Change isn?t always easy, but as Oriole Park at Camden Yards proves, sometimes it?s for the better.
The final game at Memorial Stadium on Oct. 6, 1991 was a ball of emotions for Orioles fans. Waving goodbye to 33rd Street was tough for the club?s fan base. But, once fans stepped through the dark green gates at Camden Yards, they welcomed change with open arms. So too, did the players.
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“I remember when the plans were announced for the construction of Camden Yards I had no interest in leaving Memorial Stadium,” former Oriole Cal Ripken said. “This was the ballpark where I watched games growing up and where the great Oriole teams won their championships. I loved playing there. Well that changed the minute we first stepped into Camden Yards. It is such a great ballpark and I looked at it as a place where we can create new memories. Remarkably, I played 10 seasons in each stadium and have great memories of each.”
Plenty of memories have been created at Camden Yards already, including Ripken?s epic lap around the warning track on the night he surpassed Lou Gehrig with his 2,131st consecutive game. But to many, it?s hard to believe that the stadium has been hosting games for 15 years.
“It seems like yesterday. It?s amazing,” said Alison Asti, executive director of the Maryland Stadium Authority. “It?s stood the test of time.”
So, too, has the brick edifice beyond right field that has become a Baltimore trademark. The B&O Warehouse is the single most recognizable feature at Camden Yards.
“I think what was neat about Oriole Park in Baltimore was the utilization of the B&O Warehouse as a backdrop,” said Ben Barnert, the project?s senior principal architect from Kansas City-based firm Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK). “Anytime you have a historic building ? it?s kind of like having the cliff-top house overlooking the ocean.”
Barnert said that his firm?s bid was the only one to include the warehouse in the design. While others had planned for the implosion of the brick building, HOK?s plan was to utilize it much as it is today ? for office, retail and entertainment space.
“You know you?re in Baltimore as soon as you see the warehouse, similar to the ivy walls in Wrigley or the Green Monster in Boston,” Barnert said.
Oriole Park at Camden Yards has earned a number of architectural awards, including the AIA Honor Award for Urban Design (1992), the AIA Honor Award for Architecture (1994) and the IAKS Gold Award (1995).
But, in perhaps its greatest honor to date, Camden Yards? throwback style has been replicated in numerous cities across the United States.
“It?s still I think a national model for the traditional old-fashioned ballpark, which has been emulated throughout the country,” Asti said.
KEY MOMENTS
APRIL 6, 1992 » Oriole Park at Camden Yards opens with a Rick Sutcliffe strike. The Orioles defeat the Indians, 2-0, behind a Sutcliffe complete game.
JULY 13, 1993 » Behind All-Star MVP Kirby Puckett, the American League defeats the National League, 9-3, in the Midsummer Classic.
JULY 15, 1993 » Cal Ripken hits his 278th homer ? a record for a shortstop ? off Scott Erickson, then with the Twins. The seat in which the homer landed (Section 86, Row FF, Seat 10) is painted red.
SEPT. 6, 1995 » In arguably the ballpark?s most memorable moment, Cal Ripken surpasses Lou Gehrig?s mark for consecutive games played when he participates in game No. 2,131.
SEPT. 6, 1996 » Eddie Murray hits his 500th career home run off Detroit?s Felipe Lira. An orange seat was placed in right-center field where the ball landed (Section 96, Row D, Seat 23).
SEPT. 20, 1998 » Cal Ripken ends his streak at 2,632 games. Seated in the Orioles dugout, Ripken is rewarded with a standing ovation from the opposing New York Yankees dugout.
OCT. 5, 2001 » Cal Ripken plays his final game after 21 seasons in Baltimore.
39: Balls hit onto Eutaw Street ? 16 of which have been hit by Orioles. A 410-foot Brian Roberts? home run on July 31 was the only ball to reach the thoroughfare in 2006.
439: Shortest distance ? in feet ? a ball must travel to hit the B&O Warehouse. The brick building rises eight stories high precisely 121 feet beyond the right field foul pole.
1,016: Length of the B&O Warehouse in feet. The longest building on the East Coast, the warehouse was completed in 1905.
48,290: Total seating at Oriole Park at Camden Yards ? the fifth-largest capacity in the AL.
49,828: Largest single-game crowd at Camden ? a game against the Red Sox on July 10, 2005.
