Minnesota Twins 2 – Baltimore Orioles 0
Oriole Park at Camden Yards – Baltimore, MD
May 23, 2017
Game 3 of the East Coast road trip and another state to cross off my list – Baltimore, MD. We drove from Philly to Baltimore and got into town with a couple of hours to spare before our tour of “Oriole Park at Camden Yards”. We would not be spending the night here, as after the game we’d get to DC in preparation for the next day’s game.
I may sound like a broken record at this point, but guess what… Rain was in the forecast and sprinkles were definitely felt as we wandered the surrounding area of the ballpark complex. The warehouse adds a dimension to the ballpark that makes it feel like it is its own little village that resides just on the edge of downtown Baltimore. Quite simply, this was the nicest ballpark of the road trip. It’s the closest park to AT&T in San Francisco, and I have no problem admitting that here (and giving away my rankings that will be on an upcoming podcast).
Was the tour the best in the league? No, but it also wasn’t bad. While there is a bit more “rah-rah” and pumping up that went into the Fenway and Wrigley tours, the one at OPACY was only $9 and for the access it gives you, it cannot be beat. I can only imagine what it would have been like on a warm, sunny day…
After the 1 pm tour was over, I hung out by the bullpen (because they don’t shut the gates to the stadium/warehouse area until after 3 pm) and got to see/talk to a few Twins. In fact, my big glove was even used by Chris Gimenez as he “threw a bullpen session” with it as guys were slowly starting to trickle onto the field. The biggest and best news from this access was seeing the field without a tarp and being set up for batting practice. EXCELLENT!
Not only was this stadium special because of its beauty and well-known position in modern baseball architecture, but this was the one stop on the road trip that had a commemorative ball I was chasing after. I was trying my darnedest to plug the Twins with that knowledge and hoping it’d pay off…
It did. Not from the expected parties; Kennys Vargas, Miguel Sano, or Eduardo Escobar; or even from my now “partner in big gloveness”, Chris Gimenez; but from a 3rd out toss-up (the only one close to me) via Jason Castro. Whew!
Side note: I was the fan of the game on FSN’s broadcast of this game. The sucky part about getting this award on the road? No lotto tix like you’d get at a home game.
The one big regret I have from this experience? Not spending more time with the Baltimore Ballhawks. I got to see Tim, Alex, and Grant, but for a criminally brief period of time. I promise that next time I will be there longer and not be so crazy-focused on taking in the newness of a stadium or on getting those easy baseballs (and commemorative ball).
Repeat from previous post: All of the balls listed after the photo were toss-ups. I told you it’d be boring, but so be it. The next time I visit these stadiums I will know a little bit more about how to play them and not feel like I have to soak in the surroundings as much.
Ball 1 – Unknown Oriole
Ball 2 – Ubaldo Jimenez
Ball 3 – Chris Gimenez
Ball 4 – Eduardo Escobar
Ball 5 – Miguel Sano
Ball 6 – Eddie Guardado
Ball 7 – Jason Castro – COMMEMORATIVE (Ervin Santana K of Wellington Castillo)
MVP Thank Yous:
- Tim, Alex, and Grant – for saying hello – I promise more time next time in town
- Jason Castro – for the commemorative
- Jared – for joining me on this adventure
- Megan – for allowing Jared to join me on this adventure
As you may have been able to tell, I am running low on storage space via WordPress. I have resorted to posting one collage per post, but I miss having extra pix, especially showcasing some panos from new stadiums. If you have a good work around or would like to see them posted somewhere else, let me know. If interest is high enough, I could be swayed to additional platforms.
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