Game 9: Baltimore Orioles

After pulling into DC the night before, we drove to Baltimore on Tuesday to see the Orioles take on the Pittsburgh Pirates.  We trekked the forty miles and found ourselves smack dab in the middle of Baltimore.  As we begin to look for parking, we notice a spot open on the street about 7 blocks away from the stadium.  The meter only had to be fed for another hour and then we were free to park for the rest of the night.  Needless to say, we jumped for our bag of change, eager to feed the meter.   The $1.50 that we paid made Baltimore the cheapest stadium parking to date.

After exploring the city prior to the game, we head to the stadium.  As we approach the stadium, one of the first features we notice is the large amount of brick around Camden Yards.  The brick is also integrated into many of the buildings and sidewalks that can be found within at least a four-block radius of the stadium.  This stadium is often seen called the stadium that revolutionized the modern ballpark and it is easy to see why.  When you enter from the outfield, a grassy pavilion greets you on your right, and if you continue straight, you walk along what acts like a side street with shops.  This street has concession stands on the right, and a warehouse made of brick on the left that appeared to house the Orioles offices on the upper decks and shops on the bottom.  Lights on top of the building illuminated the field once the sun went down.

The walkway with the warehouse on the left.

We initially sat in the outfield in the first row behind the fence and had a great view of the field.  There didn’t seem to be a bad seat in the house.  After a couple of innings we moved seats.  As we walked, we cruised through the concourses, which were nice and open.  It didn’t feel crowded at all, even though there weren’t that many people there since it rained earlier in the day.  We arrive at our new seats behind home plate, and the view was even better.  We could see the skyline peeking out from behind the scoreboard, and little nuances in the scoreboard (The board was sponsored by The Sun Times, and the “H” in the The would blink if it was a hit and the “E” would blink if there was an error.  It was definitely a well-put together ballpark that incorporated the city around it with the old time feel of baseball stadiums.  It is easy to see why 20 years later Camden Yards is still regarded by many as the best ballpark around.

The game turned out to be a good one.  The O’s rallied early and kept adding on runs throughout the game.  Despite a couple late rallies by the Pirates, the O’s held on to win 8-6.  As we walked away from the game, we marveled at the stadium and couldn’t believe that we had just watched the Pirates and Orioles play each other as top teams in their respective divisions.