Baseball - Camden Yards, Baltimore

If it weren't for sports, Baltimore wouldn't have much. Luckily, Baltimore sport fans have many heroes, and those are well-deserved. One of the greatest is Cal Ripken, the "Ironman" of baseball. He broke Lou Gehrig's record of 2,130 consecutive games played, then went on to stretch the record to 2,632 straight games before he was finally pulled from a game. Besides his string of consecutive games played, Cal Ripken also is one of the best shortstops to ever play the game, with 19 All Star appearances and over 3,000 career hits.

Ripken was born in nearby Aberdeen , Maryland.

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The Sports Legends Museum opened in 2005 in historic Camden Station next to Orioles Park. Camden Station opened in 1856 as part of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. In 2005, after years of disuse, the Babe Ruth Museum took over the space and opened the Sports Legends Museum.

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The huge B&O Warehouse dominates right field at Camden Yards in downtown Baltimore. This structure was built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1899 B&O's next to Camden Station and Camden Railroad Yard. The railroad used the facility until the 1960s when it was all but abandoned. When Oriole Park was created in 1992, the building was renovated and is now used as office space, restaurants, and other functions, many related to the park.

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Oriole Park at Camden Yards opened in 1992 and it set the standard for design and comfort in modern American stadiums. It is located just minutes from the Inner Harbor by foot, and only two blocks from Babe Ruth's boyhood home (now a museum). The 50,000 seat stadium was built by mow-famous stadium architect HOK at a cost of just $110 million. The park blends modern amenities with traditional design elements, as the architects borrowed design inspiration from historic stadiums such as Ebbets Field (Brooklyn), Shibe Park (Philadelphia), Fenway Park (Boston), Crosley Field (Cincinnati), Forbes Fields (Pittsburgh), Wrigley Field (Chicago), and The Polo Grounds (New York).

As of 2009, single game tickets start at just $8 and go up to $60 per seat. The cheap seats are pretty bad here, so I'd get the cheapest tickets you can find and just wander around. The best place to watch the game is behind the bullpens in left-center field. You can stand here all game without being harassed by the ushers.

After you take a tour of this wonderful place. If you have enough time, you should watch a game. What I found so neat is it was just within walking distance from my hotel. It is just down the street practically of the Inner Harbor, so if your staying close you have all these wonderful things to do and see at your door step. Fantastic!

From Washington D.C., Virginia and Points South: Take MD 295 (B-W Pkwy//Russell St.) to downtown Baltimore. Continue onto Russell Street and turn Right onto Lee Street or Hamburg St. just after Ravens Stadium for Lots F, G, H. or turn right on to Pratt Street to parking garages and lots in the city

In 2005, my son's traveling team coach arranged for the team to go up to Maryland to participate in a tournament at Cal Ripken's place. As a part of the deal, they played a couple of games with a Washington D.C. area team, and visited several historic places in that area, and then came to see the Orioles play in Baltimore.

Well number three came and went the summer of 1997. Went with my sister and brother in law to watch and O's White Sox game. Also made it back for 3 of the 4 Yankee games that September. I love this ball park. It is number 2 on my list of favorite places to watch a game.
Lately there are always tickets available. You can as often find visiting fans here as O's fans.

when in baltimore try to catch a game of baseball if you have the time.
it's a great way to explore one very american thing and baltimore has one of the better team in the US called the baltimore orioles.

Equipment: a baseball cap will make you fit in well.

BaltOberfest unofficially kicked off with a trip to Camden Yards to see the Orioles take on the Boston Red Sox. Camden Yards is a newer stadium, opened in 1993, so the bathrooms are clean and there are lots of overpriced places to grab a bite to eat lining the inside of the stadium. The group managed to eat just about all the traditional bad baseball food including nachos, hot dogs and pretzels with mustard along with a few beers to wash down all that salt.

This late in the season, the Orioles were already out of contention to get into the playoffs so there were LOTS of empty seats and MORE Red Sox fans than Orioles fans confusing the heck out of us non locals who thought it was a good idea to cheer when everyone else did. Hmmm, in Chicago, Cubs fans love their team even when they lose (what choice do they have?), Baltimore natives are fickle!

Our hosts arranged for a couple of nice surprises for us, Virtual Tourist was printed on our tickets AND our name popped up on the scoreboard at the bottom of the 2nd. Cool! For some pics of the event, click here.

The location is very convenient for visitors to the city, it was within walking distance of the Inner Harbor and most of the hotels. If you're looking for a place to have a drink or a bit to eat before the game, the Wharf Rat at 206 W. Pratt was a good option.

Equipment: If you plan on rooting for the home team, wear orange and black!

If you want to go to an Orioles game and don't already have a ticket, do what many smart Baltimore natives do: head to the scalp-free zone. Located on the outside of the stadium across the street from Pickles Pub (or in what would be very deep left field), the scalp-free zone is an officially-sanctioned place where ordinary people can sell their left-over tickets. It's called scalp-free because the only rule is that the seller cannot ask for more than face value -- under face value is fine. At the scalp-free zone, we have gotten great seats right behind home plate or in the luxury boxes for steep discounts. Often the sellers are people whose guests cancelled out or they hold corporate box seats for games they don't want to attend but hope to recoup a bit of cash (but since it's free money they might not be trying to cover losses).
Before you go, however, give a little thought to the laws of supply and demand. If the Orioles are losing and the visiting team isn't the Yankees or Red Sox, the market is likely to be in your favor, and you can get good seats for cheap. If the Orioles are doing well, no matter who the opponent is, you might find there are only a few sellers and many buyers. Given the way the O's have played in since the turn of the century, this hasn't happened often. The best time to go: a day game that is being played as a result of a rain-out, as most original ticketholders might be unable to get out of work to make the game, but might spebd their lunch hour dumping their tickets. Another good tip: on high-demand days, go alone -- singletons are easy to get.