A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

baltimore orioles

Baltimore offers a lot — even if just there for a night

Baltimore is a city I’ve wanted to explore for a while. I didn’t get to explore as much as I wanted on a trip this past summer (it was for a baseball game, so it was only one night), but the exploration around the area of Camden Yards was interesting and fun.

Here’s a few of the things we did on this short trip.

ORIOLE PARK AT CAMDEN YARDS

I already did my stadium review of Camden Yards, so I won’t do that here. Instead, I want to talk about the stadium tour, which we did the morning after watching a game.

Camden.

Camden.

I’ve been on several stadium tours, but this one was a blast.

We had the chance to see the inside and outside of the stadium, explore different parts, and had a chance to meet the groundskeeper, which was pretty cool. Our guide was fun and knowledgeable and made the time go by quickly.

There were plenty of photo opportunities, too, which was nice.

This is definitely one of the best — if not the best — stadium tour I’ve ever taken. It’s always nice to get a view from the back, too. And when you have tour guides who show they actually care, then it’s even better. Well worth the $10 or $11 we paid to go on it.

PRATT STREET ALE HOUSE

After the Orioles game, it was a good time to go find a beer. A couple of blocks from the hotel (and not too far from Camden Yards, either) was the Pratt Street Ale House, a brewpub where Oliver Breweries is brewed and always on tap.

A great flight of beers!

A great flight of beers!

Of course I needed to get a flight of beers to taste a few different ones.

I enjoyed the selection. The bartender who served us was knowledgable about the beers and friendly. The atmosphere was pretty solid, too. I think there were definitely people from the game in there, which was cool.

We didn’t get any food there, though the menu looked good. I think if I was back in the area again for a few days, I’d highly consider going there to taste the food. Definitely a neat little place and one in which I’m glad to have visited.

I also grabbed a growler of one of their beers to bring back to my brother for his birthday.

Good beer, for sure. If there’s a next time at this place, I’d like to try the food.

BABE RUTH BIRTHPLACE MUSEUM

A short hop, skip, and a jump away from Camden, the museum is on a small back street. The house is tiny, but has a lot of great Babe Ruth artifacts.

At the museum.

At the museum.

There wasn’t a ton here, but there was enough for me to enjoy it. I’m a big fan of baseball history, especially when it comes to Babe Ruth, so this was very cool to visit.

In the museum, you get to see rooms and such where Babe has been. There’s also a small gift shop and the artifacts vary from clothes and gloves, to signed balls and bats. It’s definitely worth a side trip.

If you are a baseball fan, this is a must stop.

If you like the Yankees or anything with Babe, it’s an even bigger stop. The best part is there is a trail to the museum from Camden.

PICKLES PUB

Before we left the city, we stopped here for lunch. It’s a stone’s throw from Camden, so I imagine it’s busy on game days as it gets closer to the time the stadium opens (or after).

Pickles Pub!

Pickles Pub!

Places like this are ones I love to visit as the food is usually excellent and the feel and ambiance is even better.

The food was delicious and the prices were solid. I liked that it had the feel — somewhat — of a dive bar, yet still was a good spot. It’s been a bit since I visited there — a few months — so I can’t remember exactly what I had. But I know it had crab on it and I remember it being fantastic.

This would definitely be a stop for me on a return trip.

Overall, this was a fun trip, even if it was only for one night. I’d like to come back to explore some more and catch another game or two.

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Summer of Baseball: Camden Yards a top-notch experience

For years, I’ve wanted to see a game at Camden Yards.

I’ve had many friends go and tell me what an experience it is, no matter which team you follow.

IMG_5282

Stamped in and ready!

This past summer, it finally happened. Camden Yards. A night of watching the Orioles, trying some great ballpark food and having the chance to chat with other fans.

The experience was amazing, that’s for sure.

In face, the only thing I can think to complain about is the seats being a little tight. That being said, I can now see why people still put Camden Yards as one of the bars when it comes to stadiums in baseball.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards opened in 1992 — yeah, it’s 23 years old already! — and when it was built was a modern marvel when it comes to baseball stadiums. It broke the mold and many of today’s stadiums are built with Camden in mind.

There are so many places to watch the game, not including your seat. You can walk to the outfield and sample some good food or watch some of the game from several standing spots.

It’s hard to truly describe Camden and do it justice.

The night after watching the game, we took a tour of the park, which was even better. We had a great tour guide, which always makes it fun. The history and everything else was included, as were a couple of great spots for photos. We also had the chance to meet the head groundskeeper at Camden. She’s one of two females in that position in Major League Baseball.

As for the park…

From the stadium tour.

From the stadium tour.

The sight lines from seats are excellent. The concourse isn’t fully open, so if you go grab a bite, you can’t always see the field. Many newer stadiums have that option, so if you get up during the game, it’s rare to miss a pitch.

The seats, as noted, were a little tight. Newer stadiums seem to be moving toward a more comfortable seat, but keep in mind that Camden is more than 20 years old.

The food choices are stellar. I had to, of course, try Boog’s BBQ. Though I may be a little biased, I like Bull’s BBQ (Philly) a bit better, but Boog’s was solid. The sauces are definitely different. Loved the chips at Boog’s, though. We ate Boog’s at a table in the right-field standing area, so it was cool to see batting practice going on during that time.

The bird.

The bird.

Later in the night, I went and grabbed some homemade chips with this crab concoction on it — fantastic. I let one of the people behind me try it and they went and got it a few moments later.

I should have asked the Orioles for my cut!

Beer selection seemed solid, too, which is always a bonus. We were surrounded by a pretty good set of fans, too, which made it fun. Though, interestingly enough, the family next to us and the ones in front of us were each from somewhere in Quebec. What are the odds of that?

Overall, this was a fantastic experience. I had the chance to speak with several workers and most were highly friendly. The only downer I had is when I asked somebody at fan services about a lineup board (always seems to come back to that) and she wasn’t as friendly as I would have hoped. She almost seemed taken aback by my question and like I was being a bother. Note — Baltimore doesn’t have a lineup board, either.

Cool tidbit — as I was leaving, Baltimore’s starting pitcher was signing autographs, so I had the chance to get my Passport signed.

Park Notes:  

Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Baltimore, Maryland
Home of the Baltimore Orioles
Visited on: July 31, 2015
Opponent: Detroit Tigers

Ratings (out of 10)

  • Stadium: 9/10
  • Concessions: 8/10
  • Parking: N/A (stayed at hotel two blocks away)
  • Ambiance: 8.5/10
  • Friendliness: 9/10

I am continuing the Summer of Baseball from 2014 and hope to blog about each new stadium I visit in 2015. Ones visited in the past can be viewed linked up in the 2014 version.

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Baseball = Best. Sport. Ever.

The postseason is here! Let's go Phillies!

I love baseball.

For those who know me, that statement probably isn’t shocking.

But for those of you who doubt just how amazing baseball is, you obviously didn’t watch the last night of the regular season last night. What a night for baseball. So many games that meant something. The Braves trying to beat the Phillies to stay in the National League wild-card race. The Cardinals looking to beat the Astros to also stay in the wild-card chase.

In the American League, you had the Red Sox looking to not have an epic collapse and playing the Orioles hoping for the wild card in the American League. And the Rays were playing the Yankees, also hoping to stay in the wild-card chase.

Even beyond the big four games, there was still excitement as the Brewers/Diamondbacks and Tigers/Rangers were playing in games that would decide the second seed in each league, thus claiming home-field advantage for one of those teams. There were four more games that meant something.

Wow!

Further, the Red Sox and Braves were each looking to avoid epic collapses. Boston led the AL wild-card race by nine games on Sept. 1 and, on that same date, the Braves were up in the NL wild card by 8 1/2 games.

Yikes!

With the beauty of the MLB package on the computer, games all over on TV and everything else, I kept up the best I could. But what a night! Twitter. Facebook. Instant messaging. Everything.

I’ve never had that much fun bouncing around to games in any other sport. And outside of wanting the Phillies to win their 102nd game, I had nothing vested in the games going on.

Because, to be truthful, the Phillies had no chance to play the Braves in the first round of the playoffs, so if they got the Cardinals, Diamondbacks or Brewers — none of them were going to be easy!

Personally, I was hoping for play-in games today. Oh well.

Anyway, back to the games.

The Braves were swept away in this series and had a lead on the Phils. Alas, they couldn’t hold it as their vaunted bullpen got very shaky. The score was tied, 3-3, after nine and the Phils won in 13 innings.

The Braves knew they had to win. The Cardinals had thumped the Astros, 8-0, and had ended quite a bit earlier, despite starting an hour later.

It’s not as if Atlanta didn’t have chances. Michael Bourn, who led baseball in stolen bases, was thrown out trying to swipe third. He was safe at first, but the tag was held on him and he came off the bag and was out.

The Braves also had Dan Uggla get hosed at home when Hunter Pence through a pea to the plate to get him. (Good throw, let’s go eat!)

The Phils finished the regular season with a team-record 102 wins. Now the eye is on the big prize -- a World Series championship.

With all the changes and attempts to win, the Philles got into position to win in the 13th. With runners at the corners and two outs, the Braves chose to pitch to Pence. He nubbed one through the right side to score the go-ahead run. (Good hit, let’s go eat!)

Why pitch to Pence with Michael Martinez on deck? We’ll never know.

Then, David Herndon came on and somehow got the save, eliminating the Braves. The camera shots of Atlanta in the dugout were priceless. Crazy.

My favorite was a post-game interview with Uggla, who noted that “it wasn’t in the cards for them.” I’m sure he never meant it that way, but it’s funny he used that phrase.

Switch over to the American League (which I was trying to watch during the Phillies game with picture-in-picture on the TV). The Red Sox had opened a 3-2 lead and seemed to have settled into a good roll. They got into a rain delay that lasted more than an hour though.

The Rays looks dead on arrival as they got down, 7-0.

And then it happened.

The Rays scored six in the eighth, highlighted by a three-run home run by Evan Longoria.

That all came after the cameras showed many Rays fans leaving in the seventh. Reason 124,357 why you NEVER leave a baseball game.

Then, with two outs and two strikes on pinch-hitter Dan Johnson, he poked a home run down the right-field line, tying it up.

Free baseball!

Meanwhile, in Baltimore, the Orioles and Red Sox slowly battled to an end. It ended with a blown save and loss to Jonathan Papelbon. He gave up two runs in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs, Nolan Reimold hit a double to score Kyle Hudson and tie it at 3.

After a coaching visit to the mound, Robert Andino singled to lead, scoring Reimold. The hit sunk fast and Carl Crawford slid to weakly attempt the grab. It bounced once and his throw home wasn’t on target. I wonder if he would have had a better chance if he let it drop and took a chance that way? The Orioles might have held Reimold. Who knows.

The Red Sox had some really bad running in the game as Marco Scutaro was thrown out at the plate and David Ortiz was thrown out at second trying to stretch a single to a double. Silly.

Three minutes later…

Longoria came up with one out in the bottom of the 12th and faced Scott Proctor.

On the sixth pitch, with a 2-2 count, Longoria hit a line-drive home run to left field, giving the Rays an 8-7 victory, a remarkable comeback (in the standings and in the game) and eliminated the Red Sox. Just like that.

It really was an incredible night in sports.

Better than any other sport.

One quick point — this is a good reason why baseball doesn’t need to add any more wild cards. If there were one or two more per league, these games wouldn’t have meant anything and, for the most part, most of September wouldn’t have meant anything. Leave things alone. One wild card is fine. It’s not worth messing things up. The game is fine, let it be.

This place should be rocking when the Cardinals visit the Phillies on Saturday!

Back to Wednesday night — if this is a preview of the playoffs, we’re in for a wild ride.

In the end, the Phillies won game No. 102, setting a franchise record. Charlie Manuel won his 646th game to become the winningest manager in team history. All that is nice. But the as Charlie said after the game — it’s nice, but there’s still work to do. The goal is a World Series championship.

Now it’s time for the Phils to shift it into gear. Eleven wins, boys, for a chance to have a parade down Broad Street again. It’s time for the aces to show why they are there. Get it done!

In the end, instead of trying to dig up my best Jack Buck, I’ll just allow you to hit play and hear his call when Kirk Gibson hit his memorable home run in the World Series. This pretty much sums up how I felt watching everything unfold tonight …


Image of Jack Buck don’t believe what I just saw!

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