Mark Yurick of Westminster, a lifelong Orioles fan, won $6,000, mostly thanks to an Anthony Santander grand slam on Aug. 23 against the Houston Astros.
Home Run Riches player from Westminster seventh to benefit from four-run pop
In the sixth inning on Aug. 23, things weren’t looking good for the Orioles. Houston, up 4-2 since the third inning, had just put another run on the board, leaving Baltimore down by three runs.
Mark Yurick of Westminster, an Orioles fan since he was 8, was the Maryland Lottery Home Run Riches Contestant of the Game that Friday. His game coincided with a family vacation in Ocean City, so they made plans to watch the game in the company of O’s fans at a watering hole in the Atlantic resort.
“Everyone in the bar knew,” he said a week later of his status as the Lottery winner.
But when the Astros increased their lead to 5-1 in the top of the sixth, Mark decamped to his room. From a Home Run Riches perspective, things were looking OK: he was due to receive $500 just for being selected as the Contestant of the Game and the Orioles had a home run earlier in the game, bringing his winnings to $1,000.
As a boy, Mark started listening to the Orioles on Armed Forces Radio when his family was living in Gettysburg and the team was World Series bound. He’s been a devoted fan ever since. As an adult living in Westminster, he’s also been a regular Maryland Lottery player and participant in the Home Run Riches second-chance promotion. In addition to being selected as a Contestant of the Game this season, he’s also benefited from Orioles’ home runs in 2021 and 2023.
Given his fan background, and having lived through seasons of both Orioles Magic and battles for the basement, it made sense that he would turn the game on back at the hotel to see how it played out.
“I was just sitting there when I saw [Colton] Cowser get on. He was almost picked off,” Mark said. “After that, it’s a blur.”
After Cowser, Adley Rutschman reached on a single. Gunnar Henderson tapped a fielder’s choice to Bryan Abreu, who was late on the throw to third. Bases were loaded.
“Then, Anthony came up. He’s hit two home runs for me before,” Mark said, elaborating that those came in previous seasons when he has been the Contestant of the Game.
Anthony Santander, who has 38 home runs on the season and 149 in his regular season career as of Aug. 30, stepped up to the plate and whacked his fourth career grand slam, putting the Orioles ahead 7-5, which turned out to be the final score.
The grand slam also added substantially to Mark’s winnings. Contestants of the game receive an initial $500 plus another $500 for each home run hit by an Oriole, but the promotion has a new feature this year: a grand slam is worth $5,000. The Santander slam increased the purse to $6,000.
Mark said the winnings will come in handy as additional vacation plans already are on the calendar. And he gave a shout out to Anthony Santander, adding, “Without him, all this wouldn’t be here!”
So far this season, Orioles have hit grand slams seven times, adding substantially to Contestant of the Game winnings. The big wins came on April 19, $5,500; May 5, $6,500; May 29, $6,000; June 9, $6,000; June 29, $6,000; July 31, $6,000, and, of course, Aug. 23, $6,000.
