Opened: April 6, 1992
Capacity: 45,971
Camden Yards
I live in York, PA, about 50 miles from downtown Baltimore. I can be in downtown (depending on traffic) in about an hour. This was where I saw my first major league game in 1993 when I got tickets from the Buck-A-Book program. The Tigers won that game 2-0 and I’ve been going to at least one game every year since 2003. I am currently an Oriole Season Ticket holder, I’ve had the Sunday package since 2009 and enjoy it. It is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon for me. I have seen over 300 major league games here and even lived in the Baltimore area for a few years so admittedly, while I am a Pirates fan, this is my home park.
How did I get there?
Typically I get there two ways. The most frequent is the Light Rail, riding in from Timonium. I have had my share of issues with the Light Rail, from trains breaking down to being dropped at North Avenue and waiting for 40 minutes for a train to arrive to just simply waiting for 40 minutes for a train to arrive at Camden Yards. The MTA recently revamped the service and so far I have had no issues, we’ll see if that holds up. I understand that shit will happen but when you get dropped at North Avenue and told another train will be out in 5 minutes and 45 minutes later you’re still standing there you start to lose faith. Oh well, rant over I guess. Sometimes I travel into the city and park downtown. The University of Maryland Medial Center at Penn and Pratt has a garage for $12. It is easy to get to and it is easy to get out of and back to the JFX but the price is going up seemingly every year. On Sundays as well it is free to park on the street, but you might have to walk. The closest spot I ever found was at Fayette and Eutaw (did find one on Pratt Street when the sinkhole had the street closed) but free is free!
Ticket prices
I remember the good ol’ days when I could get in for $8 and get lower level seats for $15. Those days are gone. The cheapest ticket today is $15 and those are usually the seats I get when it is not one of my season ticket games. For those games I sit in the upper deck behind home plate. One of the things that I miss are the $8/$9/$10 Upper Reserve Tuesday dates when regardless of opponent you could get a seat anywhere in the upper level for that price. I thought that was great but I guess enough other people did not.
Finding my seat and amenities
For a large human being the seats here are quite comfortable. A renovation of the stadium a few year ago reduced the seating capacity and installed wider seats. That was good for me. Other things at the park were redone in recent years as well. The beer selection has been greatly expanded and you can now get just about anything you want to eat here. I don’t, the only time I buy food is during a double header. For food I enjoy the stands across the street near Pickel’s Pub. The pulled pork BBQ or the Brooksie from Wild Bill’s is my favorite. One of the nice things about Oriole Park is that you can bring food in, so you can buy whatever it is on the outside and just walk right in with it. This is the only park I have come to where you can do that, and the Orioles staff make no secret about it. The fellow who used to sit in front of me on Sundays brought sandwiches and snacks when he would come.
In game experience
I’ll get this off my chest. I do not need an in-game host or on the field entertainment at the major league level. I don’t need a T-shirt toss or interns getting dressed up in a costume and racing each other. For me, if I were to run a major league franchise, the Orioles in game experience is what I would try to emulate.
Getting out
It is no fun fighting thousands of others to get out of a major league park. I’ve stuck around for whole games and I have had to wait for three Light Rail trains to go by just to get a spot in one. OK that was when I was still learning and getting on at Pratt Street rather than Camden Yards and it was also rush hour at the time but for a well attended game getting out can be a headache. Getting out of the garage I park in is actually fairly easy. Most of the time I leave around stretch time. I know (reasonably well) when the Light Rail trains will come and can time my departure around them. It’s no secret, there’s an app for that!
Wrap
Is the Oriole experience perfect, absolutely not. I think PNC Park overall is a better ballpark but Oriole Park offers many positives. Your experience may vary. The Orioles have games where they do not draw well at all and they have games that will sell out. When the Yankees and/or Red Sox are doing well and come to town their fans can take over the place. If anyone is interested I found Yankee fans much more preferable. While some are arrogant they are at least there to watch the game while Red Sox fans seem to be there to get drunk and have a party. I don’t think I have ever seen a Yankee fan get escorted out of the park either while I have seen numerous Sox fans get the boot. Peter Angelos may be the most hated man in Baltimore but Oriole fans have it good with the ballpark.