Bird Tapes Photo Album: Baltimore’s Blonde Broomgirl

In the years when games at Memorial Stadium felt like a family affair, a Baltimore police lieutenant’s daughter became everyone’s kid sister. A classic photo evokes the era.

When the Orioles were at their on-field peak in the late ’60s and early ’70s, every game at Memorial Stadium felt like a family affair.

The crowds were intimate. The players lived in town and knew many fans sitting in the front rows.

Everything felt familiar. Brooks was always at third. Boog was always at first. Rex Barney’s homespun homilies made you smile. Earl railed at the umps and stole smokes in the tunnel.

Yes, family.

And in that family, Linda Warehime was the kid sister.

Everyone’s kid sister.

As an 11-year-old in 1968, she landed a gig sweeping dust from the bases between innings. Her father, a Baltimore police lieutenant, directed traffic outside the ballpark. Her brothers worked on the grounds crew. Her mother came to every game. Linda’s lighthearted ritual became part of the nightly show.

She did it until she graduated from Overlea High School in 1974, along the way developing a comedic touch that delighted fans — she would swat opposing third base coaches on the rear as she rounded the bases smiling broadly with her blonde hair bouncing.

It was a heady time for Linda. She appeared on television shows. She was in Sports Illustrated. She became Major League Baseball’s first female ballgirl as well as a base-sweeper.

A Bird Tapes subscriber recently sent me a classic photo of Linda on the field during the 1971 World Series. I’m passing it along to all subscribers because of how it evokes her and her entire era of Oriole baseball at Memorial Stadium.

(Note: A couple of years ago, Baltimore Magazine’s Ron Cassie published an excellent “where are they now” piece about Linda. Click here to read Ron’s article.)