Game #10: Beyond Thunderdome

Ah…. Central Florida. Home of sun-seeking and retired New Yorkers and New Englanders. More on that later. And home of heat, humidity, mosquitos, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Before Tampa Bay had a team, this was the holy grail of team-relocation destinations, with the Giants, White Sox, and Mariners all threatening to head there. Now that the D-Rays are actually there, and drawing tiny crowds game after game, the man behind the curtain’s been revealed. Perhaps it’s the city, perhaps it’s the park, or perhaps it’s because the team has been truly putrid for its entire existence. However you slice it, this was probably my least-anticipated park on the tour, though as with RFK, it was not as bad as I’d feared.

My first impression of Tropicana field was to see the most astonishing two words I’ve ever seen at a sporting facility. I still have trouble repeating this. Take a look to the right:

While forewarned, I was definitely struck by how much the concourses felt like a shopping mall, and completely distanced from the park itself. Amazingly enough, that was even more true than in the old Hartford Civic Center – you know, the one that actually IS in a mall.

The other great pre-game feature was to provide the evening’s weather forecast – I LOVED this. The irony of running a big screen weather forecast in a domed stadium was beautiful.


The crowd was predictably tiny. Still, this meant I was able to buy a fairly cheap ticket at $17, and easily upgrade to a $55 seat, as seen below. The ushers seemed to realize the folly of trying to keep people in their sections, and really didn’t seem to care about anything.

In a lot of ways, the Devil Rays experience was a lot like heading to Florida for a spring training game. You get to get right up to the field, see teams consisting of some major leaguers and a bunch of minor leaguers, and it doesn’t put you back that much money. All-in-all, not bad.


To be fair, I was far more impressed with Tropicana Field than I’d expected to be. Inside the park bowl itself, it really does look almost more like a true ballpark with a dome around it, rather than a domed stadium with baseball being played inside, if that makes any sense. The seats are all arranged for baseball, the atmosphere’s kind of right, and the dome starts to fade into additional-feature status. And, with some of the torrential Florida rain I experienced on my drive down today, I can definitely understand the need for a serious roof.


Here’s a picture of the stuff they’re playing on. Being a permanent dome, the prospect of real grass appears to be unfeasible, but they’ve been able to work with a fake plastic grass that seems far more fitting than the green carpet found in Toronto and Minnesota. Not bad, really.


I was very impressed with outfielders’ ability to keep track of the ball in the roof. Every time the ball went up in the air, I’d completely lose it against the white backdrop. Too crazy. Also fantastic about the roof is the fact that it can be in play, so much so that there are foul-line poles built right into the catwalks. Great stuff.


I did get a bit of whiplash watching these two teams play. For the second time in 2 weeks, I was privy to the intense drama of an Orioles-Devil Rays matchup. Err… yeah. In retrospect, I wonder what impact the dull teams this had on my impression of Camden Yards last week. Let’s just say I’m looking forward to that Cubs-Cards match-up far more than these two bottom-feeder games. The O’s won, thanks to the Rays’ inability to put more than a single run on the board.


The fans seemed truly peeved at former Ray Aubrey Huff, booing him every time he came to the plate. While I can understand and appreciate booing players who leave teams on bad terms, or follow free agent money elsewhere without showing respect to their old team, Huff was traded away. This, I don’t understand. Regardless, the treatment seemed to spur him on, as he had a great game and a great series. Not a great ploy, D-Ray fans.

Finally, in the spirit of Bostonians retiring to South Florida, the top historic D-Ray star appears to have been Wade Boggs, who played out the string down here, with a concourse display, a retired number, and a yellow seat in the outfield commemorating where his 3000th hit, a home run, left the yard. And, in order to make the New Yorkers feel at home, the following mural gives the impression of having just come off a NY subway. Very Florida.



Ok… off to South Florida next.

Game #9: Evening in Hotlanta

The drive to Atlanta was perhaps one of the toughest of the trip. It’s 10-11 hours from DC to Atlanta, and I left in the morning, and needed to get to Atlanta in time for a 7:30 first pitch. In the end, it wasn’t that bad at all, but, as I’d previously mentioned, the irony is that the game wound up going 5+ hours and 14 innings. Figures.

That drive also exemplified part of the point of doing this as a road trip. It’s been remarkable how quickly I’ve gone from one area of the country to another, as just like that my surroundings have gone from distinctly East Coast to thoroughly Mid-West, to American South. Toss in Northern, Central, and Southern Florida, which are also very distinct from one another, and you really get a feel of moving around the country. While I’d anticipated this to a certain extent, I was still struck by the suddenness with which the environment seemed to change.

A couple of things about the drive down were particularly amusing:

* The Phillip Morris headquarters in North Carolina, including the cigarette shaped post in the picture to the right.

* Highway billboards suddenly promoting values such as Right to Life and Abstinence.

* Lots and lots of religious-oriented highway billboards with messages as eerie as “Welcome to Georgia, mortality rate 100%. Are you ready?”

* This was classic: An “inmates working” sign on the side of the freeway, followed by orange-jumpered inmates cleaning the side of the road

And yes, while Georgia can probably be considered the most civilized state in the South, and Atlanta its metropolitan center, there were definitely fans at the game with accents (and approaches to yelling at the opposing team) that would have done Cletus of the Simpsons proud.
Ok… on to Turner Field, aka, The Ted. Generally, this was definitely quite a nice park, with a good feel, size, and atmosphere. It’s relatively big, but despite the flak the Braves get for not filling it, including for some playoff games, even this Thursday evening game against the Astros had plenty of people in the park. Furthermore, with the track record the Braves have had recently, you can forgive the fans for being a bit blasé about turning out in droves for mid-day weekday playoff games.


This was also the home of Hank Aaron, a fact that was reinforced throughout the park. With Barry having just tied the record, this particularly stood out, including mentions of 755 everywhere, and a big panel on the back of the scoreboard saying “715”


In an interesting approach, the Braves also had a set of seats allocated as “all-you-can-eat” seats, with the price of food included in the ticket. This was a novel idea – we’ll see if it spreads.


The torch from the 1996 Olympic games is, meanwhile, bravely guarding the corner of a parking lot. This is quite a shame, really, as it would have been great to see the flame incorporated into the park somehow. While this is likely the original location from the Olympic Stadium, prior to its remodeling into the current baseball-only park, it’s still a bit disappointing.


The classic Braves signature, the Tomahawk chop turned out to be not nearly so annoying when at the stadium and cheering for the Braves as it is when watching on TV and rooting for the other team. And the fans definitely get into it.


The Braves scoreboard deserves a nod. The screen was great, but more to the point, the elements shown on the scoreboard were especially good. Baseball is a statistic-driven sport, and the more stats provided to the fans, the better. Unique to the Ted were details listed in the same format used when scoring by hand, and shown both on an inning-by-inning and player-by-player basis over the course of the game. Good stuff. That said, the left-on-base (LOB) line score item shown in some parks wasn’t included here – a notable oversight.


The game itself, as I said, went 14 innings. The Braves should have won, as they were up 9-5, but gave up a grand slam in the 8th in a situation were, arguably, all three baserunners should have been out. The Braves then came back from being down 2 runs in the 12th with a home run off Astros closer Brad Lidge. In the end, it was a battle of attrition, as both teams started running out of players and pitchers. The Astros go-ahead run, tragically enough, was batted in by reserve starting pitcher Jason Jennings, scheduled to have a day off, and nursing a season batting average of .057. Dah…

Let me also include a quick shout out to kegeratornation.com. I had a good chat with Braves fan Mike from Columbus as the night went on and the Braves continued to squander chance after chance. He, and his friends, keep this blog going, talking about all matter of sports stories, with an emphasis on Ohio sports.

Oh yeah – one final thing. There’s far too much red in this league right now. The Astros had a great thing going with the yellow and orange, and while it was painfully seventies, a modern upgrade could, perhaps, have taken them down the road of UT burnt orange. Instead, the yet-again-red meant two nights in a row of red-clad fans cheering against red-clad fans. Ah well…

Game #8: I pledge allegiance, to the frat.. No, wait, that's to the flag... No, wait, apparently it's to the Nats

Ah… RFK Stadium. Key word, “stadium”. Because it really is. Also, while it was the 2nd true stadium on the trip, after Shea, and while Shea has the same large-concrete-structure feel to it, Shea at least carries the impression of being a baseball park due to years of seeing the Mets play there. RFK, meanwhile, is a football stadium temporarily housing the Nationals, and feels it. That said, RFK did exceed my admittedly-low expectations.


RFK’s also the most recently added stadium in baseball. And, while I’ve gotten great tips from The Ultimate Baseball Road-Trip, by Josh Pahigian and Kevin O’Connell, their 3-year-old book included tips on seating, food, neighborhood bars and things to see in Montreal, but not at RFK.

In part as a result of this lack of guidance, my purchased seat was absolutely horrendous. Buying a Terrace seat at the back of the field level, I’d not anticipated the overhang of the upper deck. This completely cut off the view of any ball hit into the air, and created a constrained claustrophobic feel. I lasted there all of a half-inning, easy because the ushers throughout the park (except, ironically in my section), were very flexible about people moving around. And yes, that picture is real – that’s not a letterbox image


My second seat, on the outfield 3rd base line was far better, and in fact, provided quite a good vantage point on the game. And as the game went along, I warmed to the park. The single most notable, and rewarding, feature of RFK is this…. It shakes. The footsteps of a lone small boy walking down the aisle beside your section can be enough to create a bit of a tremor, and when the place got going, it really came alive with energy. This really illustrated to me how incredible this place must have been for football, since if 28 thousand generally mild-mannered DC baseball fans were able to create the sort of seismic activity that I experiences, the impact of 50 thousand plus rabid football fanatics would have been phenomenal. That would have been an experience


Meanwhile, the Nats move to new digs starting next year. Once I’ve caught up on the games, I’ll touch upon new park openings in one of these entries.

The Nationals, like all teams, do occasional bobblehead days, and do a mid-game faux race around the field. But, this being DC, the bobblehead day a few days after my visit was for… yep…. Thomas Jefferson, and the race featured Tom, George, Abe, and Teddy. Too funny.


Along the right field wall was the DC “Hall of Stars”. One comment only: With all the illustrious history of the Caps, how can Rod Langway be the only hockey player represented??


The Nats turned on the offense during the first couple of innings, getting to Red starter Bronson Arroyo early for 7 runs in the first two innings, and then held on through the rest of the game. For one night, at least, my home team mojo was back in force.


Finally, for the American Idol fan(s) out there, the 7th inning stretch rendition of “God Bless America” was sung by this guy, who apparently almost won a recent season of American Idol. He was sitting in the row right behind me, and was interviewed early in the game, much to my confusion, and was then mobbed for autographs when he returned at the end of the 7th.

755

I guess they didn't make Petco "Barry-proof" after all.

Op/Ed

Ok… so I’ve got to comment on this. Bud Selig, baseball commissioner, whose job, as I can best understand it, appears to be to look like a toad at major baseball events, recently referred to his duty of following Barry around from stadium to stadium in his chase of 755 as a “Herculean effort”.

Are you kidding me? The guy’s JOB is to be there for the photo opp. He gets paid about $14 million a year for it. And being driven by limo and private jet from luxury box to luxury box in order to watch baseball is a “Herculean effort”???

Still, it did get me thinking. If that’s Herculean, I wonder quite what my trip would be? Any thoughts out there?

Game #7: Not a Pit After All

PNC Park was rated the best park in the majors a few years ago in an unscientific ranking system devised by two ESPN columnists, just edging out the Park By The Bay in San Francisco. And indeed, both the park itself, and the city of Pittsburgh, were a huge hit for me, presenting a fantastic environment for baseball in a very cozy and intimate setting. It really is a shame the team stinks.



The park was highly reminiscent of AT&T Park in SF, perhaps not surprising given the fact that the same architect firm was used for both. The exposed brick and steel have become common elements, but in general layout and feel, there were definite similarities. Also, the potential for balls heading to right field to go into the water, in this case the Allegheny River, is a nice touch. The great thing about PNC is the city skyline beyond the right field wall, with the presence of numerous beautiful bridges in the near background. Those bridges mirror another great aspect of Pittsburgh, in that they all reflect the yellow color palette so integral to Pittsburgh. Yellow steel is used throughout in the bridges, yellow brick is common throughout the city and the ballpark, and the use of yellow and black for all three of the city’s sports teams provides a common thread of a type I’ve always wished more cities would adopt. Instantly recognizable as Pittsburgh, this prevalence of yellow is really a great touch.


I was given heard two random city facts, neither validated, but both interesting enough to include here: 1) Pittsburgh has more bridges than any world city after Venice (!), perhaps because of the easy availability of steel? 2) Pittsburgh is the second oldest city in the USA from a demographic standpoint, a sign of its stagnant economic situation.

Unlike the last few parks I’ve been at, and even though PNC is a new park, there are few distractions. The focus of the building is very definitely upon the baseball, and while a small replica park is in place in right field, you can tell that the intention is for the fans to be focusing upon the game.


There were great food options throughout, including the repeatedly recommended Primanti Brothers sandwich (yes, those fries are inside the sandwich), for which I actually visited the original site for lunch, and including a second signature food typical of the region, pierogis. This Eastern European delicacy is essentially a potato, cheese, and onion ravioli. Both the sandwich and the pierogis were tasty, and highly representative of the area, though both were fairly subtle in flavor. Beer selections were good as well, with a wide variety of local microbrews available on tap.



Tickets were plentiful and inexpensive, likely a reflection both upon the cost of living of the city itself and the misfortunes of the team.

The game was unfortunate, and having built such a great building in which to play baseball, it is indeed too bad that the Pirates do such a bad job inside of it. The game was against the Cardinals, a team that hasn’t been playing particularly well this year in their attempt to follow up their World Series championship. However, the Pirates really never threatened to win the game at all. While the score was close throughout, and ended at 6-4, there was something of a sense in the air that it really wasn’t going to happen.

If you were to point at one representative moment from the game, though, it would have to be the putrid play of the Pittsburgh catcher, Ronny Paulino. With two outs and a man on 1st in a tie game, Paulino was lackadaisical on a high foul pop-up, dropping it for an error. The very next pitch was doubled to center, though the outfielder got the ball into the infield in time for a play at the plate. But Paulino then proceeded to mishandle the throw to the plate, letting the go-ahead run score, and really being the beginning of the end. Radio hosts and callers were irate after the game, screaming for blood, and demanding that he be sent immediately to AAA, AA, A, or perhaps Cuba. But, this being the Pirates, he’s sure to be a fixture for years to come.

[Editor’s note: Paulino did hit a grand slam the next day, and then another HR the day after that, perhaps getting some vindication. Meanwhile, the Braves demonstrated the sort of decisiveness for which the Pirate fans were clamoring the next day, in which they demoted a poorly performing starting pitcher only 30 minutes after their game was over.]



Finally, I failed to mention this on the blog entry covering my drive to Pittsburgh, but there’s a small spur of West Virginia that comes on up and sticks itself between Canton, OH and Pittsburgh. With all apologies to Al, just that little hyper-rural stretch of local highways (I was not on the interstate at this time) did rather reinforce the WV stereotype quite a lot. My favorite example, and one that I’d really like to hope was a joke, was the sign, crudely painted on a piece of discard wood beside a very run down store that said “Got Far Wood”. Read it again if you didn’t quite catch that, and don’t be afraid to adopt a fake accent.

Late Games and Road Trips

Because, you see, I should have good and well predicted that on a day in which I drove for 11 hours from DC to Atlanta, before tomorrow's drive for 7 hours from Atlanta to Tampa, tonight's Braves game was obviously destined to run until well past midnight over 5+ hours and 14 innings. Aie...



Blog entries for Pittsburgh, DC, and Atlanta are on their way. My home-team mojo appears to be on the fritz, as I went 1-2 through that stretch. PNC Park's incredible, RFK wasn't as bad as I expected, and Turner Field was good fun. More later...

Another Interlude and Arrival in Pittsburgh

Having missed out on the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, but finding myself with some time between waking in Cleveland and arriving in Pittsburgh, I decided to take another detour into another sport, and visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH.



This was a neat experience, and interesting to see, especially with the hall preparing itself for this weekend’s induction ceremonies. The parking lot had been taken over for temporary tents, while everywhere were banners, signs, and merchandise regarding the new inductees of the class of 2007. Especially of interest (for me, at least) was the Redskin-related memorabilia, including the bust of once-and-again coach Joe Gibbs, at right. That said, there was an element to which I wasn’t as steeped in the tradition and the lore of the sport, and thus had less of a connection with many of the players than others might have. That last concern is something I expect to have no problem with at all when I arrive in Toronto and get a chance to see the Hockey Hall of Fame.

I’ve now arrived in Pittsburgh in advance of tomorrow night’s game against St Louis, hoping to once again get my home-team-mojo going. Upon arriving, my very gracious hosts (Thanks Tom & Patter, and Beage as well) gave me a great overview of the city, including dinner at a fantastic location, offering tremendous views over the city below. I’m digging Pittsburgh – while it may be struggling from an economic standpoint, it’s definitely got a beautiful location and skyline. The park’s supposed to be fantastic as well, and I’m eagerly looking forward to seeing that for myself tomorrow night.

Observation: "A Table for One, Please"

Attending a baseball game is an inherently social activity, as the interaction between fan and game is generally nicely enhanced with some good quality fan-to-fan interaction. Not that a game can’t be a great experience on your own, but that I, for one, tend to hope for opportunities to get to know other fans around me. Given that 4 of my first 6 games have been alone, I’ve definitely been looking out for some good-quality conversation. And whether it’s been just a couple of exchanges, engaging in an in-depth conversation, or making a new friendship that carries on after leaving the park, I’ve fortunately been doing pretty well so far.

The roadtrip itself is a great icebreaker, as it turns out. While selling people on the concept in the UK produced a mixed, if generally positive impression, raising the concept to other fans at a baseball game has brought uniform enthusiasm, and a hearty collection of “I’ve always wanted to do that” responses. To call out a few examples in particular:

I met a very cool person at the Yankee game, despite her insistence on cheering for the Yankees as a day-to-day activity rather than just as a ballpark-touring temporary allegiance. We discovered soon into our conversation that we shared a fair bit in the way of common background and career direction, and that our common deep interest in sports made for a great backdrop for ongoing conversation. This really helped enhance the Yankee Stadium experience. And, credit where credit’s due, my schedule re-jigging to hit up Cleveland earlier in the trip was inspired by this dedicated Yankee fan. Hats off.

The Phillies game worked out well from several fronts. On my right were the three people who’d received 4 tickets to the game (free), sold one of them to a pair of Mets fans outside the stadium (at face value), who then sold it to me (for a premium). From a financial point of view, I suppose I had the short straw, but I still realized economic profit vis-à-vis my willingness to pay, so all was good. My being the 4th seat of the group almost made for a natural introduction and for easygoing conversation throughout the game. I also had a very good time talking to the couple on my other side, who were splitting innings with their daughter and her boyfriend between these seats and standing-room only. The daughter’s softball scholarship to university was an obvious indication of a thorough knowledge of the sport, and all 4 were great to spend time with.

My experience at the Orioles games was a bit more limited in interaction. Though to be fair, even just a brief description of my tour to a man visiting the game with his two teenage kids in the row behind me was enough to get him to offer me a beer at last call – “out of respect for the worthiness of my trip”. Good stuff.

We’ll see how things continue moving on, though with the reputation for hospitality and friendliness prevalent in the South and in the Mid-west, I’m guessing there’ll be plenty of good quality conversations ahead.

Game #6: Cleveland Rocks

Ok, so maybe not so much.

In fairness, when I arrived last night, I was very impressed with the city. With a downtown area far more populated with large buildings than I’d anticipated, and with a free outdoor blues festival underway just a short walk from my hotel, I was definitely digging it. But, after spending one additional day here, with an afternoon game and a bit of a wander both after the game and at night, I can safely say I’m done. Not a bad city, mind you, but just one from which I'm ready to move on.

Jacobs Field (aka “The Jake”) is another of the original new-era baseball-only parks, and was a natural segue after Camden Yards as a result. For anyone exceptionally perceptive, you’ll have noticed that Cleveland was intended to fit later in the tour. As it happens, with 4 days between games, and with my tentative plan of heading to Cooperstown subdued by realization that this was the Hall of Fame’s induction weekend, and that access & lodging would be difficult to come by, I figured I’d slip in a quick side trip from Pittsburgh to Cleveland in order to create more buffer later in the schedule. Hopefully this’ll help if I run into rain-outs further down the path.

Jacobs, though, both didn’t carry the weight of expectations of Camden, and was still built as a modern park – just as a nicely architected, baseball-only park. And for this reason, it was definitely a pleasant experience, and a nice place to see a game. The one disappointment was that I’d decided to get upper deck tickets again, but close to the front of the upper deck and immediately behind home plate. However, I quickly realized that the upper deck at the Jake is certainly higher than most, due to three (!) levels of luxury boxes, providing a resultant disappointing vantage point. It’s a bit worrisome, though – while I’ve not really looked over the plans for the two new parks in NY, it’s certainly believable that they might emphasize increased number of luxury boxes at the expense of the view of those in the upper deck. Given the great quality of the front-ward upper-deck tickets at Yankee Stadium, that’d be a real shame.

The feature of the Jake I particularly appreciated was the inclusion of a shrine to their top old players in the form of a small monument park in right field. This concept, inspired by Yankee Stadium and also included in Baltimore and Philadelphia, was particularly well done here, including the following small plaque to former Indian and current Giant Omar Vizquel.


Two other notable elements: First, the restaurant in right field was particularly impressive in terms of providing fantastic views and a luxurious-seeming feel to diners. Second, while activities for kids are common at new parks, Jacobs Field, for the first time, also featured a full-fledged playground for young kids, complete with kid-sized benches and tables surrounding the outside. Pretty impressive.

On to the game. Unfortunately, it appears my home-team charm effect may have worn off. I’d bought my ticket projecting this to be an ace-vs-ace matchup of CC Sabathia and Johan Santana, only to miss Santana by one night. However, Sabathia was brilliant, reaching the 2-outs-in-the-8th point in the game with a 1-0 shutout still intact. From then it all began to unravel. First, a deep fly ball to right flew over (poor-fielding) RF Trot Nixon’s head, scoring the tying run. Then, a routine grounder to the second baseman was first boggled (error #1), and then thrown away (error #2), getting the batter to 2nd and the man on 2nd home. Classic little-league stuff, compounding problems with further problems. Remember “Major League”, with Charlie Sheen as Wild Thing and Bob Uecker as the sarcastic commentator? There’s a reason they chose the Indians as their team, and despite the team playing far better since the Jake was built, they clearly still know how to mail one in.

That said, there was a point in the game that very much felt like a classic game changing moments, providing the typical rush of adrenaline and excitement through the stadium crowd. In the 6th inning, in a 1-0 ball game, with a man on 3rd and nobody out, Sabathia was able to get out of the jam by striking out the side. Wow. That got the crowd pumped and into the game, and in a split second, helped further highlight why it is that this game is so fun. Unfortunately, it wound up not being enough, leaving the home crowd to head home disappointed for the first time on my trip.



Off to Pittsburgh tomorrow, with the Pirates and PNC park coming up on Tuesday night.

Brief Interlude for England Cricket

Meanwhile, it's not all about baseball. In between 30 games and tracking Barry's efforts to hit #756, I've also been able to spare a bit of time for... yep... England cricket. Which made for a very disappointing last Monday at Lord's when they were foiled in their efforts to beat India when play was called for light and rain with England ahead by 92 runs and needing only one wicket to win. Of course, I have it on good authority that certain individuals were exerting unfair influence on the weather, but of course I'd never want to point fingers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go9HxuusDvU

This week's second test, in the meantime, isn't going at all well, with the tourists already ahead by 56 runs in the first innings at stumps on the second day with 7 wickets to spare.

P.S. If you're reading this blog for the baseball and none of this makes the slightest bit of sense, don't worry. I'll be at the Tribe game tomorrow.

Game #5: Camden Yards: The Original New Old Park

When Camden Yards was built in 1992, it redefined the landscape for new ballpark development. While in the years prior, the pinnacle of stadium design was epitomized by massive, concrete, multi-sport complexes, Camden went a different way, bringing back architectural elements common to the classic ballparks of the past, combined with modern approaches to niceties such as concessions and concourses. The Camden experience, in turn, inspired a new generation of new ballparks that have given me good reason to drive across the continent.


All of that said. 1992 has become more than a little while ago. Or, more specifically, the combination of a vast reputation and countless imitators seems to have taken its toll. While the park was nice, it felt rather overrated. While I give Camden all fair dues and rights for ushering in the new era in ballpark design, the opportunity other cities have had to learn from the model and improve upon it has produced other parks, such as the one I visited the previous night in Philadelphia, that have surpassed Camden. If I’d been to Camden for the first time before having seen many of the new parks around the country, perhaps it would have been different, but between the weight of expectations and the growth elsewhere, it was a bit of a let down.

This included the highly-touted Eutaw Street promenade between the large warehouse in right field and the stands themselves. I had expected this street-extension, inside the park’s gates and populated by concessions and businesses, to be more like the Yawkey Way outside Fenway, in being and truly feeling apart from the ballpark. However, in reality, it simply felt like an uncovered continuation of the general concourse.


That said, one neat element of Eutaw street that I’ve not seen elsewhere was the installation of brass plaques into the floor where players have hit home runs. These commemorative plaques make for an interesting study in where home run balls go, and also make for a fun exercise in seeking out your favorite teams or players. To make up for any anger I may have caused by my compliments to Yankee Stadium and to make sure that I don’t have to sleep on the couch when I return home, here’s a picture of a Red Sox commemorative plaque.

One point on which Camden did not disappoint was the food. The highly-regarded Boog’s BBQ was excellent, and made for the first time on the trip that I really felt like it was something I’d be happy to seek out and pay for outside of the ballpark. Also amusing was the availability of Old Bay seasoning as an alternative to ketchup for french fries – this is definitely the Chesapeake region. Meanwhile, beers were again plentiful and varied, with a wide range of local microbrews on tap.


The crowd was pretty small, which is perhaps expected for a mid-day, mid-week battle between the bottom two teams in the AL East. And of the crowd that was there, much of it was part of a kids day promotion that had dozens of groups of dozens of young kid day campers massed around the stadium, each group identifiable by their uniquely colored t-shirts. Unfortunately, that made for less people around, though I was able to strike up a bit of a conversation, when the music wasn’t too loud, with a man behind me who was there with his two high-school-aged kids.

And yes, they played Tampa Bay, so of course the Orioles won.

Parking was a nightmare, even though I arrived more than 2 hours early. The combination of mid-week and day-game in downtown Baltimore seemed to mean that all the usual ballpark-servicing lots were busy handling downtown-working businessmen. After more than 40 minutes of driving in circles between full lots, I finally found a remarkably expensive lot with a few spaces to spare.

I’m definitely starting to head further south. The game time temperature was 92 degrees, and my seat was basking in the sun for 3+ hours of the 3 ½ hour game. It’ll just keep getting hotter – After a detour back north to see Cleveland and Pittsburgh and a game in DC, it’ll be Hotlanta next week, and Florida after that.

Meanwhile, the afternoon game, while making for a hot day, did give me a chance to wander the Baltimore waterfront afterwards, which while fairly artificial in construction, and populated primarily with chain restaurants of all kinds, does possess a tremendous natural beauty. Kudos to downtown ballparks!


That said, despite the nice waterfront area, the Baltimore I remember visiting 12 years ago still exists – I fondly remember park benches in sketchy areas inscribed with the following fantastic saying, in the city with the lowest literacy rate in the nation.

After the game, it was off to DC to crash at a friend’s place, and rest up for a bit. Next stop, Cleveland!