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Baseball And Beer; Connecting The History Of Craft Beer Making

BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- A new program is launching in the state that's promoting and connecting the rich history of baseball and the craft of beer making.

If you have ever attended or even seen a movie featuring a baseball game, you know where there is baseball, beer is not far away.

A good thing for Maryland is, with dozens of breweries in state, many think now is the time to promote that.

Cheers to new endeavors as a collaborative effort made way for a state tour of breweries.

It's something secretary of agriculture, Joe Bartenfelder wasn't sure about at first.

"I don't know how the PR would sound on a beer trial," Bartenfelder says.

With such a rich history of baseball and roughly 60 breweries in the State, the Office of the Comptroller, the Maryland Office of Tourism and Office of Commerce, along with the Brewers Association of Maryland, thought creating a craft beer trails would help promote tourism.

"Make no mistake about it, this is a half-a-billion dollar economic sector in the state of Maryland. It's on it's way to become a billion dollar sector in our economy," says State Comptroller Peter Franchot.

To help keep track of the sights, a Maryland baseball and brewery scorecard has been created. The hope is that this will make people visit the breweries, shop local and visit local state sights.

"Once the breweries are established, you see food trucks and restaurants, boutique shops and artists joining the development of the area," says Ben Wu, deputy secretary of commerce.

It's a boost in drawing in more craft brewers, tourism and the local economy surrounding the breweries, all while learning a little history.

"We seek to promote and highlight Maryland's rich baseball heritage and our incredible craft brewers who do so much for our local communities and our state's economy," says Franchot.

It's held in Peabody Heights Brewery, which sits on the sight of the old Orioles' home, from 1916 - 1944.

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