Traditional Baseball Roadtrip #6: Mid-Atlantic States-Part 3: The Finale-Baltimore

Date: May 26, 2011

Primary Destination: MLB City of Baltimore

Games Attended:

Game 1: Kansas City Royals vs. Baltimore Orioles, May 26^th, 2011, 12:35PM EDT, Orioles Park at Camden Yards

Roadtrip Summary:

Our two earlier Mid-Atlantic States roadtrips took us to see the Washington Nationals at their old and new home stadiums, RFK Memorial Park and Nationals Park, the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, and the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. This roadtrip completes our visit to the other four MLB teams located in the Mid-Atlantic States-those not in the Metropolitan New York City area. I have called this baseball trip the “Mid-Atlantic States-Part 3: The Finale-Baltimore. Baltimore is not that far for us that we could not make a return trip in the same day. For this reason, we attended a single Orioles day game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, MD as a daytrip from our homes in Northern New Jersey.

Since this was done as a day trip, no additional time was spent in Baltimore. Baltimore offers many interest family attractions and interesting eating opportunities; however, we have both been to Baltimore and the surrounding area a number of times. But, we did arrive early so that we could check out the area around the stadium and the ballpark itself.

The ballpark is built on land that once served as the rail yard for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Camden Station. Hence the name “Orioles Park at Camden Yard. Eutaw Street, which is located between the right field wall of the stadium and the historic eight story high Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Warehouse, is closed to vehicular traffic on game days. This creates a walking plaza between the Eutaw Street entrance gates to the ballpark.

On game days, starting several hours prior to game time, pedestrians must have a ticket in order to walk on the plaza; however, on non-game days the street is open to all. The Eutaw Street Plaza is populated by a number of interesting business establishments, including the well know Boog’s Bar-B-Q, named after the infamous Orioles first baseman of the 60s and early 70s Boog Powell.

The Eutaw Street Plaza is one of the highlights of the stadium environment. It includes many more interesting features. For example, posted on one wall, know as the “Orioles Hall of Fame” is plaques of famous past players of the Baltimore Orioles. Brass baseballs are embedded into the walkway of the plaza to marking the spot where home runs cleared the right field fence and landed on Eutaw Street. Finally, there is a look out area, called the “Flag Court,” which allows you to view the field over the right field wall. Hung on separate poles in the court is the flag of each American League team and they arranged in the order of the current divisional standings. The Flag court is a fun place to hang out during batting practice with the hope of catching a ball.

Orioles Park at Camden Yards is a very attractive, classic looking, baseball stadium. You are able to walk completely around the inside of the stadium and out onto the Eutaw Street Plaza. Looking at the lower edge of the upper deck in left field, you see the numbers 4, 5, 20, 22, and 33 posted They were the numbers worn by Earl Weaver, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Jim Palmer, and Eddie Murray. These numbers have been retired by the Orioles to honor these important members of past Orioles teams.

A number of interesting business establishments have grown up around the ballpark. For instance, in the streets surrounding Orioles Part at Camden Yard are a number of interesting pubs and eateries. Two are:

• Pickles Pub, 520 Washington Blvd, Baltimore, MD 21230 (410) 752-1784 http://www.picklespub.com/
• Sliders Bar and Grille, 504 Washington Blvd, 410-547-8891 http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/bars-clubs/sliders-bar-and-grill,1025894/critic-review.html#reviewNum1

Here is a link to an interesting article about pregame and postgame entertainment around Orioles Park at Camden Yards http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ycn-8090658.

We had a beautiful sun shinny day to attend the game between the Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles. There was a lot of scoring action early with and by the end of the 4^th inning the game was tied at 5 to 5. However, then both teams were shut down offensively by the other teams pitching and the game went to extra innings. Eventually, the Orioles pushed across a run in the bottom of the 12^th to win. The key hits in the game winning rally were a leadoff double by second baseman Robert Andino and a walk off single by the Orioles DH Vladimir Guerrero.

Nolan Reimold, who played LF and batted 6^th in the Orioles order, had been called up from the Orioles AAA teams Norfolk Tides on May 19^th. He had a big day with the bat for Baltimore. Reimold went 4 for 4 with a walk. Hit two home runs to left and had a double and knocked in 4 of the Orioles first 5 runs.

A Norfolk Tides player, Craig Tatum, was playing catcher in the game for Baltimore. He was called up by the Orioles on May 25^th and playing his first game in the majors this season. Tatum batted 9^th and went 1 for 4 on the day. He lined a single to right field in the 7^th inning, which was his first major league hit of the 2011 season. In addition, Tatum made a spectacular diving catch on a fouled off attempt at a sacrifice bunt. Click here to view a video of the catch http://sportshl.com/baseball/KC_BAL_Tatum_dives_to_snag_a_foul_popup_bunt/1100107?s=Tatum).

In the “Suggestions for Additional Roadtrip Attractions” section, I have added a list of interesting sites and attractions in the city of Baltimore and the surrounding area. This may permit you to add a vacation component to the baseball roadtrip. In addition, I have listed a number of other baseball teams that are conveniently located on the route between Northern New Jersey and the Baltimore, MD area in the section titled “Some Suggested Alternatives.” Website links for these baseball teams are provided in the “Roadtrip Planning Resources” section. This information will permit you to expand the roadtrip with more games.

MLB Final Score and Box Score

Game 1: Final Score: BAL 6 KCR 5 12 innings

Box Score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL201105260.shtml

Travel Method, Route, and Distances:

GPS Destination Address: Orioles Park at Camden Yards, 333 West Camden Street, Baltimore, MD 21201

May 26th

• Drive: 200 mi to Baltimore.
• Drive: 200 miles to Wayne, NJ

Approx. Total Drive Miles: 400 mi

En-route Attractions Visited:

• Woody’s Crab House, 29 South Main St., North East, MD 21901
• Ripkin Stadium home of the Aberdeen Ironbirds of the New York-Penn League.

Suggestions for Additional Roadtrip Attractions:

• Orioles Park at Camden Yard Tour http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/bal/ballpark/tours/index.jsp
• Babe Ruth’s Birthplace and Museum http://baberuthmuseum.com/exhibits/brm/
• Sports Legends Museum http://baberuthmuseum.com/exhibits/slmacy/
• Maryland Science Center at Inner Harbor, http://www.mdsci.org/
• National Aquarium Baltimore http://www.aqua.org/
• Inner Harbor: Harborplace & The Gallery http://www.harborplace.com/
• Historic Ships in Baltimore: USS Constellation , USS Torsk Submarine, USCGC Taney, and Lightship Chesapeake http://www.historicships.org/

Roadtrip Planning Tips:

• Baltimore is easily accessed via major highway from the northeast or other Mid-Atlantic States.
• Plan in a stop at Inner Harbor at Baltimore
• An interesting short side trip is to the village of Annapolis, MD.

Some Suggested Alternatives:

• Penn Station-Camden Route Light Rail Commuter Train. http://mta.maryland.gov/services/lightrail/schedule/ and map http://www.visitingdc.com/airport/baltimore-light-rail-map.htm
• Amtrack to Penn Station, Baltimore.
• Expand the duration of the roadtrip by adding one or more extra days with an overnight stay and see additional baseball games by teams that play in towns/cities on the route between Baltimore, MD and Philadelphia, PA.
• See a home game played by the Philadelphia Phillies.
• Attend a game at a stadium of an Affiliated Minor League Team. Two teams conveniently located just off this route are:
• Wilmington Blue Rocks, Frawley Stadium, Wilmington, DE, Carolina League, Class A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals
• Aberdeen IronBirds, Ripken Stadium, Aberdeen, MD
  New York-Penn League, Class A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles

Roadtrip Planning Resource

The following are the web resources used for planning the "Mid-Atlantic States-Part 3: The Finale-Baltimore" MLB roadtrip:

Official Website of Major League Baseball: http://mlb.mlb.com

• Click on "Team" in the upper right corner and then click on "Baltimore" to get to the Orioles website.
• On the Orioles website click on "Schedule" to view the "Season Schedule".
• Link to view addresses of the Stadiums for each MLB Team:

Official Website of the Carolina League:
http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp?sid=l122

Click on the "Logos" listed across the top to choose a team in the league, for instance, "Wilmington Blue Rocks" to get to their specific website. On the specific team's website highlight "Schedule" and click ont "Schedule" in the drop down menu. Highlight "Ballpark Info" to view information about the home stadium. Determine the name of the stadium. Identify the address of the stadium (if the address is not given Google the name of the stadium). Official Website of the New York-Penn League: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/schedule/index.jsp?sid=l127 Click on the "Icon" for the appropriate team to transfer to its website, for instance, the "Aberdeen Ironbirds". View the home games on the season schedule Identify the name of the stadium and its address.

Photos: Twittered Baseball Roadtrip #11: CanAm League-Sussex Skyhawks/Quebec Capitales Home and Away Series

Quebec_2010_018, originally uploaded by wtriebel.


For more photos for the Sussex Skyhawks vs. Quebec Capitales game in Quebec City, CA, visit:
http://bit.ly/934OUO

CAN-AM_roadtrip_Sussex_007, originally uploaded by wtriebel.

For more photos for the Quebec Capitales vs. Sussex Skyhawks game in Augusta, NJ USA, visit:
http://bit.ly/aolaJt

Twittered Baseball Roadtrip #11: CanAm League-Sussex Skyhawks/Quebec Capitales Home and Away Series

Dates: July 20, 2010 and August 12, 2010

Primary Destinations: Quebec City, QU Canada and Augusta, NJ USA

Twitter Address: http://twitter.com/Wtriebel

Games Attended:

Game 1: Sussex Skyhawks vs. Quebec Capitales, July 20^th, 7:05PM, Stade Municipal, Quebec, QC Canada

Game 2: Quebec Capitales vs. Sussex Skyhawks, Aug 12^th, 7:05PM, Skylands Park, Augusta, NJ USA

Summary:

This is the third baseball roadtrip that I have made that included visits to see teams of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball (CanAm League) play games at their home stadiums. Summaries of these two earlier trips, Twittered Baseball Roadtrip #1: Canadian American (CanAm) League and Twittered Baseball Roadtip #6 Independent Leagues of New Jersey 2010 Opening Days-Atlantic League and CanAm League, are posted on the this blog. By making this roadtrip, I have now attended games of all teams of the CanAm League, except the Pittsfield Colonials, at their home stadiums.

The plan for this roadtrip was to attend home and away games played between the same two teams. Because I live in New Jersey and had the opportunity to be in Quebec City, Canada for a brief period this summer, I chose the CanAm League. The Sussex Skyhawks were playing a 3-game away series with the Quebec Capitales from July 19^th though July 21^st, which was during the period I was in Quebec City. Also, the Capitales and Sussex Skyhawks were scheduled to play a 4-game series in Augusta, NJ from August 12^th-August 15^th. I have called this roadtrip “CanAm League-Sussex Skyhawks/Quebec Capitales Home and Away Series.”

The Capitales home stadium, Stade Municipal, is located in Quebec City just a short ride from the Old City tourist section. This was the first baseball game I attended in Canada since going to a Montreal Expos game at Jarry Park in the early 1970s. The stadium environment and game experience was interesting and a little different. I did not purchase a ticket in advance. When I arrived, I was surprised to see many long lines of people waiting to purchase day-of-game tickets. So a first difference was that, unlike most other games I attend, there was a huge walk up attendance. Also, the large enthusiastic crowd (Attendance: 3,821) appeared to be more adult oriented than those I have experienced at CanAm League games in the US. Even though the age of the audience tended to be older, the atmosphere at the game was very lively. The fans were very engaged with the team mascot, a lion named “Capi,” who interacted with them more as a cheerleader encouraging them to root for the home team. Finally, the Capitales enjoy strong fan support and have the highest average game attendance in the league, 3,288 per game.

The Strade Municipal ballpark is quite old. It was originally built in 1938, but underwent renovations as recently as 1999. I noticed a number of unique and interesting differences from other ballparks where I have attended games. One was that the netting that protects fans from foul balls, which is traditionally just in the area behind home plate at ballparks in the US, extended all the way down the fist base and third base lines to where the dirt of the infield met the outfield grass. The netting was quite high and would protect fans in the front rows from getting hit by a line drive. Second is that the stadium had a small modern electronic display screen where images of players and other information was displayed, but the score was posted on an old fashion manual score board. In fact, the scoreboard has several attendants sitting on founding chairs right on a platform in front of the scoreboard. You could watch them pick up the number plaques, walk down to the appropriate location, and physically hang the number up. This brought back memories of my youth when I played baseball in the little league and teener league and on a few occasion had the exciting opportunity of assisting at the scoreboard.

Finally, I have one last memory about the nuances of the stadium environment. I bought a general admission ticket to the game. The seating that this provided was quite interesting. The seats were similar to the wooden pew that one might see in a church and with a very high back. You did not get a specific seat, but could sit in any available location. Again a fun experience and unlike any type of seating I have seen before at a baseball game.

This “Home and Away” roadtrip concluded when the Capitales came to Augusta, NJ to play the Skyhawks in early August. I have been to see the Sussex Skyhawks play at Skylands Park many times. In fact, it is one of the places I attended a game this spring on my “Independent Leagues of New Jersey 2010 Opening Days” roadtrip. As at the first Sussex Skyhawks game of the season, it was raining prior to the game, but this time the start of the game was delayed longer, about 1 and a half hours. The weather did clear up to allow the game to be played and Skylands Park does have some seating areas where the seats are protected from the rain. So I was able to enjoy the game while remaining dry. Sussex Skyhawks games offer a very family friendly environment; however, due to the inclement weather the crowd was very small on this night. The photos blog post for this roadtrip includes a picture of the field covered by the tarp and an announcement on the scoreboard that a new start time would be announced as well as in-game action and a photo of the team Mascot “a hawk named Scotter.“

Summary of the Skyhawks/Capitales Home and Away Series Roadtrip Games:

Game 1: 7/20/2010 Sussex Skyhawks vs. Quebec Capitales

Sussex 2R 10H 3E

LP: Jeff Icenogle (4W:2L)

HR: Kris Sanchez

Quebec 7R 13H 0E

WP: Jim Kukucka (2W:0L)

SV: None

HR: None

Game 2: 8/12/2010 Quebec Capitales vs. Sussex Skyhawks

Quebec 3R 7H 1E

WP: Matt Rusch (10W:1L)

SV: None

HR: None

Sussex 1R 7H 3E

LP: Will Hassett (0W:2L)

HR: None

Twitter Roadtrip Information:

The tweets I posted on Twitter for each of the games includes pre-game tweets with information about the league, the teams participating in the games, and probable starting pitchers. In addition, a link is provided to view photos of the stadium. After the game, post-game tweets summarized the result, such as winning team, final score and overall team stats, winning and losing pitchers, how runs were scored, and other highlights of the game.

Total number of Tweets: 51

Game 1: Sussex Skyhawks vs. Quebec Capitales

Number of tweets: 20

Time/Date of 1^st Tweet: 5:48 PM Jul 20th

Time/Date of last Tweet: 1:34 AM Jul 21st

Game 2: Quebec Capitales vs. Sussex Skyhawks

Number of tweets: 31

Time/Date of 1^st Tweet: 11:19 PM Aug 11th

Time/Date of last Tweet: 2:20 AM Aug 13th

Roadtrip Planning Resources:

The following are the web resources used for planning this "CanAm League" baseball roadtrip: Official website of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball (CanAm League): http://www.canamleague.com/ Current Standings of the Teams in the CanAm League: http://canam.bbstats.pointstreak.com/standings.html?leagueid=201&seasonid=316 Composite Game Schedules for the CanAm League: : http://www.canamleague.com/schedules.php Official Websites of the Teams: Sussex Skyhawks: http://www.sussexskyhawks.com/ Quebec Capitales: http://www.canamleague.com/teams/quebec.php