Scott's View - Baltimore, Maryland

You could hardly ask for a more perfect night for baseball.

We'd been to Baltimore before, to see Memorial Stadium in 1989, but we were in and out for the game then, and didn't see any of the city. This time, we were determined to do it right. We headed downtown hours before game time, and had lunch at a local brew pub. Then, a self-guided walking tour of downtown Baltimore took us from bar to bar, and finally to Camden Yards.

Everything I'd heard about Camden was true, and then some. This is one beauty of a ballpark. The old B&O warehouse beyond right field houses the team offices, souvenir shops, and a great art gallery full of sports-related pieces. We took our traditional lap around the stadium, and then headed inside at the left-field corner. As we entered, we heard something a bit unusual for a baseball park -- live music! There is a neat little picnic area down beyond the foul pole, where we listened to Dr. Harmonica and Rocket 88 play some great blues-rock tunes as a hot summer day segued into a gorgeous late-summer night.

Our seats were not very good -- the last row of the lower deck with the overhanging upper deck blocking our view of the scoreboard -- so we spent most of the game wandering from section to section (the ushers don't hassle you here!) and checking out Eutah St., the street-fair-like concourse beyond the bleachers, where a plethora of vendors peddle snacks and souvenirs. I highly recommend the pork sandwich at Boog Powell's barbecue.

The weather was perfect, the park was perfect, the game was perfect. The Orioles won, and Good ol' Cal Ripken Jr. popped his 400th career home run into the left-field bleachers as we watched from the right. This was one of those nights when it was great to be alive -- and even better to be a baseball fan.