First Trip to Camden Yards This Season

I’ll be back later to talk about the dismal performance of the Orioles of late, but this time I want to put up something positive. Saturday night we stopped at Camden Yards on the way back north after a week at the beach and even a blowout at the hands of the Yankees can’t dampen the charm of the Yard.

Living in upstate New York near Rochester, its tough to get to Baltimore as much as we’d like. But we manage to catch at least a few games every year, sometimes more. Saturday night we had great seats in section 14, a bit down the right field line behind first base. I have to admit I don’t like paying a $20 per seat adder for “premium games” – games against the Yankees and Red Sox – but I pay it anyway.

Ticket prices aside, Camden Yards is looking better than ever. It is still the best place in all of major league baseball to watch a game. I’ve been to over 20 MLB stadiums and Camden Yards is still tops. And this year its been spruced up a bit, so go and make sure you check out what’s new:

Natty Boh is Back!   National Bohemian, originally brewed in Baltimore, is back on tap at the Yard. The only thing better than a “Dog and a Beer” is a “Dog and a Boh”.

Fantastic Food.  There’s more than Boog’s Barbecue to go with that Boh. Oh What a Dog, Das Sausage Haus and Pollack Johnny’s are all part of the new and improved concession. The lines were long because the Yankees were there and it was a big crowd. And despite the vendors struggling to keep up (the service was sloooow….) the food was top notch. Make sure you save room for the polish sausage from Johnny’s, delish…

More Shops.  There was The Oriole Store in the warehouse and a few stands in the concession area in past years. Now there are 3 or 4 new stores, including a custom jersey shop. For someone who claims to have more Oriole “stuff” than any current Oriole (without a doubt), the improvements in the merchandise stores were a welcomed upgrade.

HD Scoreboard. Has it always been an HD screen out in centerfield? I don’t think so. The picture on the big board was amazing, it was as good as sitting in front of my 55″ Sony HD in my living room. Incredible.

Even with a lousy Oriole team on the field that hardly signs any autographs (that will be another post when it’s really time to blast the O’s), its still one of my favorite places in the world. Camden Yards on a Saturday night, now that’s what its all about!