the time to come visit with us.
The night roled on, and McDonald finally got up to the microphone to address the room, and he was the same enthusiastic guy we see on television every night on MASN.
He talked about his time growing up as a star athlete, deciding between basketball and baseball. But it was another thing he brought up that stood out the most.
McDonald mentioned a young man who was struggling to deal with failure. He went on to tell a story about his first experience in the College World Series, where he gave up a game-winning grand slam. As he addressed the audience with his story, he closed by explaining to the young boy why failure isn’t such a bad thing.
“Failure is part of it, man. You are going to fail in this game. The question is, and what I decided on my own was, I was not going to let one moment in time define who I was.”
– Ben McDonald on dealing with failure
From there, the audience was given the chance to ask questions to McDonald, and Jared was able to get his question asked to kick things off.
The question to McDonald was: Do you think the Orioles need to add another arm in the bullpen, regardless of the Craig Kimbrel signing and the return of a healthy Dillon Tate?
“I think Dillon Tate, for me, is the key to the bullpen. If Dillon Tate could come back and be the guy from 2022, and you add him in with Kimbrel and now Tyler Wells, they could be the backbone of the O’s bullpen.”
– Ben McDonald on the state of the O’s bullpen
The fun takeaway of the night had to be when McDonald was asked about the possibility of Jackson Holliday making the Opening Day roster. While he praised Holliday and his amazing talents, McDonald closed his response with an interesting take, one that garnered a nice round of applause from those in attendance.
“I may be wrong, but I still like Gunnar Henderson at shortstop.”
– Ben McDonald, with his opinion on the shortstop position for the O’s
The night ended with a great ovation. What caught my eye, though, was McDonald standing on the edge of the stage just talking with the fans after the event’s conclusion.
He might stand taller than most, but it was this night that cemented Ben McDonald as a larger-than-life former ballplayer, current broadcaster, who just wants to talk ball with the fans.
He might come through the television as a down-to-Earth and humble guy, but the real-life version is just as grounded and makes you feel like his best friend.
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