Oriole Park at Camden Yards lives up to its reputation

Oriole Park at Camden Yards was the ballpark that started the modern movement to city-core stadiums with old-timey architecture and smaller, more intimate settings. I have been to many of its inspired imitators in Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh and more, but I never visited the progenitor in the Charm City until last weekend.

To help celebrate the 40th birthday for one of my nephews, I took Amtrak to Baltimore to join several family members on my wife’s side and take in a night game Friday and a late afternoon game Saturday. The Orioles won both of those games against the Royals, and they would finish the series sweep on Sunday after I got home.

The park lived up to its billing as a great place to take in a ballgame.

On Friday night, we had nice seats in the lower deck just beyond first base. We got another perspective from the lower left field stands on Saturday. The views of the field were great.

I logged 23,000 steps on Friday, including at least three circumambulations of the park, two on the outside and a full one inside on the ample concourse. There wasn’t much we didn’t check out, from the food and beverage stands to the team shops, of which there are several.

The shops were heavy on the O’s “City Connect” uniforms. Those threads on most other teams have been not to my liking, to put it mildly. But I found the mostly black Orioles version tolerable initially, and they began to grow on me over the hours as I saw how many Baltimore fans were wearing them.

What puts the charm in the park is actually what’s beside it, the huge old brick warehouse. Between the warehouse and the park is a gated, alley-like plaza with shops along both sides. A pavilion overlooking right field is a great spot for observing batting practice and, with luck, shagging a ball launched over the fence.

One of coolest elements of the complex is that the landing spots of home run balls hit out into the walkway are marked with small plaques in the sidewalk, plus at least one on the wall of the warehouse that Ken Griffey Jr. reached with a monster shot.

Baseball fans should be thankful that the Orioles organization breathed new life into the fan experience by reimagining the stadium and putting it in a proper context, in the center of the city and as a hub for revitalization.

All roads lead to baseball!