History of the Orioles in a Shoebox with John Eisenberg
May 21 @ 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM
TICKETS: https://historicalsocbaltoco.ticketspice.com/2026may21-john-eisenberg-bird-tapes
Hot dogs, popcorn and other baseball food and drinks included.
A Special Speaker Series Event
The Bird Tapes is built around a rare and original trove of baseball treasure — hours and hours of interviews with iconic figures in the history of the Baltimore Orioles. John Eisenberg will explain how this project came about. He recorded the interviews in 1999 and 2000 as he wrote a book about the team’s first half-century in Baltimore, and now, after letting the tapes gather dust in his closet for more than two decades, he has brought them to the public. The voices of Hall of Fame players, signature stalwarts, colorful characters, iconic general managers and others are available as easily consumable audio files, almost as if the interviews took place a day ago, not a quarter-century ago. Think of it as the baseball version of an archaeological dig, the uncovering of long-lost history. He spent hours with Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Earl Weaver, Jim Palmer, Cal Ripken Jr., Eddie Murray and many others whose careers span nearly a half-century of ups and down on the diamond. The interviews are augmented with written posts that add context and background, helping present a unique and indelible history lesson that puts the current Orioles in perspective.
To subscribe to The Bird Tapes go to: https://birdtapes.substack.com/
John Eisenberg is one of the country’s most acclaimed sportswriters. A native of Dallas, Texas and graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, he started out covering the “Friday Night Lights” for the now-defunct Dallas Times Herald in 1979. After rising through the ranks to cover pro basketball, he joined the staff of the Baltimore Sun in 1984. For the next 23 years he wrote columns about the hometown Orioles, Ravens and Maryland Terrapins, and also covered major events such as the World Series, Super Bowl and Olympics. His honors included several firsts in the prestigious Associated Press Sports Editors’ contest. From 2012 until 2022, he wrote columns and game analysis on the Ravens’ website. In 2024 he began publishing “The Bird Tapes,” an Orioles history project, on the media platform Substack.
John has also authored 11 best-selling sports books, including The Streak: Lou Gehrig, Cal Ripken, Jr. and Baseball’s Most Historic Record. Published in 2017, it was shortlisted for the PEN/ESPN Literary Sportswriting Award, which honors the year’s best sports book. In 2018, he published The League: How Five Rivals Created the NFL and Launched a Sports Empire. Still an Amazon bestseller eight years after it was published, it is a deep dive into the early days of pro football. His most recent book, published in 2023, is Rocket Men: The Black Quarterbacks Who Revolutionized Pro Football, a searing racial history of football’s most glamorous position. John has also written for Sports Illustrated and Smithsonian Magazine. He lives in Baltimore with his wife of 41 years, Mary Wynne Eisenberg. They have two grown children and two grandchildren.
Admission: HSBC members, $15, Non-members $25, Registration required.
Hot dogs, popcorn and other baseball food and drinks included. Talk will begin between 6:30 and 7:00.
TICKETS: https://historicalsocbaltoco.ticketspice.com/2026may21-john-eisenberg-bird-tapes
Location: HSBC Almshouse, 9811 Van Buren Lane, Cockeysville, MD 21030
Questions? Please contact us at info@hsobc.org