For the past 27 years, Pete Holden has enjoyed a bird’s-eye view of the Baltimore Orioles in action, thanks to his summer gig in the Communications Control Room at Orioles Park at Camden Yards.
The communications hub is where all of the statistics, videos, sound, and everything that you see and hear at the ballpark, originates. As a part of the communications team that produces and creates the show each game, Holden’s job changes daily. On any given day he could be choosing the music as the ballpark DJ, or running videos like The Crab Shuffle and The Hot Dog Race. Other days, he’s typing in graphic information or tallying the balls and strikes on the scoreboard.
It’s a job that Holden loves. He was recently honored, along with 15 other Orioles employees, for 25-plus years of service with a dinner and a special 25-year anniversary ring ceremony at the ballpark.
In 1996, Holden was in the Chicago area working in radio and planning his return to the East Coast — he spent his early years in Cockeysville before moving to Illinois for middle school through college. After cold-calling media outlets and sports teams, he was able to land an internship with Orioles Productions and spent his first-year training in camera and video editing.
But when he became the everyday scoreboard animation person as the Orioles made a furious run for the 1996 playoffs, he was hooked. According to Holden, “That was the beginning of quite an adventure!”
After that exciting start to his Orioles career, Holden has enjoyed several other exciting playoff runs in 1997, 2012 and 2014.
“The experience of an electric playoff atmosphere is hard to describe on paper,” he said. “When the bases-clearing double was hit to put the Orioles ahead in the 2014 ALDS, I’ve never heard a louder crowd. You could feel the room shaking. Let’s hope this 2023 playoff run is just as exciting.”
Other favorite moments included Cal Ripken’s last game in 2001.
“I was actually at his first game in the streak, celebrating my 12th birthday, so seeing him end a magnificent career was an honor truly,” he recalled.”
Holden did not save his ticket stub and offers a caution to the kids out there to always save their stubs. He also has fond memories of the times with Mo Gaba — a Ravens and Orioles superfan who died of cancer at the age of 14 — especially with the adversity he battled as he became Baltimore’s No. 1 sports fan and an inspiration to all.
One of the things that Holden enjoys most about the job is being part of a team that brings a show to life, while complimenting the game on the field and enhancing the experience for fans.
“Sometimes I laugh when I play ‘Thank God I’m A Country Boy,’” he said. “I remember when, as a teenager in the Chicago area, I’d listen to the Orioles game from a faraway radio station and play my 45 record of the classic John Denver song during the [seventh inning] stretch.”
When he is not working at the ballpark, Holden is the library media specialist at Rodgers Forge Elementary School in Towson. He counts himself lucky to be able to pass on real-life experiences and skills to his TV news crew, who produce a live morning announcement show. “That’s truly the best part, to see the next generation getting excited about media, just as I did,” he said.
After spending his early years in the Springdale neighborhood, Holden has come full circle and once again lives on the same street he grew up on in Cockeysville.
“If my kid self could see my adult self’s job, the eyes would get wide,” Holden said. “I’m truly blessed.”
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