BALTIMORE – Fans lined up well before the gates opened at Camden Yards on Friday night in anticipation of a Tupac Shakur bobblehead giveaway at the ballpark.
"I grabbed three of them,” Baltimore Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said before a 4-3 loss to the Athletics.
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Shakur was raised in New York and Baltimore before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1980s. He lived in Oakland, California, in the early 1990s, which made Friday's matchup between the Orioles and Athletics an appropriate time to honor the rap icon, who was killed in 1996. The familiar riff from “California Love” was played while the starting lineup for the A's — who left Oakland before last season — was being announced.
Albernaz mentioned “Pain” when asked his favorite Tupac song.
“This is back on — I'm dating myself — Napster or LimeWire, trying to download that,” Albernaz said.
He also said “All Eyez On Me” best encapsulates the current Baltimore team.
Everyone on the Orioles' active roster was born in 1989 or later, so it wasn't immedately clear if the players were familiar with Shakur's music.
“I hope so,” Albernaz said. “I probably should ask around about that.”
Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, Tupac's sister, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
The game drew 39,311 fans, the most for a Baltimore home game since opening day.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB