Three Days at Camden Yards: Phillies vs. Orioles

What a weekend! Catching every game of a series in person is something I have never done, until this weekend of course.  It was fun, interesting, hot, and tiring all at the same time.  I thought you guys might want to see some pictures of the weekend.

Friday night game: 7:05, Joe Blanton vs. Jake Arrieta.  Phillies won 9-6.

Left field seats.  What you see is Jimmy Rollins talking to Adam Jones. I thought it would be a cool shot to get.

Some of the Phillies' bullpen guys heading to the 'pen before the game.

Blanton and Ruiz heading to the dugout prior to the game.

This game was about 80 degrees at the start, and it dipped into the low 70s as the night went on. Perfect baseball weather, and even nicer that there was a win for the Phillies.

Game two featured Vance Worley vs. Tommy Hunter. This began at 4:05. The Phillies lost in a heartbreaking way: an Adam Jones walkoff homer in the bottom of the 12th.

The seats we had for this game were behind home plate. Best of all, they were in the shade the entire game.  Most of the ballpark was in the sun. This game was probably the most comfortable weather-wise, even though it was in the high 80s.  I was really able to focus on the game and not worry about sweating to death.

Jim Thome went yard for the first time this season, and I got this picture of him crossing home plate. The fans went nuts for Thome, who had a great series.

Speaking of fans, I would say that it was 65/35 in favor of Phillies fans vs. Orioles fans.  There were tons of people--and buses--that made their way to Baltimore from Jersey and Philly.  It was quite remarkable that the chants of "Let's go Phillies" clearly outweighed the "Let's go O's" chants.

And finally, game three was today.  It featured the (still winless) Cliff Lee vs. Jason Hammel.  Today was scorching hot, but I went prepared with a cooler filled with tons of frozen waters and frozen juice boxes.  I even cut the sleeves off of my Raul Ibanez "shirtsey" to try to stay cooler. It worked, but it was still hot of course.  It was in the mid 90's the entire game. It was one of those days where the Orioles gave away cups of free ice at specific locations in the park.  Your free ice could accompany your bottle of water for $4.50 a pop!  I cannot imagine the kind of money they make off of selling water, especially on days like today.  I learned a long time ago to bring my own to the ballpark.

Our seats this time were about five rows back in left field.  No homerun balls, but this is prime homer territory.

Here is a cool shot of Cliff Lee warming up before the game.  The Phillies lost this game in extra innings yet again, this time on an error by Ty Wigginton filling in for Placido Polanco at third, and then a Matt Weiters double scoring Adam Jones.

This is the video board at Camden Yards.  A fun fact that I learned this weekend is that when there is a question as to whether or not a play is a hit or an error, once the official word comes down either the H or the E in "The Sun" will flash.

Walking back to the parking garage I passed the Babe Ruth Museum. I snapped a few pictures because it is interesting.

I've never been inside the museum, but that is something to do in the future.

All in all it was a fun weekend, even though the Phillies lost the series, and are now 8 (gulp) games back in the standings.  It might be a rough rest of the year if we don't get some big name players back in the next week or so.  This downward spiral has to stop soon, or else it will be way too much to come back from later in the season.

If you've never been to Camden Yards and you have the opportunity to go, take it. In my opinion it is the best place to watch a baseball game.