A sparse crowd watched the Orioles falter late in yet another early-season loss on May 27. Among those in attendance were political leaders talking shop.

Gov. Wes Moore, fresh off a trade trip to Asia, met with Shigeo Yamada, Japan’s ambassador to the United States, in Orioles owner David Rubenstein’s Camden Yards suite that night, according to emails obtained recently through a public records request.

The meeting marked a collaboration between Moore and Rubenstein, the billionaire who headed a group that bought the Orioles last year. And it is another example of Moore’s penchant for using sports as a political entry point.

Moore spent a week in South Korea and Japan in April, and some of his appointments with dignitaries were coordinated by Yamada. When Moore’s team learned that Oriole Park would host the ambassador for Japanese Heritage Night — on a night when Japanese pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano would pitch for the Orioles — they reached out to the club.

On May 16, Manny Welsh, Moore’s deputy chief of staff, emailed Kerry Watson, Orioles executive vice president of public affairs, to request Moore’s participation.

“To further the relationship between the State and Japan, we were hoping that the Orioles would be amenable to adding Governor Moore as a co-host, along with Mr. Rubenstein, for the Japanese delegation,” Welsh wrote. “We believe this would send a powerful and meaningful message and underscores how much we value our relationship with Japan.”

Welsh said Moore also could extend personal invitations to encourage attendance from Japanese businesses.

A spokesperson for Moore, David Turner, said in a statement that “sports diplomacy is a critical element of fortifying Maryland’s relationship with Japan.”

“Governor Moore was delighted to take part in an event to greet Ambassador Yamada and Japanese business and diplomatic leaders with the Orioles,” Turner said.

Turner declined to share what Moore and Yamada discussed, saying the administration does not divulge private conversations. Yamada’s office did not reply to requests for comment.

Whether he’s shotgunning a spiked iced tea at a Ravens tailgate or moonlighting as “Governor Splash” in Camden Yards’ outfield seats, Moore has regularly used sports as a common touchstone with both voters and officials. The former Johns Hopkins University football player suited up in pads for a University of Maryland football practice last year and has thrown out first pitches at baseball games.

He has emphasized the importance of the Preakness Stakes, and his wife, Dawn, promoted a festival ahead of the race’s 150th edition this year. During a recent meeting of the Appalachian Regional Commission, she gave a presentation on the economic impact of the race.

Nowhere was Moore’s use of sports fandom as political currency on such intense display as his spring trip to Asia. Twice in the same day he had meetings with high-ranking Japanese government figures, and in both instances Moore invoked Sugano, the Orioles pitcher, as an entry point in conversation.

He discussed the pitcher’s performance during a morning meeting with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japan’s second-highest ranking official. Then, that afternoon, Moore met with the governor of Sugano’s home state and presented a signed Orioles jersey as a gift.

The ball-based diplomacy continued in South Korea, where he made plans to play golf with the governor of a Korean province and talked American football with defense executives.