14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
Baseball fan left ‘total mess' after love of sport leads to jackpot lottery win
A baseball fan was left a 'total mess' after realizing she'd won the jackpot in a baseball-themed lottery game in Maryland, officials said.
The winner told officials she buys different kinds of lottery tickets for six months every year, then buys only baseball-themed games from April through September, officials said in a May 13 news release.
'I love the (Baltimore) Orioles, so when the season starts it just feels natural to play baseball games,' she said.
The Maryland Lottery offers those tickets each spring. 'Whether it's a scratch-off or FAST PLAY, I always choose the baseball game and I always seem to win — but not like this,' she said.
The financial consultant found out she'd won $84,503 on a $5 Home Run Riches Walk-off Winnings ticket while she was in a car outside a market, officials said.
'It didn't seem real,' she said. 'I just stared at the ticket. Total shock.'
She confirmed the win with the lottery app and rushed home to show her family, officials said.
'I was a wreck, a total mess. I couldn't put the words together to tell them what was happening, so I just showed them the ticket,' she said. 'This whole thing is just so exciting.'
And although she never expected a jackpot win, the woman told officials she watches every Orioles game 'hoping to see her name when the Contestant of the Game is mentioned.'
