Oriole Park at Camden Yards

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.

B&O Warehouse

The stadium planners incorporated the warehouse into the architecture of the ballpark experience rather than demolish or truncate it. The floors of the warehouse contain offices, service spaces, and a private club. The warehouse has been hit by a ball only once, by Ken Griffey, Jr. during the Home Run Derby of the 1993 MLB All-Star Game.

Eutaw Street

Eutaw Street, between the stadium and the warehouse, is closed to vehicular traffic. Along this street, spectators can get a view of the game or visit the many shops and restaurants that line the thoroughfare, including former Oriole star Boog Powell's outdoor barbecue stand. On game days, pedestrians must have a ticket in order to walk on the part of Eutaw Street adjacent to the stadium; however, on non-game days the street is open to all, while access to the stadium is gated. Sections 90–98, called Eutaw Street palace, are located not in the stadium, but adjacent to Eutaw Street, with the seats descending toward the outfield below. If a game sells out, fans may purchase reduced-price "Standing-room only" tickets, which entitle them to enter Eutaw Street and watch the game from two designated standing areas (in LF bullpen area or above scoreboard in RF).

Many home run balls have landed on Eutaw Street, and the Orioles organization has marked the spots with small baseball-shaped bronze plaques embedded in the street, though it sometimes takes up to a year for each homer to get a plaque. The first home run to reach Eutaw Street was hit by Mickey Tettleton of the Detroit Tigers on April 20, 1992. The most recent home run to land on Eutaw Street was a shot by Pedro Álvarez of the Baltimore Orioles on September 2, 2016. As of September 12, 2013, 75 home runs have landed on Eutaw Street in stadium history. The June 29, 2012 game against the Cleveland Indians was only the second time multiple home runs have landed on Eutaw Street in a single game. The first occurrence was during the April 11, 1997 game against the Texas Rangers when Rafael Palmeiro hit two home runs which landed on Eutaw Street. The single season record for home runs landing on Eutaw Street is eight, set in 2008.

Blocked skyline views

In 2007–08 construction started on two large buildings beyond the stadium's outfield walls — a 757-room Hilton Baltimore hotel north of the stadium occupying a two-city block area and a high-rise apartment building, both completed in 2009 — which have blocked views of the city's skyline from most sections of the grandstand. The Baltimore Sun said on April 21, 2008, "There's just a glimpse of the Bromo Seltzer Tower's crenellated top just to the right of the new Hilton Baltimore Convention Center hotel ... something's drastically different at Oriole Park this year ... the sweeping view of downtown Baltimore that fans have enjoyed for the past 16 seasons has changed considerably..." Sportswriter Peter Schmuck complained, "the big, antiseptic convention hotel ... looms over Camden Yards ... [and] has blocked out the best part of the Baltimore skyline". A Washington Post columnist called it a "cruel cubist joke on a previously perfect ballpark", although others said they were pleased with new construction downtown as indicative of urban revitalization.

Notable games

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. Some 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.

Seating capacity

Ballparks influenced by Camden Yards

Camden Yards lights spell out GO ORIOLES all throughout the month of September.

Since its opening day in 1992, Camden Yards was a success and fan favorite. Attendance jumped from an average of 25,722 over the last 10 years of Memorial Stadium's tenure to an average of 43,490 over the first 10 years of Camden Yards' existence. Due to its success, many other cities built traditional-feeling asymmetrical ballparks with modern amenities (such as skyboxes) in a downtown setting. Many of these stadiums, like Camden Yards, incorporate "retro" features in the stadium exteriors as well as interiors; these parks have been dubbed "retro-classic" parks. Other parks, known as "retro-modern" parks, have combined "retro" interiors with more modern exterior elements.

The park also ended a quarter-century trend of multi-purpose stadiums in which baseball and football teams shared the same stadium. Although intended to cut costs, the fundamentally different sizes and shapes of baseball and football fields made this concept fundamentally inadequate for either sport. By the 2012 season, all but two teams played in baseball-only parks.

Retro-classic parks include:

Retro-modern parks include:

The newest MLB park, Marlins Park in Miami (opened in 2012), was the first since Camden Yards not classified as a "retro" park, whether of the classic or modern variety. Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria specifically rejected the retro model for the new park, desiring a facility that reflected the 21st-century culture of Miami. Populous, which designed both Camden Yards and Marlins Park, was willing to listen; the lead designer for Marlins Park would later say the company was "waiting for a client willing to break the [retro] mold." Stadium planners are labeling Marlins Park the first example of contemporary architecture in MLB.

Attendance

Between 1992–2000, the Orioles averaged more than 40,000 spectators per game, with a total attendance of 3.71 million persons in the 1997 season. Since then, attendance has declined to 1.9 million in the 2009 season. The current single game highest attendance record at Camden Yards is 49,828, set on July 10, 2005 against the Boston Red Sox. On April 12, 2010, the low-attendance mark was set, when just 9,129 fans watched the Orioles play the Tampa Bay Rays. On April 29, 2015, Camden Yards was practically empty after the riots in Baltimore over Freddie Gray. Only two scouts, one scoreboard display operator, and the players showed up to watch, and official attendance was 0. This marks the first time in MLB history that the public was not permitted to attend a baseball game.

On August 19, 2008, the stadium hosted its 50 millionth fan, a milestone reached in just 17 seasons, the fastest park in baseball history to reach such a figure. Since opening in 1992, Oriole Park has hosted the third-most number of fans in Major League Baseball, exceeded only by Dodger Stadium and the first Yankee Stadium.

Access and transportation

On the far side of the B&O Warehouse is the present Camden Station, served by both the Baltimore Light Rail and MARC commuter rail. The latter rail line provides direct service to Washington, D.C., and the former to BWI Airport. The Light Rail service began around the time the stadium opened.

The stadium is located in downtown Baltimore, near the Inner Harbor. The ballpark, along with the adjacent M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League, make up the Camden Yards Sports Complex, though Camden Yards generally refers to only the baseball stadium. The football stadium was not built until 1998. Camden Yards is just a short walk from Babe Ruth's birthplace, which is now a museum. According to some sources, Ruth's father once owned a pub located in what is now center field of the stadium.

In May 2005, a new sports museum, the Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards, opened in Camden Station. It lasted only 10 years, closing on October 12, 2015.

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