Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a baseball stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland (), which was constructed to replace the aging Memorial Stadium. It is the home field of the Baltimore Orioles. It was the first, and thus one of the most highly praised, of the "retro" ballparks constructed during the 1990s and early 2000s. It is situated in a picturesque location, at the corner of downtown Baltimore and near the Inner harbor.

Historically, Oriole Park at Camden Yards is one of several stadiums that have carried the Oriole Park name, for various Baltimore franchises over the years.

History

In 1989, construction began on an all-new, baseball-only ballpark for the Baltimore Orioles. Construction lasted 33 months on the ballpark, which finally opened on April 6, 1992, against the Cleveland Indians. After considerable debate on whether to name the new ballpark Oriole Park or Camden Yards—former Orioles owner Eli Jacobs favored "Oriole Park" while then-Maryland Governor William Donald Schaefer favored "Camden Yards"—a compromise was reached to use both names.

The retro-style ballpark began a trend among other cities to construct more traditional, fan-friendly ballparks, including Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ameriquest Field in Arlington, Texas, Safeco Field in Seattle and Comerica Park in Detroit.

Camden Yards hosted the 1993 MLB All-Star Game. On June 18, 1994, 43 fans were injured in an escalator accident; one of the stadium's multiple-story escalators, overcrowded with fans heading to their upper-deck seats, jerked backward, throwing people to the bottom landing. On September 6, 1995, Camden Yards witnessed Cal Ripken, Jr.'s record-setting 2,131st consecutive game (the layout of the playing field was, in fact, somewhat designed to match Ripken's hitting style). Exactly one year later, Eddie Murray blasted his 500th home run there.

Two orange seats stand out from the park's trademark sea of dark green plastic chairs. One, located at Section 96, Row D, Seat 23 in the right-center field bleachers (officially known as the Eutaw Street Reserve sections), commemorates the spot where Murray's 500th home run landed. The other, Section 86, Row FF, Seat 10, was the landing spot for Ripken's 278th home run as a shortstop, breaking Chicago Cubs legend Ernie Banks's record for the position. That home run was hit on July 15, 1993. Ripken finished his career with 345 home runs as a shortstop and 431 overall.

The only no-hitter thrown at Oriole Park at Camden Yards to date was tossed by Hideo Nomo, then with the Boston Red Sox, on April 4, 2001. Nomo faced 30 Orioles batters, walking Mike Bordick twice and Chris Richard once, as the Red Sox won, 3-0.

Most memorable games

September 5, 1995: Cal Ripken, Jr. tied Lou Gehrig's streak of 2130 consecutive games played and homered.
September 6, 1995: Cal Ripken, Jr. broke of the streak of 2131 games and hit another home run. It should be noted that both President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore attended, along with Cal Ripken, Sr. who had not been to a game since being fired by the Os.

Architecture, transportation, and the local area

Camden Yards is built at the former location of a major rail station; its name derives from the rail yards that were formerly on the site. The view from much of the park is dominated by the former B&O warehouse behind the right-field wall. The designer of the stadium kept the warehouse on the site because he thought it would be neat if a player hit the wall of the building during a game, as depicted on the Oriole's Tour. The wall was only hit once by Ken Griffey Jr., but not during a game. The building is also a major challenge for left-hand sluggers. At street level, between the stadium and the warehouse, is Eutaw Street, which is officially closed to all vehicular traffic. Along this avenue, spectators can get a view of the game or visit the many shops and restaurants that line the thoroughfare, including Boog Powell's outdoor barbeque stand. Various home run balls have landed on Eutaw Street, and the spots are marked with small plaques containing bronze balls. On the street, there is also a statue done by sculptor Susan LueryBiography of Susan Luery, the sculptor of the Babe Ruth statue. URL last accessed July 6, 2006. of left-handed Babe Ruth wearing a right-handed fielder's glove. The statue is entitled "Babe's Dream" and shows him at the beginning of his career, at a time when left-handers' gloves could not be gotten.Oriole Park at Camden Yards - Babe's Dream; URL last accessed July 6, 2006. The floors of the warehouse contain offices, service spaces, and a private club.

The scoreboard advertisizes The Baltimore Sun at the top. The "H" in "The Sun" will flash to show a scoring decision of a hit and the "E" will flash to show an error.

The stadium is the first major league park to have an outfield wall made up entirely of straight wall segments since Ebbets Field. The playing field is 16 feet below street level.

Immediately adjacent to the current stadium is a rail station served by both the Baltimore Light Rail and MARC commuter rail. The latter rail line provides direct service to Washington, D.C., the former to BWI Airport.

The stadium is located in downtown Baltimore, near the Inner Harbor. The ballpark, along with M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League, make up the Camden Yards Sports Complex (the football stadium wasn't built until 1998). Camden Yards is just a short walk from Babe Ruth's birthplace, which is now a museum. Coincidentally, his father's pub is where center field is located on the playing field.

In May 2005, a new sports museum, Sports Legends at Camden Yards, opened in Camden Station.

Trivia

Major League II (1994), a movie about the Cleveland Indians, was actually filmed at Camden Yards while Jacobs Field was under construction. The recognizable B&O warehouse can be seen in many scenes in the movie, and immediately gives away the real filming location.
The movie Dave (1993) features a scene with the President of the United States, played by Kevin Kline, throwing out the first pitch at Camden Yards. That scene was filmed in front of an actual capacity crowd at the ballpark, prior to a regular-season game. Similar scenes were filmed for the Chris Rock movie Head of State and for the 2004 season finale of The West Wing.
During the planning of Camden Yards, Hall of Fame outfielder Frank Robinson (now manager of the Washington Nationals), who was then an Orioles executive and their manager from 1988-1991, attempted to convince the Orioles to install a terraced outfield similar to the infamous left field incline at Crosley Field, ballpark of the Cincinnati Reds until 1970. Robinson, a member of the Reds from 1956-1965, liked the terrace. The Orioles declined to build the terrace. However, the Houston Astros' park, Minute Maid Park, features an incline in center field area called Tal's Hill. However, at 30 degrees, it is twice as steep as Crosley Field's 15-degree incline.
In October 1995, Pope John Paul II celebrated mass at the ballpark.

References

External links