Baseball fans from and around the Baltimore area have many reasons to celebrate this baseball season. Not only has the team seen a revival with new talents like Adley Rutschman; breakout star, Cedric Mullins; and phenomenal hitter, Ryan Mountcastle, breaking a 23-year drought on a 10-straight-games winning streak, but the Baltimore Orioles are also celebrating their 30th year anniversary at Camden Yards, the retro-style baseball stadium next to the iconic warehouse in the heart of Charm City.
The storied baseball franchise, the O’s Birds, came to roost at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on April 6, 1992. It opened with a game against the Cleveland Indians with a complete game shutout victory by Rick Sutcliffe. Quite an auspicious start at the newly-built stadium.
In 1995, history was again made when Cal Ripken, Jr. broke the record for “perfect attendance” at a game. His 2,131st consecutive game was celebrated on September 6th, beating Lou Gehrig’s previous record.
In 1996, exactly a year later, Eddie Murray hits his 500th home run, to be one of only 7 baseball players to be in the 500 home run club and the 3,000 hit club. In fact, one of the two orange seats that stand out in a sea of green seating marks the spot where his 500th home run ball landed.
To incentivize attendance, the team has not been lacking in cool giveaways this year. Ranging from golf visors to Hawaiian shirts, a ticket to the games just keeps giving. Try to make the August 6th game to get an anniversary shirt; and on August 20th, Boog Powell’s bobblehead is on the docket. Make sure you check their calendar for giveaways and get more bang for your buck!
Speaking of Boog, don’t forget to head over to his food station on Eutaw Street across the warehouse where he sells a B’more classic: the pit beef sandwich! The park has seen a revitalized eating scene with its new line-up of eateries featuring the best of Baltimore. Step in line and grab some really delicious crab cakes from Jimmy’s Famous Seafood (Don’t scrimp on the upcharge for the crab sauce on the fries!) or make your way to family-owned Stuggy’s Sandwich Shop for their crab mac ‘n cheese dogs.
Post-game concerts and music nights are a nice way to unwind after watching a game or you can just buy tickets for the music scene. Catch their 90s concert and University Nights where you may avail of special limited edition Orioles’ hats in the school colors for the latter.
If bringing your under 9 children, avail of Chick-fil-A’s Kid’s Cheer Free for a free kids’ ticket for every regularly-priced upper deck adult ticket purchased online. Make sure to stay till the end so they can get those wiggles out and run the bases. The lines for these may be long but it’s worth watching their faces as they race across the diamond.
Though it is the hope of every fan to catch a foul ball during a game, one may not always be that lucky. You’ll get a better chance of getting a free baseball card by signing up for O’s Baseball Card Giveaways’ Twitter alerts to find out which row and seat the giveaway is happening. It’s a sweet deal especially if you want to get the little ones started with their own collection.
Great players have passed through the stadium as well with some venturing to other franchises and some retiring their numbers with the team. But the Orioles have happily made their nest in Orioles Park at Camden Yards for the past 30 years. Here’s to 30 x 30 more years to come!
The Mama Travels 
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