On September 16, Griffin and I visited Baltimore’s Oriole Park at Camden Yards to watch the home team soundly defeat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-0. I will have more to say about the trip, the game, the Orioles, and Baltimore in general in the future, but this post is devoted to some pics that we took in and around the stadium.
My newfound buddy, the Oriole Bird. This was actually taken at the Inner Harbor before we walked over to the stadium. I’ve always kind of rolled my eyes at adults who go to Disney World and geek out over having their photo taken with Mickey, but I’m not going to lie — meeting the Bird was a highlight of the trip for me.The iconic B&O Warehouse, a landmark that gives Camden Yards its distinct identity.Baseball fans know Babe Ruth as a Yankee (and to a lesser degree, a Red Sock), but it all started in Baltimore for the Bambino.There is an area outside the stadium featuring the uniform numbers of former Oriole greats. I had to grab a shot of Eddie Murray’s number 33. Murray was my favorite player when I was a kid, and into adulthood too. In trying to describe Eddie Murray to Griffin, I settled on saying, “Imagine if Jules from “Pulp Fiction” played baseball…”Brooks Robinson was a little before my time, but he was one of my father’s favorite players (oddly enough, I think Dad’s absolute favorite was Mark Belanger). Robinson won 16 Gold Glove awards for his virtuoso defensive play at third base.The stadium features a small shrine to the 1983 World Series championship team. I was in 10th grade when that team won it all, and I’m still waiting for them to do it again. I don’t want to jinx anything, but this 2023 squad is the best Oriole team I’ve seen since then.Eddie Murray’s 1983 batting helmet. Brings back memories…I really appreciated Ken Singleton as a player, but I always found it hard to stomach seeing him as a broadcaster hyping up the Yankees on the YES Network. These kids in our section were lobbying the players to toss them baseballs during batting practice. A lot of them went home with souvenirs.The golden hour.The view from our seats at the start of the game. We were seated very close to the left field foul pole. A pretty good vantage point as outfield seats go.It was a packed house, and the crowd was hyped. Just a terrific atmosphere.The hat notwithstanding, I don’t think I converted Griffin into a baseball fan. But we had a great time, and this was a trip to remember.
Researcher. Marketer. Teacher. Father of adult children and dogs. 20th Century holdover. Central New York native. Long-suffering Buffalo Bills fan. History nerd. Traveler. Vintage advertising enthusiast. Hat wearer.
a.k.a. V.J. 
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