101-year-old Holocaust survivor to throw first pitch at Camden Yards

Camden Yards made room for more than baseball Tuesday night as the Orioles used Jewish Heritage Night to place Ralph Brunn, a 101-year-old Holocaust survivor and World War II veteran, at the center of the pregame ceremony. Brunn was set to throw the ceremonial first pitch before Baltimore hosted the Tampa Bay Rays at 6:35 p.m., with the special ticket package including an exclusive Jewish Heritage jersey.

The appearance carried unusual weight in Baltimore because Brunn’s life runs through some of the city’s most recognizable threads. Born in Germany, he lived through Nazi persecution, remembered Kristallnacht, and watched his father arrested and taken to a concentration camp before the family found a way out. The Brunn family later settled in Baltimore, making the city part of his survival story and the place where he built his adult life.

His family’s name is tied to another Baltimore institution. Ralph Brunn worked with his father, Gustav Brunn, at the Baltimore Spice Company while finishing his chemistry degree at Johns Hopkins University. Preservation and Jewish-community sources say Gustav Brunn founded the company after escaping Nazi Germany, and that the family business produced the crab seasoning that became Old Bay around 1940. Ralph Brunn later retired in 1985, and McCormick bought the Old Bay recipe in 1990.

Brunn’s military service added another layer to the moment. He served three years in the U.S. Army during World War II and fought in the Battle of the Bulge, then returned to civilian life and Baltimore industry. By the time he reached the mound at Camden Yards, he had become not just a local elder but a living link between the city’s immigrant history, wartime sacrifice and food culture.

The Orioles’ decision to elevate Brunn publicly also reflected how new the tradition still is. The club held its first Jewish Heritage Night in 2025 against the Boston Red Sox, making this year’s event only the second of its kind at Camden Yards. Brunn’s grandson, Alex Hill, joined him on the mound, turning the first pitch into a family moment as much as a civic one.

Brunn has long said his message is simple: be honest, work hard and take advantage of opportunities when they come. At Camden Yards, that message landed in front of Baltimore families asked to remember a 20th-century history that still shapes the city’s present, from Jewish survival to Orioles baseball to the seasoning on local tables.