July 29, 2013
(Randy's Perspective)
Simply stated, the planners in Baltimore got it right when they built Camden Yards. They built a ballpark that looks and feels like a new stadium, while still looking like a perfect old stadium.
It was so good everybody wanted one. Cleveland, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Philadelphia (no special order and the list goes on) all wanted to built their own Camden Yards – urban parks that look like they belong in their surroundings. And generally speaking, all the new parks apparently are terrific in their own rights, although truth be told, it’s possible that none of the newer ones are as good as the Orioles Park at Camden Yards original.
The warehouse building offers a perfect backdrop to right field. The walk along Eutaw Street among the vendors and the shops is just the right touch. And the stadium itself feels good.
From a fan’s standpoint, Camden Yards did everybody a favor. Because it was such a hit, you’ll probably never see another of those outdated, circular, multi-purpose stadiums that were all the rage in the sixties and seventies when baseball and football teams were sharing stadiums. And it was like that in Baltimore. Although it wasn’t a circular spaceship, the Colts and the Orioles shared old Memorial Stadium. It was not ideal for either franchise and played a role in one of the most infamous nights in sports history: Robert Irsay's midnight flight of the Colts from Baltimore to Indianapolis.
Speaking of multi-purpose stadiums, when I was a kid listening to games from Atlanta Stadium, the radio guys always talked about how much room there was behind home plate and outside the first- and third-base lines. I remember Braves announcer Milo Hamilton saying one time, “Orlando Cepedo’s got a lot of room to catch foul balls over there near the Braves dugout.” Maybe I was the only person to notice that if there is a lot of room in foul territory, that means your seats are likely a long way from the action.
And bad as that was for baseball viewing, it was even worse for football. I remember going to a Peach Bowl one time in Atlanta Stadium and noticing that the front row seats behind the benches were so low and so far away from the action, I wondered if they had to offer those tickets for free. ... You can still see this, actually. Watch a football game in the Superdome in New Orleans, which was built in the multi-purpose style. Check out the first couple of rows behind the benches. See if you think you’d like those tickets.
As cool as the park is, I can’t say we got much enjoyment from the Inner Harbor. Crowded and touristy and not especially original: that’s the impression we got. Maybe we missed something.
Derek, Penny and Peggy at the Key West-themed bar
Penny’s son Derek, a sailor stationed in Virginia Beach, went with us to the game. While Penny and her sister, Peggy, shopped around the Inner Harbor, Derek and I hit the streets close to the Inner Harbor but not on the water. That was a lot more fun.
We discovered a joint – Joe’s, I think it was called - that advertises the “best pizza in Maryland.” We sat at the bar for a few minutes and took in the atmosphere. The pizzas, I will admit, looked out of this world. The pizza was so good-looking we could almost forgive the condescending guys that waited on us.
After leaving Joe's, we strolled down a seedy street with strip clubs and barkers before we made our second stop at a neighborhood bar that looked small on the outside but offered five levels of bars and restaurants on the inside. We ended up in the Key West themed part of the joint. Duval Street, Southernmost Point, End of the Rainbow (U.S. 1). Not bad at all. (The picture is of Derek, Peggy and Penny in the Key West establishment.)
Penny and Peggy joined us there, and we ate dinner in Key West before heading to the park. The atmosphere was great; the food was average at best. “We could have done a lot better than that, don’t you think?” Penny said.
“Yes, well, we didn’t know.”
Next stop: Camden Yards, where we saw the Orioles host the Yankees.
What a great night. It seems odd to say that an 11-3 win by the Orioles was exciting, but it was. Chris Davis homered twice for the Orioles. Numbers 29 and 30. Babe Ruth/Roger Maris/Mark McGwire type of numbers, that’s what those are. The second homer was a titanic shot.
In fact, I'd have to say that because of Davis, Manny Machado, Adam Jones and the great crowd in Baltimore, I might have found an American League team to root for.
Although the Baltimore fans were loud and extremely supportive, one reason the atmosphere in the park was so lively is because the crowd was probably 20 to 25 percent Yankees fans. You can’t escape them. (Same with Cubs fans, they're everywhere - but the Yankees win a lot, so it's not exactly the same.) And those Yankee fans made a lot of noise - for about a half inning. After Baltimore scored four times in the bottom of the first, you didn’t hear much from the Yankee faithful after that.
I struck up conversations with several Yankees fans, and I have to say (mildy surprised as I was) that they were accommodating and friendly. Their only problem is that they want to spend time telling you how many injuries they’ve got this year. I’ll certainly concede that point, and I would love to have seen Derek Jeter play. I also wouldn't have minded seeing A-Rod play, just to say I've seen him. But Jeter, A-Rod and Mark Teixeira were all hurt, so what do you do? ... I also wanted to see the great Mariano Rivera (who is not injured) pitch, but when your down 11-1 late in the game, there’s not much chance the Yankees' closer will be working.
As far as the injuries go, hey, move on. Survive until you get your stars back. (No crying in baseball, remember?)
Here was another interesting, but not remotely surprising, personality trait of Yankees fans.
Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that I saw 1,000 Yankees fans wearing a jersey with a player’s name on the back.
I would estimate that 985 of those jerseys bore the name “Jeter.” ... The following numbers, however, aren’t estimates. These numbers I actually counted.
- Rivera jerseys: 9
- Joe Dimaggio jerseys: 3
- Yogi Berra jerseys: 2
- A-Rod jerseys: 1
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