Subject: Re: Trip to Orioles Park at Camden Yards Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1998 21:41:11 -0400 (EDT) From: Don Dudley - Sun Microsystems To: Jeff_Brody@notes.intdata.com > From: Jeff_Brody@notes.intdata.com > X-Lotus-FromDomain: INTDATA > To: Don.Dudley@East > Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1998 22:07:27 -0400 > Subject: Trip to Orioles Park at Camden Yards > Mime-Version: 1.0 > > > I took my first 'ballpark' trip. Kathy had work to do in Baltimore, so I > packed the whole family in the mini-van and headed down South. I called > and got good seats down the left field line for the game, we were in a > convenient hotel 1 block from the stadium, and I explained to Ben that it > was just like a Bat Mitzvah so he should have no problems sitting through > the game. Everything was perfect. Except for one small detail: I got to > Camden Yards and it took me about 5 minutes to decide that my expectations > were not going to be met. Yes the concessions are wonderful (nice tall > beers, better hot dogs, much more variety), yes it is shiny and new and > uses alot of brick to soften the appearance, but otherwise it is a 45,000 > seat ballpark with some good seats and some not so good seats (Steven and I > checked out a number of them). I can safely report that the game of > baseball has not been reinvented in Baltimore. Without the poles, Fenway > is still a better park. Alas, it needs one of those upper decks like > Camden Yards to add enough people for the economics. > > As for the game, game-time temperature was 96 degrees. Kathy and I were > pouring beers, the kids slushies. Ben was as usual amazing. The skies > opened up in the second inning, making our seat under the overhang a little > more tolerable as earlier they had lacked air movement. After a one hour > rain delay and some 3 or 4 innings later, the girls and youngster went back > to the hotel room while Steven and I perused some ballpark seating angles. > We only lasted until the beginning of the 8th, 11:30 PM. Too bad, as the > scored changed from 6-5 A's to 9-7 O's by end of game. They are very > optimistic in Baltimore, but I politely told them that they had no chance > in heck of catching Boston. > > That's all for the report. I enjoyed the experience and would love to > sample more ballparks. By the way: I am one of the few who love Shea > Stadium, although my friends in NY tell me it really has deteriorated. Now > there you can get some real nose bleed seats. But I had some great > experiences there and I usually sat in decent seats, so its natural for me > to have a good feeling for the park. Who knows, maybe we can have a 1986 > repeat this year. I think I would root for the home team this time. > > Jeff > Young Jeff, I'm surprised at your luke warm reaction to Camden Yards, especially on the quality of the seats. Camden, Coors, The Jake and Arlington all pride themselves on "no bad seats." I'm about to get a chance to see for myself on 8/28 when we take Maura's belongings down -- she will have been there four days, flying down for an early start on field hockey. I was able to get four tickets for the Royals that night. I got in a couple of games last week myself. In San Diego I saw Caminiti crush one and Joey Hamilton shut out (well, not quite -- Hoffman pitched the 9th for a "save") the Diamondbacks, 3-0. Most noteworthy is that the game was over in 1 hr, 54 min. Love that National League! Then on Saturday night I saw the Expos at Milwaukee County Stadium, where they're "Taking This Thing National" this year, speaking of the NL. I'd been to several Padres' games, but this was my first venture even into the state of Wisconsin. County Stadium has been described as an old park without an old park's character, but they're fixing that. They handed out Miller Park hats in honor of their new ballpark opening up in 2000 right next to County Stadium. Miller Park is being designed to look somewhat like Ebbets Field, Bud Selig's all-time favorite ballpark, and will be the first-ever convertible-roof stadium built with a natural grass playing surface. The fans seem to have difficulty discerning the seasons up there -- the tailgating was reminiscent of a football game, hours before game time. Certainly they have no trouble digging out their Packer paraphernalia. The school marm sitting next to me suggested the Brewers not admit people wearing Packer garb -- this would either prompt a massive culture change or a precipitous drop in attendance. I got a Diamond Box seat apparently turned in by a season ticker holder, four off dead center behind home plate in the third row. I sampled the legendary bratwurst smothered with sauerkraut and the obligatory Secret Stadium Sauce, as well as a cheese griller -- I highly recommend either or both. I was right next to the players' family section. The wives get in a lot of conversation but pay little attention to the game, even when their husband is at bat. Hey, Jan could do that ;-). I spent the last several innings chatting with Cal Eldred's father, recalling Cal's AAA days with Johnny Jaha and the Denver Zephyrs. He didn't recall Joey Meyer's titanic blast into Mile High's upper deck. Little did I know Cal was going to have to abort his start yesterday with arm pain after the first inning. The game was a beauty. Vladimir Guerrero, last week's NL Player of the Week and touted to be the next Willie Mays before his injury last year, made a circus catch on a ball hit way over his head in right. Vina made a great play up the middle to throw out Cabrera with the go ahead run on third and two out in the top of the ninth. Jeromy Burnitz hit two solo shots, the second of which won it in the 9th, 4-3, sending Bernie Brewer down the slide in front of his right-center field chalet into a huge beer stein. On the homerun shot, I could easily spot myself on ESPN's SportsCenter (at 25 past the hour all night long) -- the Red Sox hat was a dead giveaway. See you at the ballpark, Don