Who is Anthony Washington Sr.?

Anthony Washington Sr. is a U.S. Army and Maryland Army National Guard veteran, a coach and official of more than twenty years, and the founder of After Today, LLC. He builds leadership training, athletic recruiting education, and people-first AI systems for student-athletes, families, schools, and organizations. He is based in Pennsylvania and works primarily across Pennsylvania and Maryland.

What does Anthony Washington Sr. do?

He works in three connected areas: athletic recruiting education that gives student-athletes and families a repeatable daily process, leadership training for first-time supervisors and public-sector leaders, and people-first AI and workflow implementation for organizations. He also speaks and runs workshops for schools, teams, and districts.

What is athletic recruiting infrastructure?

Athletic recruiting infrastructure is the repeatable system a family or program uses to manage recruiting — film, academics, communication with coaches, eligibility tracking, and follow-up — instead of relying on exposure events and luck. Anthony teaches recruiting as infrastructure so progress comes from a daily practice rather than a seasonal scramble.

What does people-first AI implementation mean?

People-first AI implementation means adopting AI to improve the work without displacing or sidelining the people who do it. In practice that means starting from the actual workflow, keeping a human accountable for decisions, training staff on the tools they will use, and setting guardrails before scale — not buying software and hoping the team adapts.

Who are Anthony's programs designed for?

Student-athletes and their parents, high school and grassroots coaches, athletic programs, schools and districts, first-time supervisors, public-sector leaders, and organizations that want leadership training or help implementing AI without leaving employees behind.

Does Anthony Washington Sr. provide leadership training?

Yes. He trains first-time supervisors and team leads on the first ninety days, difficult conversations, accountability, and building trust, drawing on his military service, public-sector supervision, and coaching experience. Training is delivered as courses, workshops, and organizational consulting.

How can a school, district, or organization work with Anthony?

Schools, districts, and organizations can book speaking engagements and workshops, bring in leadership training for supervisors and staff, or engage him on recruiting support and AI and workflow implementation. Start on the contact page and say which of those you need.

How can I book Anthony Washington Sr. to speak?

Send an inquiry through the contact page with your event date, audience, format, and location. The speaking page lists topics, session formats, and the audiences he speaks to most often.

Where is Anthony Washington Sr. based?

He is based in Pennsylvania and works primarily across Pennsylvania and Maryland, with virtual sessions available beyond that area.

Home › Blog › THE ORIOLE BIRD IS AN ENDANGERED SPECIES.

THE ORIOLE BIRD IS AN ENDANGERED SPECIES.

commentary · October 7, 2026

The Baltimore Orioles laid off employees behind the Oriole Bird.

THE ORIOLE BIRD IS AN ENDANGERED SPECIES.

The Baltimore Orioles laid off employees behind the Oriole Bird.

Let that sink in for a second.

A franchise valued by Forbes at approximately $2.1 billion in 2026 decided that people behind one of the most recognizable symbols of Baltimore baseball were among the positions that could go.[1]

The Oriole Bird.

Come on, man.

I understand restructuring.

I understand business decisions.

I understand that no position is guaranteed forever.

But somewhere along the way, somebody has to ask:

What are we actually cutting?

This Is Bigger Than Somebody Wearing a Costume

The Oriole Bird is not just somebody running around Camden Yards between innings.

The Orioles themselves describe the Bird as their official team mascot and goodwill ambassador.

The character has been part of the organization since 1979 and, according to the team, has made thousands of appearances throughout Baltimore and beyond.[2]

Schools.

Little League ceremonies.

Festivals.

Parades.

Birthdays.

Community events.

Nursing homes.

That matters.

A six-year-old does not know who the President of Business Operations is.

They know THE BIRD.

Sports franchises spend enormous amounts of money trying to create emotional connections between a team and its community.

The mascot is part of that.

Then organizations sometimes turn around and treat the people responsible for creating those connections like another line on a spreadsheet.

That is where this gets interesting.

The Bird Is Staying. The People Behind It Were Not.

Let us make the distinction clear.

Reports do not indicate that the Orioles are eliminating the Oriole Bird character itself.

The layoffs affected employees who performed as the Oriole Bird and Mr. Splash, along with workers across other business-side areas including ticket sales, graphic design, content, game presentation, food and beverage, and photography.[3][4]

The Baltimore Banner reported that the cuts affected multiple business departments.

Other reporting placed the total number of layoffs at more than two dozen employees.[3][4]

So technically:

The Bird survives.

The people behind the Bird did not necessarily survive the restructuring.

And honestly, that almost makes the conversation more interesting.

You Can Replace the Costume. Can You Replace the Connection?

You can hire another performer.

You can train someone on the routines.

You can hand them the costume.

You can show them where to stand.

You can give them the appearance schedule.

Operationally, that might work.

But people who have spent years performing a character develop something that is much harder to put on a job description.

Timing.

Familiarity.

Relationships.

Institutional memory.

Understanding how to interact with children.

Understanding the community.

Knowing what works in the stadium.

Knowing what works at a hospital visit.

Knowing when to be funny.

Knowing when not to be.

Knowing how to make a fictional bird feel real to a kid.

Organizations constantly say:

People are replaceable.

Positions often are.

Relationships are not always that simple.

Brand Value Is Built by People Nobody Sees

This is not just an Orioles issue.

It is an organizational issue.

Companies spend heavily on branding.

Logos.

Marketing campaigns.

Social media.

Advertising.

Community engagement.

Customer experience.

Then when budgets tighten, some of the first people placed under a microscope are the employees who actually deliver those experiences.

That is backwards if you are not careful.

A brand is not only the logo.

It is what people remember.

For thousands of Orioles fans, especially children, the Oriole Bird is part of what they remember.

And behind that character is an employee doing the work.

There Is Nothing Wrong With Restructuring

This is where the conversation needs some balance.

The Orioles have every right to examine their operation.

Businesses restructure.

Roles change.

Technology changes work.

Departments get reorganized.

Positions disappear.

New positions get created.

The Orioles also still had other job openings posted while these layoffs were occurring, according to The Baltimore Banner.[3]

So this should not automatically become:

Rich billionaire owners fired the mascot because they are cheap.

We do not currently have enough evidence to establish why each individual position was eliminated or what the Orioles intend to replace those functions with.

The team confirmed business-side changes but declined to discuss individual employment matters.[3]

Fair enough.

But organizations are still responsible for understanding what they may lose when they make those decisions.

Sometimes the Spreadsheet Does Not Show the Whole Value

This is the part leadership teams sometimes miss.

Certain positions are easy to measure.

Revenue generated.

Tickets sold.

Units produced.

Hours billed.

Others create value that is harder to put into a column.

Trust.

Familiarity.

Culture.

Goodwill.

Community presence.

Employee knowledge.

Fan connection.

Those things still have value.

They just do not always fit neatly into a quarterly spreadsheet.

That does not mean every person in those roles must remain employed forever.

It means the organization should understand the difference between eliminating a position and eliminating something people associate with the institution itself.

And This Bird Has Been Around Since 1979

The Orioles say the Oriole Bird hatched from a giant egg at Memorial Stadium on April 6, 1979.[2]

That means generations of Baltimore fans know this character.

Parents who met the Bird as children now take their own children to meet the Bird.

That is institutional continuity.

You cannot purchase that overnight.

You inherit it.

You maintain it.

You protect it.

Or you slowly discover how much it mattered after it is gone.

Baltimore, We May Need to Protect This Bird

Again, the Oriole Bird itself is not disappearing.

At least that is not what has been reported.

But the idea that a $2.1 billion franchise could go through its operation looking for positions to eliminate and somehow arrive at the people behind the Oriole Bird is objectively funny enough that Baltimore should be allowed a moment.

😂

Forget the bald eagle for a minute.

We may have a more immediate endangered species.

The Baltimore Oriole.

Not the actual bird.

The one running around Camden Yards.

Because somewhere inside a conference room, somebody apparently looked at a spreadsheet and said:

What about the Bird?

Baltimore, we might need to keep an eye on this one.

Sources

[1] Forbes, "Baltimore Orioles on the Forbes MLB Team Valuations List," 2026.
https://www.forbes.com/teams/baltimore-orioles/

[2] Baltimore Orioles, "The Oriole Bird."
https://www.mlb.com/orioles/fans/oriole-bird

[3] The Baltimore Banner, "Orioles laying off members of business operations," October 6, 2026.
https://www.thebanner.com/sports/orioles-mlb/orioles-layoffs-business-operations-UPPHD4L6HZBW7FNFRGER7W6GFQ/

[4] Sportsnet, "Report: Baltimore Orioles mascot among staff layoffs," October 7, 2026.
https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/report-baltimore-orioles-mascot-among-staff-layoffs/

Key takeaways

The Baltimore Orioles made business-side layoffs in October 2026 affecting employees across several departments.[3]
Reporting indicates employees who performed as the Oriole Bird and Mr. Splash were among those laid off.[4]
The Oriole Bird character itself has not been reported as discontinued.
Forbes valued the Orioles at approximately $2.1 billion as of March 2026.[1]
The Orioles describe the Oriole Bird as their official mascot and goodwill ambassador, with thousands of appearances since 1979.[2]
The broader organizational question is whether restructuring decisions adequately account for community relationships, institutional knowledge, and brand goodwill that may be difficult to quantify.
A position may be replaceable without every part of the employee's value being interchangeable.

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