Camden Yards - Baltimore
The self styled ‘Ball Park that Changed Baseball’. I’ll be honest I’m not a big fan of these types of self proclamation (you know the sort of thing, Venue of Legends, People’s Club, Theatre of Dreams), but in this case facts are hard to argue with.
When the birds took flight from the old Memorial Stadium (before it fell down around them!) and landed where the former rail yard for Camden Station used to be (2 blocks from the birth place of Babe Ruth), the trend had been (from 1960 through to 1990) for multi purpose stadiums that could accommodate Baseball and American Football. Essentially this lead to a whole series of ‘cookie cutter’ stadiums, giant concrete bowls that could be configured to the various sports to maximise revenue (the first of which was RFK Stadium in Washington DC).
Camden Yards was different. It was a baseball park for use by a baseball team….period. It’s design is what Americans refer to as “retro classic”, although there is also the term “retro-modern” reserved for those parks with a retro style interior but a more modern exterior.
So what of the claim? Well since April 6 1992 when Camden opened, 22 of the other 29 major league teams have new homes. Of these 22, 5 have been built with retractable roofs (Diamondbacks, Marlins (not yet opened) Brewers, Astros and Mariners) although at least two of those are ‘retro with a roof’. Of the remaining 17, 16 are either retro-classic or retro-modern (including the Braves, White Sox and Angels who all completely renovated their stadiums to one of the styles). The remaining stadium is Yankees Stadium discussed here.
So, on the face of it, the claim is valid. A whole new era of modern ‘retro’ ballparks all followed the ‘ballpark that changed baseball’. However, there is one problem with this claim. Camden was designed by a company called HOK Sport who had introduced retro ballparks into the minor leagues four years earlier with Coca Cola Field in Buffalo. Nice try though Orioles!!
But what of the stadium itself. Well, if baseball stadiums are your thing then this is a must visit….absolute must. Many have copied but none have repeated. The first thing that strikes you, along with the wonderful pitch, is it’s condition. This stadium is almost 20 years old. That’s 20 seasons of 81 home games and 20 Baltimore winters (which whilst not Alaska aren’t Los Angeles either). There isn’t a nut or a bolt out of place.
Then there is the old warehouse over-looking right field from where fans counted down Cal Ripken’s attempt to break the consecutive games played streak using massive sheets with numbers hanging from the windows (Ripken eventually played 2,632 consecutive games (all for the Orioles) before finally benching himself…’no manager will bench me, but I am not playing well enough to justify my place in the team…’).
Recent new buildings have somewhat obscured the view of downtown Baltimore, but it is still a great sight. It’s location is literally a 5 minute walk from the inner habour and a whole host of restaurants, bars and hotels. It is served by it’s own tram stop, the main station is an easy walk away and there are 32,000 car park spaces within one mile.
Stadium guru Simon Inglis once wrote of his passion for stadiums where they proudly display club colours, logos etc. Before the days of names picked out in seats, Inglis was highlighting clubs such as his own beloved Aston Villa who, in those days, had lights arranged in the letters “A” and “V” on their floodlights. Well he would approve of this park…..the clubs bird logo is everywhere. Doors, gates, seats, cups. Everywhere.
So give it a try, after all it is the ‘ball park that changed (major league) baseball’!
Orioles 1-6 Angels 22/07/11
Orioles 3-9 Angels 24/07/11
When the birds took flight from the old Memorial Stadium (before it fell down around them!) and landed where the former rail yard for Camden Station used to be (2 blocks from the birth place of Babe Ruth), the trend had been (from 1960 through to 1990) for multi purpose stadiums that could accommodate Baseball and American Football. Essentially this lead to a whole series of ‘cookie cutter’ stadiums, giant concrete bowls that could be configured to the various sports to maximise revenue (the first of which was RFK Stadium in Washington DC).
Camden Yards was different. It was a baseball park for use by a baseball team….period. It’s design is what Americans refer to as “retro classic”, although there is also the term “retro-modern” reserved for those parks with a retro style interior but a more modern exterior.
So what of the claim? Well since April 6 1992 when Camden opened, 22 of the other 29 major league teams have new homes. Of these 22, 5 have been built with retractable roofs (Diamondbacks, Marlins (not yet opened) Brewers, Astros and Mariners) although at least two of those are ‘retro with a roof’. Of the remaining 17, 16 are either retro-classic or retro-modern (including the Braves, White Sox and Angels who all completely renovated their stadiums to one of the styles). The remaining stadium is Yankees Stadium discussed here.
So, on the face of it, the claim is valid. A whole new era of modern ‘retro’ ballparks all followed the ‘ballpark that changed baseball’. However, there is one problem with this claim. Camden was designed by a company called HOK Sport who had introduced retro ballparks into the minor leagues four years earlier with Coca Cola Field in Buffalo. Nice try though Orioles!!
But what of the stadium itself. Well, if baseball stadiums are your thing then this is a must visit….absolute must. Many have copied but none have repeated. The first thing that strikes you, along with the wonderful pitch, is it’s condition. This stadium is almost 20 years old. That’s 20 seasons of 81 home games and 20 Baltimore winters (which whilst not Alaska aren’t Los Angeles either). There isn’t a nut or a bolt out of place.
Then there is the old warehouse over-looking right field from where fans counted down Cal Ripken’s attempt to break the consecutive games played streak using massive sheets with numbers hanging from the windows (Ripken eventually played 2,632 consecutive games (all for the Orioles) before finally benching himself…’no manager will bench me, but I am not playing well enough to justify my place in the team…’).
Recent new buildings have somewhat obscured the view of downtown Baltimore, but it is still a great sight. It’s location is literally a 5 minute walk from the inner habour and a whole host of restaurants, bars and hotels. It is served by it’s own tram stop, the main station is an easy walk away and there are 32,000 car park spaces within one mile.
Stadium guru Simon Inglis once wrote of his passion for stadiums where they proudly display club colours, logos etc. Before the days of names picked out in seats, Inglis was highlighting clubs such as his own beloved Aston Villa who, in those days, had lights arranged in the letters “A” and “V” on their floodlights. Well he would approve of this park…..the clubs bird logo is everywhere. Doors, gates, seats, cups. Everywhere.
So give it a try, after all it is the ‘ball park that changed (major league) baseball’!
Orioles 1-6 Angels 22/07/11
Orioles 3-9 Angels 24/07/11