Oriole Park at Camden Yards

8/10

Baltimore Orioles (American League)

These guys had a redbrick façade before it was cool.

Rolling out the orange carpet on the first day of the season.

The crowds file in with to watch the O's and Twins.

I headed over to Balitmore first thing in the morning on a Thursday in late March 2018, after catching a hockey game in D.C. the night before. I'd used a few hockey stops to fill in the few empty nights between spring training ending and Opening day. For me this meant seeing a Minnesota team that would miss the playoffs after finishing 2nd in the Central, versus a pretty bad Oriole team that would win 47 games. This was my first game ever in Maryland, so my first game here as well.

The ballpark is in downtown Baltimore, only a little ways off I-95. The neighbourhood has some restaurants and such, but overall, is a bit gritty. But that was just filler until the gates opened. I was very interested to see this place, as it's opening in the early 90's marked a big shift in ballpark design, even from Comiskey, which is a few years older. There's a wraparound concourse, the redbrick exterior and green seats that are common in Populous designed ballparks. Going there in 2018, this seems very pedestrian as according to Wikipedia, it's one of 17 parks in the majors they had a role in designing, not to mention the handful they were in charge of renovating. But in 1992, this place was groundbreaking, as it replaced a somewhat less appealing multi-purpose stadium. The pedestrian only section of Eutaw Street behind right field, forms a concourse during games and is gated off from the park afterwards. A former railway maintenance building behind right field has been converted into offices and is probably this park's most distinctive feature. 

Food was pretty unremarkable, but my 3 year old memory at this point doesn't help. Atmosphere was of course very lively, as Opening Day draws a big, excited crowd, who ended up seeing a tight game that only ended with the first pitch of the bottom of the 11th inning being hit out by Adam Jones. An opening day victory in extras for the home team was a neat moment for sure.

Overall, this park is a legend, if only because it was first, so I'd give the facility a point and a half point for atmosphere. Baltimore is a divisional opponent for my preferred birds, the Blue Jays, so I could easily end up back here someday.

Linescore

2018-03-29

                     123    456   789  10  11  RHE

Minnesota     000    000   002  0    0    280

Baltimore      000    000   200  0    1    350

Temp: 65F  Time: 3:31   Att:  45,469