Game 2 - July 25, 2008

Angels vs. Orioles
Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore

Angels 6, Orioles 5
Home runs: Casey Kotchman and Juan Rivera (Angels), two for Kevin Millar (Orioles)

Beer: $6.50

Photos

We left Pittsburgh and headed for Baltimore, our first day on the road. Pennsylvania is surprisingly pretty, hilly with lots of trees. We stopped for lunch at the Gateway Travel Plaza in Breezewood (and I only know this because I have my receipt!) Back on the bus, our tour guide Stevette passed around a microphone so everyone could introduce themselves. It was very interesting to hear the stories, as it was a varied group on our bus. (Two buses total on the tour.) There were a few more women than men on our bus and about 40 or so people overall. There was a mom and daughter who were celebrating the daughter’s high school graduation, which was cool. The other bus had some fathers and younger (around 12 or so) sons. Also on our bus was a couple from Australia, in the midst of a nine-week tour of the U.S. They’d been on the West Coast baseball tour earlier in July. It was really enjoyable talking to them throughout the trip.

A note on Stevette: she is great! I don’t know that there’s a bigger baseball fan anywhere, and she has the best stories to tell – such as how she won a Radio Shack contest in 2003 to attend the All Star Game and sit with Cal Ripken Jr. and his brother Bill for two inning. She was terrific at getting everyone talking to each other and had an infectious laugh, plus she took care of us the whole trip – we didn’t have to think about a thing, just show up at the bus when she told us we had to be there.

We arrived in Baltimore around 4 p.m. and went to the Inner Harbor, deciding to have a good dinner before we went to the game. Since it was Baltimore, of course we had crab cakes, and we sat outside at a restaurant that overlooked the harbor. After dinner, we walked to Camden Yards. There are all kinds of vendors along the way, selling food and drinks and telling you that it’s cheaper than inside the ballpark. And I’m sure it all was – although beer was cheaper at Camden than at PNC the night before.

I was at Camden Yards once before, for a few innings on opening day in 2005. I was in Baltimore for a conference at the convention center, right across the street, and was finished for the day while the game was still going on. Since the Orioles were playing the A’s, my favorite American League team, I decided to see if I could get into the stadium. As it was opening day, I knew no tickets would be available so I was going to ask if they’d let me in. The first man was very nice and said he couldn’t but I was welcome to come back after the game ended to get in and look around. The next man was not nice, just said no. On my third attempt I asked a woman, hoping she’d be more sympathetic. I explained that I was in town for a convention, that I just wanted to see the ballpark, and she asked if I knew how many times she’d heard that story today. I started digging into my bag for my convention badge, to prove to her I was telling the truth, and she looked at me like I was crazy and told me to go in. I said thank you. She said not to sit anywhere. And I didn’t. (Like anyone would know … ) It was the eighth inning at the time, so I had a brief Camden experience.

This time, however, no worries about getting in! Coincidentally, we went in the same gate I’d entered in 2005. It was floppy hat night, so we all received a lovely reversible orange hat. I wasn’t too disappointed when beer got spilled on mine later (it was on the ground, not my head, at the time) but Marybeth graciously gave me her hat. Is anyone an Orioles fan??

The area in front of the warehouse in right field at Camden is very neat – bars and shops and kiosks selling food out there, including Boog’s Barbecue (run by Boog Powell). He was there that night and threw out the first pitch. People at Camden seemed really friendly – a random guy said hello as I walked by, a group of people asked if I’d take their picture and were so appreciative.

Our seats were along the left field line. It seemed very cramped, plus the seats faced forward – toward centerfield, not home plate. Because of the angle and the crowd, it was hard to see home plate at all. Since there were a lot of empty seats (crowd was about 28,000) we moved up after a few innings and had a much better view, as well as more room.

We heard the worst rendition of the National Anthem I’ve perhaps ever heard. The poor girl singing kept hitting wrong notes. As it reaches the line “Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave…” the entire crowd screams the “OH.” Pretty surprising, yet funny.

The Angels came out swinging and scored two in the first, then had two homers in the second for a 5-0 lead. The Orioles got their first hit in the third, a home run by Kevin Millar. Since he was on the 2004 Red Sox (who, of course, beat the Cardinals in the World Series) I don’t like him. (I hold grudges.) However, I did cheer for him in the ninth inning. The score had been 6 to 4 Angels when that inning started, with Francisco Rodriguez (K-Rod) pitching for the Angels. He is leading the major leagues in saves and had 42 going into that game. As a Cardinals fan, with the huge bullpen/closer struggles I’ve had to see this season, it was comforting to see K-Rod struggle. He gave up a homer to Millar (when I cheered) to make it 6-5, then a double right after that. But he was able to get his 43rd save successfully.

About cheering for the Orioles: most of the time, I cheered for the home team at the games.

Since we’d had dinner right before the game, we only got dessert at Camden. But it was good – Butterfinger soft-serve ice cream. As Marybeth and I walked out into the concourse to get ice cream, we ran into the Orioles mascot. People were lining up to get their pictures taken with it. So we did too.

After the game, we had a long walk to our bus – it was parked near the Ravens Stadium. Then it was off to our hotel for the night in Maryland.