by This story was excerpted from Anne Rogers’ Royals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And sign up to receive it regularly in your inbox.
As Royals players jogged onto the field Monday afternoon, warming up for the series finale against the Orioles, a special ceremony was taking place on the fourth level of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. On the left field line in Suite No. 60, a royal wedding was taking place.
Chad Chitwood, a die-hard Royals fan who was born and raised in the Kansas City area before moving to Washington, DC, in the early 2000s, married his wife, Elizabeth, on Monday in front of friends. and closest relatives. The big day was supposed to be on Saturday, but the rainy postponement delayed it.
The two quickly adapted and apart from “Mr. and ma’am.” masks that technically had the wrong date, the ceremony was perfect. It’s not often that a wedding happens at a game, so the stadium staff showed up to congratulate all morning.
Growing up a Royals fan in the Kansas City area, Chad remembers watching the 1985 World Series at a theater his grandparents owned in Atchison, Kansas. He moved to DC for work in 2001 and there he met Elizabeth. It’s true that she’s a Nationals fan, but she happily supports the Royals with Chad. They were in Game 5 of the 2015 World Series, when the Royals clinched the title over the Mets, which, for Chad, was a very different experience and a far cry from watching the ’85 Series on a small TV in Kansas.
“We were four rows from the top of the stadium,” Elizabeth said. “As it became more obvious that they were going to win, we kept slipping away. That was a very special moment in our relationship.”
The couple tries to make it to Baltimore every time the Royals play at Camden Yards, and sports have been a big part of their life together. So when they decided to have a small, intimate wedding and were looking for venues that could hold 10 to 15 people, Elizabeth figured a suite would meet all of her needs, including seeing the Royals while they were in town.
“We’ve been coming to games for a long time, so it’s been a part of my experience living in DC and our experience since we’ve been out,” Chad said. “Almost everyone here enjoys baseball. So it’s a wedding and a baseball game all included.”
Chad and Elizabeth were married before the first pitch by umpire Chris Boesen. They took photos with their family before enjoying the game, and although the Royals lost, 6-1, no result on the field could contain the joy that surrounded the newlyweds.
“It is an honor and a privilege to be the first to introduce you as husband and wife, Chad and Elizabeth,” Boesen said at the conclusion of the ceremony. “Play ball!”
