Rally Raccoon Makes Himself at Home at Camden Yards

The Chicago Cubs notoriously toiled under the “Curse of the Billy Goat” for 71 years. But the Orioles have a much more hospitable animal in their corner: The Rally Raccoon.

The raccoon was first spotted at Camden Yards during the ill-fated series against the Yankees. Proving what we all already know—that there are no bad seats at Camden Yards—he situated himself comfortably near the press box to take in the game and was captured by The Sun’s Eduardo Encina, aka Eddie at the Yard. (Dear Eddie: Consider using portrait mode next time).

Not liking the results of that series, Rally stuck around for the far more productive series against the Toronto Blue Jays, which the Orioles actually swept (only our second series sweep of the season, after a measly 2-game sweep against the Mets in June). He was apparently safely escorted from the Yard—possibly by Animal Control—on Wednesday night.

Fan reaction to Rally Racoon was swift and positive, with tons of RTs, likes, and heartfelt tributes (“Rally Raccoon is the hero we deserve,” tweeted Os fan Chirping Bird). A Twitter account, @OriolesRaccoon, was promptly created in his honor by him. (Sample tweet: “Someone told me I misspelled raccoon. I’m a raccoon. You’re lucky I figured out how to type.”)

And, of course, the Orioles ran with their new unofficial mascot (we said unofficial! Don’t have a cow, Orioles Bird) with this fun tweet:

At this point, a few things are certain:

• Rally Raccoon is a cute little bugger.
• Rally Raccoon knows a good thing when he sees it. Not only does Camden Yards have great vistas, it also has great garbage.
• When your team’s season record is 40 and 94 you need all the help you can get: We must bring back Rally Raccoon. Our 2019 season depends on it.