This morning we drove to Baltimore again, this time to attend a baseball game at Orioles Park at Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles major league baseball team. Today the Orioles are hosting their neighbor, the Washington (D.C.) Nationals.
It was an uneventful drive and I did not lose any more hub caps... It is only about 17 miles from our campground, so it is not a long drive. We coordinated parking in advance, which is always a concern with the big ol' brown truck. I attempted to purchase a parking pass online in advance, but the system said they were sold out, so then we became concerned. I finally got a hold of a human and they said their system was screwed up and he sold me a digital parking pass over the phone.
The parking lot opened at 1100 hrs which is two hours before game time, and we arrived about 1050 hrs. The gates were open so they scanned the QR code on my phone and in we went. We basically had our pick of parking spots so we chose a back-in end spot to ensure easy exit when the lot became full.
We headed towards the stadium and found out they changed the rules due to COVID and they don't open the gates until 1200 hrs, so we had an hour to kill. We walked around the outside of the stadium and took a few pictures.
The Baltimore Orioles move to Baltimore from St Louis in 1954. They played baseball in Memorial Stadium which was a multi-purpose stadium in northern Baltimore. The city was a football city and their team was the Baltimore Colts. Baseball took second fiddle. In 1984 the Baltimore Colts moved to Indianapolis, partially because the city would not commit funds to replace Memorial Stadium. To keep the Orioles in town, the city started planning for a new baseball stadium.
Several firms were involved in different designs but they settled on a vintage design, which mirrored the team's turn-of-the-century origins. The same firm was contracted to complete similar retro redesigns of Fenway Park and Dodger Stadium. They began construction in 1989 and it continued for 33 months. The new stadium opened 6 Apr 1992 with the Orioles hosting Cleveland Indians.
Retro steel and brick look as you approach Orioles Park at Camden Yards
The walking path here is actually Eutaw Street but it is closed to vehicular traffic. Ticketed customers can walk here but the gates are not yet open. Along this pathway are brass markers in the concrete for home runs that were hit out there. No pictures of that but it was pretty cool!
The building to the east of the stadium is the old B&O Warehouse and has been remodeled into shops, offices and a private club.
We walked along the east side of the warehouse building
Across the street is the Camden Yards Metro train station
Interesting old buildings in downtown Baltimore near the ballpark
Babe Ruth Statue
Cal Ripkin Jr's number retired in 2001
Back side of the retro-looking
Manager Earl Weaver's number retired in 1982
We finished circling the stadium and ended up on the northwest side. Across the street are some bars and other establishment and we still had quite a while before we could get into the stadium, so we headed for one of the popular watering holes, "Pickles Pub" for a cold drink.
We relaxed in there for a while. It was really busy but the service was good. We then headed back across the street and got in line for security and ticketing. The line went quickly and soon we were inside. After a couple false alarms we finally found the elusive passport stamp at the main team store and Doreen got her book stamped. We then headed around the outfield passed the scoreboard and the bullpen areas. (This picture of those areas were taken on our way out.)
They use a tiered bullpen here. The Orioles bullpen is on field level and the visiting team's bullpen is above and behind it.
We walked around behind the third base side and found a food vendor I wanted to find. They sell a unique food here, called "Chesapeake fries". They are waffle fries with a crab meat and cheese sauce and Old Bay seasoning. I also got a crab cake. Doreen had chicken strips and fries.
They really globbed on the crab meat cheese sauce on the waffle fries (right) but it was really good. The crab cake (on the left) was also tasty. I just exceeded my calorie count for the week!
We found our seats in section #84, one section left of the bullpens. We don't normally sit in the outfield so this was a different look for us. Another difference is the incoming home run balls, which we saw four today! You have to pay attention during a hitting game! We hoped to see a former Chicago Cub, Kyle Schwarber, but he is on the injured list and not playing today.
A little before game time but not busy at all.
Our view from left field
It was a warm one and no shade of course
Very sparsely populated. Attendance today was just 15,690 in a stadium with seating for 45,971
WE saw most of the game before we had to head back so as not to exceed our dog bladder limitations! It was a close game but the Orioles would pull it off in the 9th with a 5-4 win over the Nats. We are glad we were able to visit this ball park and it is the last MLB park we will see on this trip. We plan to take in a Columbus (OH) Clippers game while there. They are the AAA affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, recently renamed the Guardians. We will also see the Indianapolis Indians who are the AAA affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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