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The Camden Collection
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More on Baltimore's Camden Yards . . .
This is the view from the Camden Club restaurant in one of the top floors of the B&O Warehouse. The game below pits the Orioles against the Yankees, who clinched the AL East crown this night in September 1999. The flag court above the right field wall is at the very bottom of this shot. If you have a chance to eat a meal in the Camden Club (the food is fantastic, by the way), check out the spectacular view from the men's room -- well, do so if you're the appropriate gender.
And speaking of the Warehouse, here it is looming beyond right field. The Camden Club occupies the top two floors. Note how the banks of lights are actually mounted on the roof of the Warehouse! Cy Young winner Pedro Martinez and his Red Sox are playing the O's on this night. The Jumbotron is showing a close-up of Pedro.
I love this shot. As the sun is setting to the left, it causes the Baltimore skyline to glow. I took this photo from behind the top row of the upper deck.
It's 2001 in this shot, and the National Anthem is being sung. Before this season started, the Orioles moved home plate closer to the backstop -- meaning that it was even farther from home to theWarehouse. (after ten seasons in this park, a batter had yet to hit a fair ball off the warehouse during a game). It was a short-lived experiment, as the plate was moved back the following year.
And the Orioles aren't the only team in the Camden Yards area. The NFL Ravens moved into their state-of-the-art stadium in the fall of '98. Notice the h-u-g-e TV-like screen above the end zone. At 100 feet wide, it was the largest in pro sports when it made its debut. The upper deck is really high, but the sight-lines are superb from anywhere. Here the home team is battling -- and beating -- the once-beloved but-now-hated Colts.
After strolling down Memory Lane, you deserve to see a more recent shot of the place. As Camden Yards approaches its 20th birthday, it's still as beautiful as ever. There are new video boards and an altered skyline, but the ballpark in 2010 still retained its lofty spot among the best facilities in the sport.
And last but not least, have you seen these beautiful miniatures of some of America's great ballparks? My former coworkers (Sharon, Dawn and Melanie) surprised me with this one of Camden Yards for Christmas . . . and is it ever gorgeous! The detail is just wonderful.
And a quote on Camden Yards from Richard Hoffer of Sports Illustrated (in naming the park one of the Twenty Greatest Sports Venues of the Twentieth Century): The best compliment you could give Camden Yards is that it looks old beyond its years. You can savor the game's past as well as chardonnay and shrimp from an upholstered chair in a luxury box. The builders of Camden Yards did retro right -- its success kicked off the biggest building boom in baseball history and brought about the biggest change in the majors since the DH: It made stadium revenue more important to teams than a catcher who can hit.
