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

Park #15

September 7, 2005, New York City, New York
Oh what a glorious day, not only did I get to see Yankee stadium for the first time, but the Yankees lost as well. The outside of the stadium, just like everything else in New York city, was just swarmed with people, it was crazy. And not only that, but there are just massive amounts of people selling things: food, shirts, and tickets. It was crazy, I think there were more scalpers at the game than people actually going to the game. I felt like I was waiting outside a castle, the place just looked like the grand bastion of baseball, it was pretty cool. It was very intimidating of a place as well. I mean, you look around, and you just know that this is where the Yankees have won 26 world championships, it’s like the stadium was one giant trophy. Then I started thinking about how much I hated the Yankees, how their payroll is like the same as the combined payroll of the entire national league minus the Mets (or something ridiculous like that). I began to hate the stadium solely for that, and then I started to feel like Luke Skywalker walking into the Death Star; I could hear the Imperial March playing in my head.
So, I went to the game with Koosed, and we got bleacher seats, which I thought would complete the Yankee experience. Well, it would have, but if you have bleacher seats, you aren’t allowed to go to the other parts of the stadium. I started to fear that this would turn out like my Dodger stadium experience, then I talked to a security guard. He said you could get a ticket upgrade and you could go to the other parts of the stadium. So, for $4, Koosed and I got ticket upgrades into right field. This was cool because then got to check out the rest of the stadium. There are a few things I noticed. First, Dewar’s Scotch is the official drink of the Yankees. This of course is hilarious. Secondly, it explains a lot. Third, its cool because they are giant pictures of Scotch all over the ballpark, it really made thirsty.
Second, almost every concession stand is the same. Every concession stand had hot dogs, pretzels, soda, and beer; nothing more, nothing less. Before the game started I wanted something to eat, but I wasn’t yet ready for my token dog, so I walked to the concession stand. Well, the above four choices didn’t do it for me, and I wanted to see what the stadium had to offer. So, I kept walking from stand to stand, and realized they were all the same. Kind of ironic that New York (the cultural diverse capital of the world) would have such a homogeny of stadium food.
Third, and most shockingly, New York fans aren’t as big of assholes as I thought they would be. Not a single person gave me shit about wearing an Indians hat. It was kind of disappointing, but oh well.
The stadium itself is glorious. I was surprised how high the stadium goes, there is a lower, a middle, and an upper deck, but the upper deck just goes up forever. I really wanted to go see the Yankee museum in left center field, which has a whole bunch of plaques and stuff regarding the Yankees history, but I got there too late. I guess the thing closes half an hour or so before the game, oh well. But, I could see part of it from my seats and it looked pretty good.
As for the game, I got to see Randy Johnson pitch, which is always a treat. Johnson pitched 6 1/3, giving up three runs (one of which Tom Gordon inherited) and only struck out five. Johnson still can dazzle them though; that guy’s slider is just phenomenal. The game was tied at 3 going into the ninth, and the Yanks brought in Mariano Rivera to pitch. Well, it didn’t turn out to be his night; an error by Robinson Cano allowed the go-ahead run to score. It always fun to watch the Yankees lose on a fielding error in the 9th. And then Yanks went quietly in the bottom of the ninth. There were three truly amazing things that happened during the game. First was Bernie Williams; he was on second base and John Flaherty hit a single to right. Williams decided to try to score and I knew from the minute the right fielder picked up the ball that he was gonna be out (and probably Williams did too). So, Bernie decided to fly full speed, shoulder first into the catcher. The catcher held onto the ball and Williams was out, but I give the guy credit. The guy is on the tail end of a great career, he’s been fighting injuries all season, and he still gives it his all with a very physical play; that is classy.
Second amazing thing was the crazy kid in our section. There was some kid who was clearly a few pounds on the heavy side, and he was about 16 or 17, and he looked like Napolean Dynamite after a solid month of eating at Mongolian BBQ. Well, for some reason between every inning, the guy decided that he was gonna do the worm in the aisles for a minutes and then get up a dance like a madman. It was pretty funny, it looked he was having a seizure. Picture a full body dry heave set to music and you have this guy.
Okay, the third thing that was amazing was the fans. These guys would cheer for a Yankees player like he was Greek God one minute, and as soon as gets out, they would treat him like SHIT. These fans turned on players faster than anything I’ve ever seen before, it was truly crazy.
As for food, I already said how the selections were less than good. The hot dog was nothing special, I mean it had flavor, but I’m starting to really see how a lot of hot dogs can be categorized as “your typical stadium hot dog”; this was clearly in that category.
Well, the Yankees lost, which was good, and the stadium was pretty cool and I definitely felt a wave of history overtaking me. I guess that I’m gonna give the stadium a B+.
Well, next stop Baltimore. 15 down, 5 to go.
Laz