Once again, we're on the road and pursuing our dream of seeing a baseball game at all the ballparks before they are replaced by bigger and better stadiums. Almost every year for the past nine years (except for a random U2 Concert and then a pandemic) we've come to Annapolis to hang out with the cousins. It's usually over Memorial Day but this year, Brendan graduated from West Point over that weekend so we had to pivot.
What if we went for a week this time? What if we stayed at a VRBO so that we weren't being stinky guests that would never leave? So, that's what we did. We found the coolest VRBO in the neighborhood where our cousins live. Then our other cousin came and stayed with us over that weekend so we were all together.
Eutaw Street is blocked off from vehicular traffic. During the game, you have to have a ticket to get in here but if there's not a game that day, this street is open to the public. The warehouse on the right is the former B&O Warehouse. The warehouse was built in 1905 by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) to service the Camden Station. It was used for storage during the '60's. the warehouse was abandoned in the '70's. Instead of tearing the building down, it was incorporated into Camden Yards and is now used for executive office for the Orioles as well as other businesses.
This was kinda cool. This is the bullpen for BOTH teams. The home team is on the lower bullpen and the away team (in this case the Seattle Mariners) is on the upper bullpen.
You can't go to the game without taking the requisite selfie. This is proof we were actually there!
The team mascot: The Oriole Bird.
A lot of times, going to the ballgame is all about the food. They had all kinds of stuff here that looked fantastic. We got an Italian Sausage with onions and peppers that was delicious.
Emily got Chesapeake Fries. These are french fries that have crab dip and Old Bay seasoning. These Marylanders put Old Bay seasoning on everything!
The whole crew: Emily, John, me, Courtney, Rowan, Maeve and down at the end, Dave. We had so much fun.
It's more fun when the home team wins. And they did! Baltimore Orioles 3, Seattle Mariners 2.
Perfect right? You bet! But what does that have to do with baseball? Well, we dragged them all into our quest to visit Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Built in 1992, it's the home of the Baltimore Orioles. The firm that built this park also built and designed Globe Life Park in Arlington, ex-home of the Texas Rangers. (Side note: That field now belongs to Choctaw and the Rangers have a new domed field called Globe Life Field).
The old stadium, Memorial Field, had been in service for a while (1954 - 1991) and was pretty run down. The Baltimore Colts played there as well. In 1984, they moved to Indianapolis because the city wouldn't give them a new stadium. The city didn't want to lose the O's so they built the new park. It's a "retro-style" ballpark and was intended to mirror the turn-of-the-century roots of the team. The first game was a shutout played against the Cleveland Indians.
During game day, there are tons of vendors out there selling food.
A little bit of Orioles history:
There was a Baltimore Orioles team that moved to New York in 1903 and became none other than the New York Yankees.
The current Baltimore Orioles team was originally the Milwaukee Brewers which began in 1877. They played at Lloyd Street Grounds in Milwaukee until 1901. They were one of eight teams in the American League and finished in last place.
Then they moved to St. Louis where they became the St. Louis Brown Stockings (or Browns). Here they played in Sportsman's Park from 1902 - 1953.
In 1953, that team was purchased by a group of Baltimore business men and they moved the team to Baltimore. They renamed themselves the Baltimore Orioles and played at Memorial Stadium from 1954 through 1991.
When the new stadium was built, the owner wanted to call it Oriole Park and the Mayor at the time wanted to call it Camden Yards. They compromised and called it Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
