Even though I made a promise to myself that I would no longer willingly give money to Peter Angelos once Washington got a baseball team, I went to the Orioles game yesterday because of a previous promise to my girlfriend's little brother that I would take him to a baseball game at Camden Yards. We learned the previous night that Erik Bedard would be starting for the Orioles. This was great because he is both the Orioles' only good pitcher and on my fantasy team (which is currently in 2nd place). Also, Rafael Palmiero would be making his return to the starting lineup for the first time since being suspended for steriod use. Finally, the weather was supposed to be Africa hot, with a chance of thunderstorms.
We departed my apartment at about 11:30. Girlfriend did not want to go that early even though I told her the game started at 1 (it really started at 1:35). It normally takes about 1 hour to get to Baltimore from here and there are always little things that add time on to the trip. So I figured we would get there about an hour early, with plenty of time to take in the sights and get some food at the park. Her little brother is 13 and a big baseball fan, so I knew he'd want the complete Camden Yards experience.
We got to Baltimore at about 12:30 and entered the stadium near the Eutaw Street gate (where the warehouse is). I had purchased tickets in the center field seats. I think they are some of the best seats in the park and only cost $15.
We were about 20 rows up, but decided that we would move up if nobody came and sat in the front. At this point I should mention that it was hot as balls. And the centerfield seats are in direct sunlight for the whole game. It was basically like sitting on the surface of the sun. So we figured we would be able to move later on because only idiots like me would be at this game. We went over to Eutaw Street to get some food. Boog's BBQ has been a Camden Yards staple since its creation, but I have never really liked it that much. Sure, BBQ is good, but mass produced BBQ is rarely worth the exorbitant stadium pricing. I was happy to find a new BBQ place next to Boog's: Bambino BBQ. This one specialized in ribs. Because what is better than eating piping hot ribs on a 100 degree day? So me and girlfriend's little brother got the ribs platter with a souvenier soda at the bargain price of a combined $34. I'm not joking.
By the way, I'm pissed off at the general malaise of stadiums (stadia?) regarding "souvenier" cups. What the fuck? They are so cheap these days. They don't even have team logos or schedules on them. Usually its just a plastic cup with either a generic sports theme or the brand of soda on it. Not even worth keeping. Bring back the team logos or even player-specific cups. There was a time when souvenier meant that it was worth bringing home. The cups they use now look so cheap, I'm not sure if they would survive a cycle in the dishwasher. I'm no economist (or anything else for that matter), but I bet if you had a cup with (for example) Miguel Tejada on it, people would want to buy it a lot more than the generic Coca Cola cup.
So we get back to our seats and eat our food before the game starts. Girlfriend immediately decides that she's going to spend most of the day in the air-conditioned sports bar in the Warehouse because its fucking hot and she's not feeling well (which begins an afternoon full of "BM" jokes). Speaking of the weather. It was so hot that you had to comment on how hot it was about once every half hour. Never has the phrase, "Its so hot! Milk was a bad choice." been used so much. Since it was so hot and I needed to get my tan back, off came the shirt.
The game started around 1:35 and the first inning was brutal. We had a belly full of ribs and had been out in the sun for an hour already. I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that the first inning took no less than 40 minutes to complete. The O's let up a few runs and then scored a couple in the bottom half of the inning. The best hit of the day was Byrnes' shot off the centerfield wall. Then Palmiero came up. There was a combination of boos and cheering, the likes of which probably has never been seen at a home game. One family in our area even stood with their backs turned to Palmiero for his at bat. Of course, he gets an out and the inning ended mercifully.
At this point, we went over to the short porch in right field, where there was one of those mist tents and free cups of ice. It was so hot out there. Milk was a bad choice. The best part of the free ice, other than it being free was that the guy handing it out had one of those chicken wings instead of a fully functional arm. Those of you who were at Turks and Caicos with me can imagine my glee. We went back to the seats and this time went directly to the front row, a couple of sections over.
Here we were about 30 feet from Sammy Sosa, who was doing his best to continue his worst year in the majors to date. The rest of the game was pretty uneventful, save for the Blue Jays' centerfielder losing a ball in the sun and then having it nail him in the leg on the way down. By the end of the game, the Orioles were down by 3 in the bottom of the 9th. They got 2 runs back with a man on 2nd and 2 outs. Palmiero came up to the plate with a chance to redeem himself in the eyes of Baltimore, nay, the world. Of course he pops out and the game ends disappointingly. Fortunately, I was able to get a good tan as well as some suprisingly good ribs at the game. Plus, we got to sit in the front row for pretty much the entire game, so we got that going for us, which is nice. Regardless, I would still rather not give any money to Peter Angelos ever again given the choice. The man could be the biggest douchebag in sports, and that includes Drew Rosenhaus.
To cap it all off, once we got home we were treated to 2 dog puke stains on my comforter. Indeed, a good time was had by all.
