Matthew Richard Wieters (born May 21, 1986) is a Major League Baseball catcher for the Baltimore Orioles. Wieters was drafted fifth overall in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft. Wieters played college baseball for Georgia Tech, and his agent is Scott Boras. Wieters is a tall athletic hitter, standing 6 feet 5 inches tall. His ability to hit for power from both sides of the plate has drawn comparisons to Jorge Posada and Jason Varitek.

Wieters was born on May 21, 1986 in Goose Creek, South Carolina. Wieters played high school baseball at Stratford High School in Goose Creek, South Carolina. He played under Coach John Chalus, where Matt led the Knights to the AAAA state championship series. Wieters' high school team also featured Justin Smoak.

Wieters was a multi-talented star who earned numerous honors throughout his college career. He is one of just three players in Georgia Tech history to earn first-team All-America honors on at least two occasions. He was named a first-team All-America by Rivals.com and first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference in 2007, first-team All-America by Baseball America and second-team All-ACC in 2006, and the ACC Rookie of the Year, Freshman All-America and first-team All-ACC in 2005.^{[citation needed]}

Thomas Edward John Jr. (born May 22, 1943) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball whose 288 career victories rank as the seventh highest total among left-handers in major league history. He is also known for the revolutionary surgery, now named after him, which was performed on a damaged ligament in his pitching arm.

John was an outstanding basketball player at Gerstmeyer High School in Terre Haute, Indiana, where he held the city single game scoring record. Choosing baseball when he realized he would not go on to play professional basketball, John signed with the Cleveland Indians and made his major league debut at twenty years-old in 1963. Following two partial seasons with the Indians, John showed occasional excellence during seven respectable years as a starting pitcher with the Chicago White Sox. However, it was a trade before the 1972 season to the Los Angeles Dodgers for mercurial slugger Dick Allen that began a skein of John's most famous years, first with the Dodgers and subsequently with the New York Yankees, where he posted a pair of 20-win seasons and was twice an All-Star. John was also named an All-Star in 1968 with the White Sox and 1978 with LA. He played in all three Yankees vs. Dodgers World Series of his era (1977, 1978 and 1981), having switched over to the Yankees by the time the Dodgers won the Series in 1981.

John Rikard Dempsey (born September 13, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player. He played for 24 seasons as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1969 to 1992, most notably for the Baltimore Orioles. Dempsey was known for being one of the best defensive catchers of his era.

Dempsey was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 15th round of the 1967 Major League Baseball Draft out of Crespi Carmelite High School. After two seasons in the minor leagues, he made his major league debut late in the 1969 season for the pennant-winning Twins managed by Billy Martin, however he didn't qualify for the post-season roster. Dempsey spent a few more seasons shuttling between the Twins and their minor league teams, before being traded to the New York Yankees in October 1972. During his tenure with the Yankees, he served as a reserve catcher to Thurman Munson, and received tutoring from Yankees coach and former catching standout, Jim Hegan. After three and a half seasons with the Yankees, he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles in June 1976, where manager Earl Weaver made him the Orioles' starting catcher.

Gary Thorne (born June 9, 1948, in Bangor, Maine) is a play-by-play announcer for ESPN and ABC, working National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, college football, and the Frozen Four hockey tournament. He is also the television play-by-play announcer for the Baltimore Orioles and the Professional Bowler's Association.

After graduating from the University of Maine in 1970, University of Maine School of Law in 1973, and Georgetown Law School in 1976 (while paying tuition as a sportscaster/disc jockey), Thorne became Penobscot County assistant district attorney and joined the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court. But eventually, Thorne found courtrooms dull when compared to broadcasting.

Thorne's son-in-law, Damian DiGiulian, is a former assistant coach for the University of Vermont hockey team; Maine (Thorne's alma mater) and Vermont are rivals in the Hockey East conference of Division I hockey. DiGiulian is now a color commentator for ESPNU's college hockey broadcasts.

By 1984, Thorne had enough leverage with baseball's Triple-A Maine Guides to name himself a co-owner.