Didn't the Orioles set the major league record for worst start ever?
Seriously, I must congratulate Baltimore for building Oriole Park. After all of the ugly concrete O's that were built around the country, starting with the Astrodome, Camden Yards was a breath of fresh air.
As a Phillies fan, I say, without hesitation: I hated Veterans Stadium. Even as a kid, I thought that it was impersonal, unhuman, and a bad place to watch ball games. I hated the Astroturf, the cement, and the nosebleed seats.
When I was 6, I got to see a Phillies-Cardinals game at old Connie Mack Stadium (formerly Shibe Park), and the memory always stuck with me. The grandstand; the steel beams that obstructed some views, but also the really cool huge rivets, the kind my uncles all worked with here in Bethlehem; the green grass of the field; parking on Lehigh Street, right near where we sat in the stands; the uniforms-it was the last year that the Phils wore the white and red pinstripes that they had worn since 1950, that great season. In short, it was baseball, the way all these old-timers talk about and write about, and I got to see it, in its last year before the big, impersonal Vet opened, and the Phils started wearing those stupid, goofy, good-for-color-TV-and-nothing-else powder blue and burgundy uniforms.
When they finally tore down that place, I danced for joy. And now, we have a nice park in which to see games. The highest seats are actually farther from the field than the top row in the old Vet, and you still think that you're closer to the game.
So we all owe the Orioles a debt of gratitude for building their park.
Anyway, go Phils! 3 over .500, with the first winning April in a couple of years. Here's hoping this carries forward to the rest of the season.
Prost!
Brad
Another transplanted Os fan eh. I try to keep up and saw them crush the Yankees at home late last season, most enjoyable. I used to watch them at home in the old Brooks Robinson / Dave Palmer years; a bit frustrating mostly since then.
