Park #16

September 7, 2005: Baltimore, Maryland
Camden Yards was one of the few parks I had previously seen before I began my tour, I had actually seen it twice previously. The first time I saw it was about ten years when I accompanied my dad on a business trip to Baltimore, and we went to the game. The other time was when I spent the summer in DC and my program went to an Orioles game one night. Well, all I can say is that time is a bitch, cause I did not remember how SWEET this park was. First and foremost, the Orioles do not have a long history, they’ve only been a franchise for fifty-one years, but the stadium does a GREAT job at showing their history as a club. They do wonders around that ballpark at preserving their traditions and immortalizing their great players. For example, out on Eutaw street, outside the stadium’s main gates they have a statue of Babe Ruth. This is truly extraordinary because Ruth never even played for Baltimore. Babe Ruth did grow up in the Baltimore area and so the city decided to honor him for that by building him a statue. I think that is really cool, it made me think about how really no other cities honor the players they spawned, but only the players who played for them.
Secondly, in this same area in front of the main gates, they have a three foot high metal number for each of the players for Baltimore who have had their numbers retired. Also, right next to the stadium, there is building that is the Baltimore Legends or something like that. It is a small museum honoring Baltimore sports as a whole. So I went in, and it looked cool, but it was like $15 to get in, so I just went to the gift shop; good times.
As you get into the stadium, you see that there is a whole street that goes from the main gate on Eutaw to the other main gate, and the whole way down is concession stands and shops. It was really cool. It was like Yawkey way in Boston, but it was in the park, so it wasn’t too crowded. But there was a lot to see on this makeshift street; they had an Orioles Wall of Fame. Also, there were picnic tables in this area so you could sit down and eat, and still be able to see the game.
Also, if you’ve ever seen Camden Yards on TV, you probably noticed the giant warehouse behind the ballpark. And as you look from the field out into centerfield, you can see this warehouse on one side, and a pretty good view of the city on the other side. This was a really cool thing to see. The brick warehouse really adds to the décor of the stadium, and you guys know how I love brick in baseball stadiums. Secondly, as indicated by previous posts, being able to see part of the city is a wonderful thing. The only thing that confused me was that next to the scoreboard, there is a huge blank green wall, I’m not really sure what it was for, but it seemed unnecessary. If anyone knows what its purpose is, I would appreciate the enlightening.
The most exciting part of the game for me was during batting practice. The visiting team was warming up and hitting batting practice, and I was over on the third base line, about 2/3 of the way up the line watching the players hit. I think Orlando Hudson was hitting (who later had to leave the game after he did something to his knee sliding into home), and he hit one down the line. Well, I saw that it was rolling down the line towards where I was standing, so I reached over the stands and stretched onto the field. Well, fully extended (and with no glove) I managed to catch the ball and to not fall onto the field. This was pretty cool, my first foul ball!!!!
Okay, back to the stadium. There really is a lot of brick in the stadium, but its not overwhelming. Also, the edge of the seats, bordering the field is made of brick, but they cover over it with that plastic green stuff, which I think is the perfect combination. As for the seats, there really didn’t seem to be too many bad seats in that park. I mean, most of the seats seem to be pretty close to the field. Also, there was almost no one at the game; they said the attendance was 20,000, but I think only about 15 showed up. So, Rusty and I went down to the field level about 12 rows back for most of the game. Good stuff.
As for food, the hot dogs were out of this world. On that little street I mentioned, they sell hot dogs, sausage, and brats that are all made on the grill, and they put grilled onions and peppers on there as well, MMMMMM. That dog I had was great stuff. I also walked by a few of the other places, they had BBQ beef, pulled pork, grilled hamburgers, ribs; they really had a lot to choose from. I was most impressed. I also saw that they had a stand that only sold Icee drinks. Now, I absolutely love those things, getting the blue and red mixed together, its friggin awesome. So, I ordered one, but the 16 year old running the stand said that they were closed. In a rage and fury, I actually looked him right in the eye and said “WHY?”, well he was kinda scared and only managed to respond by saying “Machine…….broke”. Well, I walked all over the stadium looking for another Icee stand, I found one, but it was broken too. I was heartbroken. For the next three innings, I couldn’t think about anything except trying to get my hands on an Icee, but it was not meant to be. Man, I needs me an Icee.
As for the game, what a sloppy game. I think both of these teams (Orioles and Blue Jays) have a lot of talent, but I honestly believe that they have poor leadership and that they are both just prone to lots of errors and big mistakes. The game clearly reflected this. The Orioles made two errors, and the Jays made three, it was pretty nasty. However, even with three errors, a lot of walks, and a bunch of hits, the O’s only managed to put up 4 runs. They just had no clutch hitting whatsoever. The game was pretty close until the 7th inning when the Orioles gave up 4 runs to the Jays on a bunch of bad pitches. The Jays ended up winning 7-4. One of the highlights of the game was when Miguel Tejada hit a high fly ball to the right field corner. The right fielder went back and got under the ball, but for some reason at the last second, while still going back, he tripped over air and fell on his butt and completely missed the ball. Tejada ended up with a triple. It was kinda funny to watch.
Overall, Camden Yards is a beautiful park with mucho brick and mucho history to it. I think the food (even with a broken Icee machine) was great. I’m gonna give the park an A- and highly recommend that you check it out.
Well, next stop, our nation’s capital for the Washington Nationals game.
16 down, 4 to go.
Laz