Orioles and Nationals go to bat for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation

BALTIMORE—Some Orioles and Nationals players are going to bat for a new team—the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

MASN, the television network that broadcasts the Baltimore and Washington games, was to announce Friday that it is launching a "Go to Bat for the Bay" public service campaign with the foundation.

The spots featuring players such as Orioles pitcher Jeremy Guthrie and Washington's Adam Dunn are designed to educate viewers about the bay and its restoration. Tips include using less lawn fertilizer and chemicals and planting trees.

In Guthrie's pitch, he tells viewers the Chesapeake produces 500 million pounds of crabs, oysters and other seafood.

"A cleaner bay means better seafood and more jobs for those who bring the Chesapeake's bounty to our dinner tables," Guthrie says in the spot, which cuts from scenes of crabs, oysters and boats on the bay, to the pitcher standing in his uniform at Camden Yards.

In another commercial, Nationals manager Jim Riggleman tells viewers the bay has lost half of its forested shoreline, more than half its wetlands and 90 percent of its underwater grasses.

"The health of the Chesapeake is in jeopardy. Go to bat for the bay," Riggleman says.

The bay is the nation's largest estuary and was once a major producer of oysters and crabs. However, pollution and development have spurred oxygen-robbing algae blooms, killed bay grasses that provide habitat for many species, and hurt the seafood population. The bay watershed covers Maryland, the District of Columbia, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, almost all of MASN's seven-state territory. MASN spokesman Todd Webster said the network is available to 7 million households from Harrisburg, Pa., to Charlotte, N.C. On an average night during baseball season, about 175,000 people watch the Orioles and Nationals.

Foundation President Will Baker said the partnership will "enhance awareness and educate millions of sports fans who live in the Chesapeake region."

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