Ballpark: Oriole Park at Camden Yards

I finally got to see the Tigers play a game as they took on the Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Sunday, June 2. I have rooted for the home team at every game thus far but I made an exception for this game. I took the light rail into the Camden Yards district of Baltimore from the north side of baltimore so I didn't have to pay for parking. Prior to the game, I didn't really understand the full name of the stadium. I quickly figured out that the ballpark is called Oriole Park and the district of Baltimore is called Camden Yards.

Like many of the newer ballparks, Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a "retro" ballpark: built from bricks, steel lighting towers, and a city view beyond centerfield. What makes Oriole Park unique is that it started the whole "retro" trend, when it was built around 20 years ago. Also  Oriole Park looks and emits the old time baseball feeling far more than the other retro-style ballparks I have been to this year (AT&T Park, Citi Field, and Citizens Bank Park). Adjacent to the ballpark is a converted old brick warehouse that now contains the Oriole team store, a few restaurants, a private club, and a few offices. You must have a ticket to walk between the ballpark and the warehouse on game days but is open to the public on non-game days. On the sidewalk between the buildings are a few bronze plates embedded in the sidewalk where players have hit home runs over the right field stands. At the centerfield end of the sidewalk are a ton of picnic table and a patio overlooking the field.

I was told the crab pretzel was a new item at the ballpark that a lot of people liked. I decided to hold off on getting the pretzel for the time being in part because I couldn't find the stand that sold it. The other reason I held off on the pretzel was I was a disappointed that I had just bought a ticket for $30 from a scalper. Even though the ticket price was $35, I was thinking I should have just bought the scalpers cheapest ticket and moved down after the third inning or so. I had to ask the usher where my seat was and she told me that I was in the all-you-can-eat club section! At that point was I glad I bought the ticket and held off on the pretzel! Throughout the game, I feasted on hotdogs, peanuts, nachos, a salad, and ice cream. This turned out to be a cheaper venture than if I would have bought a $15 ticket. The location of my seat was pretty good too: in the second level just beyond the left field fence. The club itself was nice as well with couches, memorabilia, and higher class concession stands. One other thing of note on the park was that the entire crowd shouted "O" in the second to last verse of the Star Spangled Banner (a la Ohio State).

As for the game, Rick Porcello started off strong for my Tigers, scattering only a few hits through 6 innings as Torii Hunter made a real nice catch to prevent a extra-base hit early in the game. Unfortunately, the Tigers were only able to give Porcello a 2-0 lead on a Prince Fielder home run and a Jhonny Peralta single. The Tigers grounded into 4 double plays on the afternoon and allowed the Orioles to escape many innings without any damage. In the bottom 7th inning, the wheels fell off for Porcello. He gave up a bomb to right center field to Oriole slugger Chris Davis and back-to-back singles. Phil Coke came in for the Tigers and allowed both inherited runners to score. The Orioles padded their lead to 4-2 and Jim Johnson saved the game in the 9th inning despite a leadoff single by Miguel Cabrera.

My take-away from Oriole Park at Camden Yards is that it is a modern classic among ballparks. Many of the special feature of Oriole Park when it was built have been copied to some of the newer "retro" ballparks. What keeps Oriole Park at Camden Yards a great ballpark is the warehouse and sidewalk beyond right field and the old time baseball feeling although all the stadium has modern amenities.

Update: Just writing my review of Nationals Park, I remembered a key aspect of Oriole Park at Camden Yards that nearly all new ballparks have implemented: limited foul territory. The field level seats are very close to fair territory from foul pole to foul pole. This gives the hitters a slight advantage since many foul popups reach the seats. The big winners are the fans, who are close to the action.