I went to my last Orioles game of the year last night. It was pretty depressing, really. I wasn’t living in the state when Camden Yards opened, and it was always a treat to take in a game when I’d come in to visit family — if you could get tickets. On top of that, the Orioles were pretty competitive. Exceptionally so in the mid 90s.
Now, a stadium that was packed for years looks like this just after they play the Star Spangled Banner:
I sat in a section that had a few hundred seats in it, I guess. There were four (4) of us in the section. Four. In fact, this is what it looked like to my left:
And to my right:
Those pictures were taken in the bottom of the second inning, when pretty much everyone who’s going to be at the game is there.
Really, depressing. And sad.
On top of that, the team can’t even hold a 6 run lead. So you have a shitty team that can’t fill a great stadium (although not quite as great with the terrific view it used to have oblierated by the soulless hulk of a hotel they built just outside the park) and can’t win over the hearts of kids who want to love them but aren’t given any reason to.
Oh, well. At least a trip to M&T Bank Stadium to see the Ravens is still exciting.
Three words:
An. Ge. Los.
Can I tell you how much I hate that big stupid Hilton hotel? It almost ruins my day to have to see it from Camden Yards or when I’m driving into town from 295. I want to be welcomed by the Bromo Seltzer tower, not some giant lump of grey blocking the view.
I blame Paris Hilton.
Yeah, I won’t even sit on the first base side anymore because I can’t stand to look at the hotel. I can’t believe no one thought (or cared) about what it would do the Camden Yards experience. The Hilton has undoubtedly taken away from it quite a bit.
Unfortunately, it’d be nice to blame Paris Hilton for its presence, but the hotel is owned by the city, so the blame belongs to the BDC and the mayor who championed its building (and it wasn’t the current one).
Wow, that’s pathetic. The marners sucked asshole this year but the stadium is usually always at 75% on slow capacity on weekday games. 90% on weekend games.
Aitch: Last night, the Mariners hosted the Angels in Seattle in front of a crowd of 16,939, which is 35.7% capacity (that’s the official attendance… reality is probably around 11,000). So nice try, but Seattle doesn’t care about the Mariners much more than Baltimore cares about the Orioles.
The game I went to on Wednesday had a reported attendance of 13,632 (28.3% capacity). There might have been 10,000 there.
Go Brewers.