The World Needs More Kevin

Opened: June 18. 2002

Capacity: 6,300

Affiliated with the Baltimore Orioles

For whatever reason I never had an interest in heading down here until 2012. At one point the Ironbirds were the hottest thing around, though that has cooled in recent years. Considering the park is about one hour from my house once I started going I started kicking myself for not going earlier. The Orioles have had a bit of trouble drafting and developing players, which has led to some lousy teams here but the fans do come out. This may have also been the first (or at least one of the first) modern ballparks that is used in the New York Penn League. Next door are a large amount of baseball and softball fields which host various youth tournaments throughout the year as a part of Ripken Baseball. There is also a replica of the iconic B&O Warehouse at Camden Yards that is used as a hotel but that is next to one of the youth fields. The stadium is named for the Ripken Family and Cal Ripken Sr. in particularly who hailed from the area.

How did I get there?

South on PA 74 to MD 136 to MD 22 which takes you right to the park. If you are looking for something to eat in the area follow 22 across the I-95 and there are a number of fast food establishments there. Parking is free.

Ticket prices

For this level of baseball the tickets are expensive. Most other parks in this league don’t charge more than $8 but $11 is the cheapest ticket here.

Finding my seat and amenities

Pay attention to the signs to find your seat but it’s not hard. While the tickets are expensive they may have the widest variety of food in the league here, most of which has some sort of crab theme to it. I like the crab mac n’ cheese personally. There is room to stand here but not much if you want to stretch your legs. Two players sign autographs before the game (this seems to be the norm in this league) but I always seem to show up when it is the fifth outfielder and some random relief pitcher.

In game experience

The on-field entertainment is about standard. The former on-field host got really into the game and the one they had for last year walked around the stadium for the whole game. The new one is the former host at Lancaster, and as a Yorker I have a grudge against him. He may have changed his name to Captain Fun but he has the same old schtick.

Getting out

On a well attended game this can take awhile. The police direct traffic out of the lot so there is some order. Once you get to 22 it is an easy ride home.

Wrap

The only problem with the New York-Penn League is that not all teams come to town so I have no possibility of seeing everyone here. While this is the closest I have other options in this league which prevents me from coming here as much as I would like to.