Camden Yards

Camden Yard and the Oriels

I hadn't planned on getting to see the Oriels in July, I was over in Philadelphia on business and whilst I had sorted out some tickets for a few Phillies games, this game was a bonus.

Work required me to go, with some of my American colleagues to Baltimore at short notice. Now I hadn't been to Baltimore in 7 years, my previous visit was in 2000 and to be honest, I wasn't mad about the place. In fairness it was in November and only a day trip from DC but I just found the place dark and dreary and it was the one American city that I genuinely felt a wee bit nervous in. The aquarium was excellent and I did get a ticket for the Ravens v Cowboys game, but overall, I wasn't in any rush back there

On this occasion however it was a gorgeous summers day and my impression was far more positive. We managed to get what we needed to do work wise done by lunchtime and one of the guys I was with suggested we play hooky and go to the game. Who was I to argue?

Camden Yards is a bit unusual from other parks, The walk up to it from the harbour area wouldn't suggest you are going to a ball park if it weren't for the crowds and the hawkers outside. All you see is this impressive brown warehouse structure, seemingly the longest in North America. As this was an afternoon game, tickets were easily got and in we went

First impressions were very positive, plenty of food outlets and beer outlets, including the only Guinness I have seen to date in any North American park. I passed much to the surprise of the guys I was with, explaining that in Ireland it was sacrilege to drink the stuff out of a plastic glass. Into the shop for the very necessary cap, given the weather, t-shirt and souvenir ball, picked up some chicken strips and fries and off we went

Our seats were by 3rd base. I normally try and get the best seats I can, either behind homeplate to get a good view of the pitcher and batter, or else up high to take in the entire vista of the game. This was the first time I had sat down the base lines and we were in the very front row. The view was great and I saw a part of the game that I had never really appreciated before. In future I think I'll try and get my seats in different parts of the ground.

The Oriels v Devil Rays would not normally set the pulses racing but I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed this game. The stadium was half full, and would have been less then that if it weren't for the seemingly thousands of kids who were in from their summer camps. Far better behaved kids then you'd find at a soccer game over here I have to say. Maybe it was the fact that it was a weekday afternoon when I should have been at work but instead I was watching a game on a glorious summer's day with my feet up on the 3rd base line wall but the baseball seemed good, the food tastier and the beer that extra bit colder and more refreshing. On top of that, a friend of mine in Australia (Hiya Agnes) rang me mid game, so here I was, an Irish guy watching a baseball game on the east coast of the USA talking to a friend of mine in Melbourne, arranging to meet up when she was back home in Ireland in a few weeks times. I love the 21st Century

I went for a wander after the 7th innings, (I like to do that and see what the view is like elsewhere). For the first time ever I went over and stood by the bullpen. I couldn't do that at any of the other stadia I'd been to. I watched Al Reyes of the Devil Rays warming up for a while. Reyes is a decent closer who missed all of last season, he has 20 saves at the time of writing this, but he is not an exceptional pitcher. Despite that I was blown away watching him, it was the closest I'd been to MLB pitching and it really made me appreciate what they do and what the batters achieve all the more. The noise the ball makes as it whizzes through the air, the thud into the glove at 90mph, the control over the ball these guys have is quite awesome.

And then Reyes goes and pitches one inning, give up 4 hits, including a 3 run HR to Brian Roberts and 4 runs in total and Baltimore win, 10-7.

Truth be told I could see that neither team was much good, between them, 10 guys pitched and 7 of those had an ERA of 4.75 or more, and whilst both teams have a few decent players like Roberts, Carl Crawford and one of my favourite players, Kevin Millar, both teams are a long way short of being contenders now or in the future.

Despite that, if you are in the area, you could make a very good day out of a visit to the superb aquarium in Baltimore, a bite to eat by the harbour and then stroll up to the ballpark. I had some good craic, came away with some happy memories and some really badly sunburnt arms(I wasn't planning on being out in the sun) Only downers were a handful of pig ignorant staff on the concession stands and I lost my cap somewhere, (mind you, I'd had more then a few beers at that stage). Definitely if I am in the area again, I'll call again