June 29th Orioles Vs. Yankees Game

After leaving our hotel at around 3:30 on Saturday afternoon, my dad and I arrived to Camden Yards at 4:05: It should’ve taken a mere 15 minutes, but nothing seemed to be going right, as we circled the ballpark for 20 minutes trying to find somewhere to park. But despite the delay, when we made our way to gate A, on Eutaw Street, there were only two people in line: Though, as you probably noticed, there were also a few people sitting off to the side. (But they don’t count.)

According to the Orioles’ website, the gates at both ends of Eutaw Street were set to open up two hours before the start of the game. Since it was a 7:15 game, I expected them to open up at (obviously) 5:15. But to my surprise, and delight, the gates were opened at 5:00 sharp.

The only downside to Camden Yards is that unless you’re a season ticket holder, once the gates are opened, you’re only allowed into the outfield seats, until 30 minutes later. Therefore, once inside, I headed to the flag court, in right field, where I received my first glimpse of the field:

(To say Camden Yards is beautiful would be an understatement.)

But despite the great view, I didn’t stay there long, because I remembered that my ticket was in fact a *season ticket* (big thanks to Avi Miller for hooking me up). And thus, after showing my ticket to the security guard, who was blocking the way, I quickly made my way around to the front row, just beyond the Yankees’ dugout:

As I’ve stated multiple times over the past few weeks, I was there to attempt to get autographs from the Yankees, but when I arrived, the Orioles were taking batting practice, and there were no Yankee players on the field; though Robinson Cano was in the dugout. But it didn’t take long before they began to emerge from the clubhouse in bunches, to begin their pre-game routines:

In case you’re not familiar, these routines include stretching, throwing, running, and my personal favorite, standing around staring at everyone calling out to them for an autograph. It looked to be a rough day for autograph collectors. (Though, I imagine most days are with the Yankees.)

Now, remember what I said earlier about the fans without season tickets having to stay in the outfield until 30 minutes after the gates opened? Well, 5:30 quickly arrived (with still no autographs), and with it came the unleashing of several hundred Yankees fans; many of which were looking to try to snag an autograph, just like the couple dozen of us who had been there since 5:02.

Things quickly went from quiet, and somewhat relaxing, to noisy and chaotic. Check out the view behind me a couple minutes after everyone was allowed in:

There were even more people to my left, and far more people still entering into the infield seats from the outfield. It quickly became insanely packed.

With things kind of slow, autograph-wise, the highlight of the day, other than seeing Ken Rosenthal….:

….and Mariano Rivera, for what will more than likely be the last time….:

….came right after Jayson Nix finished his warm-up throws, just a few feet in front of me. A couple of kids and their grandma (I think) were standing to my immediate left–one of them was eight, and the other was nine. The nine year-old was celebrating his birthday, and after Nix finished warming up, he ran over and gave the ball to the kid, and told him happy birthday. The kid was extremely appreciative, and the gesture by Nix made the kid’s grandma cry. (Nix is the newest member to my “favorite players” list.)

Nix’s kind act even brought a few tears to the security guard, who was assigned to third base for the game. He had been standing there since I arrived, and seemed to be a nice guy. He (Devin, I think) told us all the story of how Derek Jeter “saved his life”, in a series last year against the Yankees. To make a long story short: the security guard was looking into the stands when a line drive, during BP, came zipping down the line. Just before it plunked him in the head, Jeter jumped in front and made the catch. Pretty cool stuff; especially since Jeter is my favorite player.

Now, back to Saturday’s game.

After it became apparent that no one was going to sign autographs, the ushers kicked us all out of the sections down around the dugout. Of course, as my luck would have it, Robinson Cano ended up signing autos for a few people, but I didn’t get him; mainly because of the rude Yankee fans who found it necessary to cause a scene, which included pushing and shoving people around, causing them to crash into each other. (I think I accidently wrote on someone’s head with a sharpie.) But, you know–whatever. It wasn’t my fault.

I made my way to meet up with my dad, just before game time, and we headed to our ticketed seats:

Best seats I’ve ever had at a Yankees game, hands down.

The Yankees didn’t do much of anything to begin the game, however, the Orioles came out swinging. Scoring four runs in the bottom of the first, off of a few singles, and a Chris Davis 3-run home run….:

….the Orioles quickly put a beating on Yankee starting pitcher, David Phelps.

But they were no where near being done.

Scoring five runs in the bottom of the third, and then two more in the sixth, off of yet another Chris Davis homer (his 30th of the season), the Orioles quickly put things out of the reach for the Yankees, who, although they scored three runs in the game, didn’t have enough offense to compete on this given night.

In the end, David Phelps got the loss, Zach Britton and the Orioles got the win, and my dad and I got a great time out at Camden Yards. It truly is a glorious ballpark, with a lot of great, enthusiastic fans. I’m sure I’ll be back one day.