Chris Mansolf doesn’t play about his Orioles giveaway games. This year, the 25-year-old Elkridge man has secured the bobblehead of Jackson Holliday and his dog, Coconut, and the hockey jersey.
On Friday, as the Orioles were set to take on the Athletics, he secured the Hail Mary: the Tupac Shakur bobblehead.
“I took off work today and, basically, went to Pickles, then sat in line for awhile,” Mansolf said.
“Awhile” was more than five hours. Mansolf and his girlfriend got in line around 11 a.m. and were among the first to collect their bobbleheads when gates opened 10 minutes ahead of schedule. Mansolf plans to add this to his ever-growing collection of Orioles game freebies. What will his girlfriend do with her bobblehead? Because she doesn’t want it, he’ll be selling it for about $150.
Mansolf was among the hundreds of people lined up at gates A, D and H for the Orioles game Friday around 3:30 p.m. — hours before the gates opened. The team promised the first 20,000 fans bobbleheads of the iconic rapper, actor, poet and activist who attended the Baltimore School for the Arts.
The bobblehead boasts the hip-hop star’s signature black bandanna and nose ring while rocking an Orioles jersey over a long-sleeved white shirt with jeans and sneakers.
Derrick Wesley tries to get to about 10 Orioles games a year, especially for the giveaways. As a huge Tupac fan, though, he certainly wasn’t going to miss Friday’s giveaway.
Wesley, 52, from West Baltimore, said Tupac’s music was an important influence on his life.
“As a fatherless kid, it schooled me in the right direction, wrong direction, and it gave me the game on how to navigate this motherf--ing city,” Wesley said.
His favorite song by Tupac is “Heavy in the Game” with Richie Rich. He and his friend started rapping it together.
“Tupac had a deep soul,” Wesley said. “You could feel that shit.”
Orioles manager Craig Albernaz, a rap aficionado, said he grabbed three bobbleheads when he arrived at Camden Yards on Friday afternoon. Two will be for his sons, Norman and CJ. One is for him. His youngest child, Gigi, is too young to know what she’s missing. Albernaz said his favorite Tupac song is “Pain.”
”It’s not really a known one," Albernaz said. “It was tough to find. This is back on — I’m dating myself — but Napster or LimeWire, trying to find the right one.”
When asked what song relates most to his team currently, Albernaz chose “All Eyez On Me.”
The team announced in January that the first 15,000 fans would get Tupac bobbleheads, but that’s changed due to high demand. The Orioles even opened the gates at 5 p.m., two hours before the game, to meet fan demand.
“We are always looking for ways to connect Baltimore’s rich and interesting history to fans,” Jennifer Grondahl, a spokesperson for the Orioles, said in an email. “The Tupac bobblehead was a wonderful opportunity to share his connection to Baltimore, which may have been unknown to even a diehard Tupac fan.”
The Baltimore School for the Arts was well represented.
Its chamber chorus performed the national anthem. Meanwhile, a few of its students were getting their very own art auction. Those interested have until the fifth inning to put their bid in for a Tupac-inspired painting created by a Baltimore School for the Arts student. Almost two dozen people had put in bids before the game started.
Sekyiwa Shakur, the rapper’s sister and the CEO of the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation, threw out the first pitch. Earlier in the day, she joined Mayor Brandon Scott and Del. Sean Stinnett for a rededication of Tupac Shakur Street.
But not everyone outside Camden Yards was waiting to score a Tupac bobblehead.
Sierra Rubin, 31, likely would have been there for the game and giveaway with her soon-to-be husband, Zach Muller. Instead, the couple and their bridal party posed for photos just before they were set to tie the knot.
“We’re just big sports-goers,” said Muller, a Ravens season ticket holder. “It’s a big part of our lives, and we wanted it to be a part of our big day.”
The bridal party, featuring blue gowns and gray suits, posed in front of the black-and-Orioles-orange background of Camden Yards, accompanied by cheers and congratulations from onlookers.
“I want to remember that Baltimore is a big part of our relationship and has been since the beginning,” Rubin said.
Actress Rachel Hilson, who graduated from the Baltimore School for the Arts, will be the guest splasher for the Bird Bath Splash Zone. Current students and the Shakur Foundation will lead pregame ceremonies.
Shakur, a multi-platinum-selling artist, was nominated for six Grammys. His albums “All Eyez on Me” and “Greatest Hits” are among the few hip-hop albums to be certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America, according to his website.
He faced legal woes while in the spotlight, including serving prison time for sexual assault. Shakur was also at the center of the East Coast vs. West Coast rap beef that turned violent.
At 25, Shakur was fatally shot outside a nightclub in 1996. Nearly 30 years later, police arrested and charged Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 60, as the orchestrator of Shakur’s death.
Shakur was a fixture in West Coast rap, and his blend of poetry, activism and gangsta rap continues to influence artists.
Shakur’s activism stemmed from his mother, Afeni Shakur, a member of the Black Panther Party who died in 2016. Their relationship is the subject of a 2023 FX docuseries, “Dear Mama,” named after the former’s song dedicated to his mother.
His godmother, Assata Shakur, a fellow activist who was a fugitive living in asylum in Cuba, died in September. She escaped a New Jersey prison in 1979 while serving a life sentence for killing a police officer.
Tupac Shakur was also an actor, known for films such as “Poetic Justice” — alongside pop icon Janet Jackson — “Juice” and “Above the Rim.” He studied acting and poetry at the Baltimore School for the Arts as a member of the class of 1989, which is where he met Baltimore native and actor Jada Pinkett Smith.
Shakur and his family moved from New York City to Baltimore, setting up shop in the first-floor apartment of a rowhome at 3955 Greenmount Ave. in Waverly. The home went on the market in late 2022 and eventually sold. The superstar spent his formative years there and at Roland Park Middle School and the School for the Arts.
Fans who couldn’t make it in time still have a chance to snag a Tupac bobblehead. MLB is hosting an online sweepstakes until 11:59 p.m. Saturday.
Tupac won’t be the only star featured in the Orioles’ series against the Athletics. Rapper Nelly will perform after Saturday’s game, which starts at 4:05 p.m., to begin the Birdland Summer Music Series.
The next Orioles giveaway will be Sunday: a denim crab cap for the first 20,000 attendees in honor of Mother’s Day.
Banner reporter Andy Kostka contributed to this article.
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