MD -- Baltimore -- Camden Yards:
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- Wikipedia Description: Oriole Park at Camden Yards
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Oriole Park at Camden Yards, often referred to simply as Camden Yards or Oriole Park, is a Major League Baseball (MLB) ballpark located in Baltimore, Maryland. Home to the Baltimore Orioles, it is the first of the "retro" major league ballparks constructed during the 1990s and early 2000s, and remains one of the most highly praised. It was completed in 1992 to replace Memorial Stadium.
The park is situated in downtown Baltimore, a few blocks west of the Inner Harbor in the Camden Yards Sports Complex. The Orioles celebrated the ballpark's 20th anniversary during the 2012 season and launched the website CamdenYards20.com as part of the celebration. Historically, Oriole Park at Camden Yards is one of several venues that have carried the "Oriole Park" name for various Baltimore franchises over the years.
History
Construction
Prior to Camden Yards, the predominant design trend of big league ballparks was the symmetrical "multi-purpose stadium". Memorial Stadium, the Orioles' home since they moved from St. Louis in 1954, was an early example of such a design.
In 1984, the Baltimore Colts moved to Indianapolis, in part because Baltimore and Maryland officials refused to commit money for a replacement for Memorial Stadium. Not wanting to chance losing the Orioles—and Baltimore's status as a major-league city in its own right—city and state officials immediately set about building a new park in order to keep them in town.
The master plan was designed by international design firm RTKL. The stadium design was completed by the architectural firm Populous (then HOK Sport), which had pioneered retro ballparks on the minor league level four years earlier with Pilot Field in Buffalo, New York.
Populous' original design was very similar to the new Comiskey Park. However, at the urging of architectural consultant Janet Marie Smith, the Orioles turned it down, preferring a retro-style park.
Construction began in 1989, and lasted 33 months. Former Orioles owner Eli Jacobs favored naming the new field Oriole Park, while then-Maryland Governor William Donald Schaefer favored Camden Yards. After considerable debate a compromise was reached to use both names.
1992–2008
The ballpark opened on April 6, 1992 with the Orioles hosting the Cleveland Indians. The great success of Camden Yards which followed sparked a trend in the construction of more traditional, fan-friendly ballparks in downtown locations across the U.S. Indeed, by the 2012 season, all but two teams (the Toronto Blue Jays and Oakland Athletics) played in baseball-only parks.
The first run scored at Camden Yards occurred when Chris Hoiles hit a ground rule double that brought in Sam Horn. The Orioles went on to win the game 2-0 on Rick Sutcliffe's shutout.
Camden Yards hosted the 1993 MLB All-Star Game.
On June 18, 1994, an escalator accident injured 43 people; one of the stadium's multiple-story escalators, overcrowded with fans heading to their upper-deck seats, jerked backward, throwing passengers to the bottom landing. On September 6, 1995, Camden Yards witnessed Cal Ripken, Jr.'s record-setting 2,131st consecutive game. Exactly one year later, Eddie Murray blasted his 500th home run there.
Two orange seats stand out from the park's dark green plastic chairs. One, located at Section 96, Row 7, Seat 23 in the right-center field bleachers (officially known as the Eutaw Street Reserve sections), commemorates the spot where Murray's 500th home run landed. The other, Section 86, Row FF, Seat 10 in the left field bleachers, was the landing spot for Ripken's 278th home run as a shortstop, breaking Chicago Cubs legend Ernie Banks' record for the position. That home run was hit on July 15, 1993. Ripken finished his career with 345 home runs as a shortstop and 431 overall.
On October 8, 1995, Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass at Camden Yards as part of his visit to Baltimore, one of the most prominent non-baseball events at Camden Yards.
Renovations
After the 2008 season, a new HD video display and scoreboard were installed below the right field bleachers. A new, high fidelity sound reinforcement system was added around the ballpark in 2009. The Orioles made numerous improvements to their home ballpark and to their spring training facility, Ed Smith Stadium, before the start of the 2011 season. All seats in the lower seating bowl were replaced and drink rails were added in the club level. Several skyboxes were also eliminated and refurbished to make room for more party suites and casual luxury boxes. The renovation reduced Oriole Park's capacity from 48,876 to 45,971, making it more comparable with newer ballparks.
During the 2011–12 off season, the Orioles announced further upgrades to Camden Yards in preparation for the 20th anniversary of the park's opening. These improvements included the expansion of concession food choices, widening of the concourses in the upper deck, the installation of a replica of the B&O Warehouse's original canopy, and the addition of a lounge atop the batter's eye in center field, which had been previously been inaccessible to fans. The lounge would contain a restaurant and have bar-style and casual deck seating where fans could watch the game. The team also announced that cast-bronze statues of all the Oriole Baseball Hall of Famers would be erected in the picnic area beyond the bullpens in left-center field. Furthermore, the right field wall would be lowered from 25 feet to 21 feet to improve the view of the field from Eutaw Street. ...
Design and features
Camden Yards was built on land that once served as the rail yard for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Camden Station. The view from much of the park is dominated by the former B&O Warehouse behind the right-field wall. Many seats in the stadium have a good view of the downtown Baltimore skyline.
The bullpen area was designed after many write-in designs were submitted by the public. Its unique two-tiered design was a first in major league parks.
A picnic area is located above and behind the bullpens. Rows of picnic tables covered by orange umbrellas are available for fans to sit and eat. Many trees are located there, too. Many fans at home games view the game from behind the railing behind the bullpens. Until the 2012 season, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network's pre- and post-game shows before Orioles home games were televised in an outdoor studio behind the bullpens. Bronze sculptures of the six Orioles greats whose uniform numbers were retired by the ballclub were unveiled individually in the walking zone of the area behind the bullpens throughout the 2012 season. The statues were created by Antonio Tobias Mendez and cast at the locally based New Arts Foundry.
On the street there is a statue of Babe Ruth entitled, Babe's Dream, created in 1996 by sculptor Susan Luery. In the same courtyard, one will find sculptures indicating the retired jersey numbers of the Baltimore Orioles.
The stadium is the first major league park to have an outfield wall made up entirely of straight wall segments since Ebbets Field. The playing field is 16 feet below street level. The stadium contains 4,631 club seats and 72 luxury suites. Every seat in the ballpark is green, except for two – one in left field which marks the spot of Cal Ripken's 278th career home run, breaking Ernie Banks' all-time record among shortstops, and one in right field, which marks the spot of Eddie Murray's 500th career home run.
In March 2013, Oriole Park was named the No. 3 ballpark in the U.S. by TripAdvisor.
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