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| Prince at Oriole Park at Camden Yards |
Upon arrival in the vicinity, we arranged to met up with our good friends, Peter and Carmen Agnew at the Eichenkranz Restaurant for breakfast. We got there around 11:15AM. We got to spend some quality time with some special people we're fortunate to know. As always, it was great to catch up with them. The only disappointing part was that my girlfriend Rose who normally waits on us wasn't there because she was on a cruise. Rose loves my accent when I speak. Despite that, we still got great service and food.
After we said our goodbyes to Peter and Carmen, the King and I drove over to the area near Oriole Park at Camden Yards where we parked the car in the neighborhood for free. On the way there, I took note of the increased cost for those who choose to pay to park their cars. With the Orioles having surprising success this season for the first time in fifteen years, the ballpark and surrounding area which includes the Inner Harbor is hopping again. Mind you, Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a modern jewel of a ballpark. It was the original once they decided to built these retro style ballparks.
Thankfully I told the King to buy us tickets on Friday night when he was there because I expected a big crowd and I didn't want us to have to hassle with all the front runners who recently jumped on the Orioles bandwagon.
We parked the car around 12:45PM which gave us plenty time to make the 1:35PM first pitch.
The only thing we missed out on was the J.J. Hardy bobblehead doll they gave out to the first 20,000 fans 15 and over upon entry. That was no big deal for us. It's impossible to do everything.
When we went upstairs to the upper deck, we saw our pal Pat Gorman who was in the house to see his beloved Red Sox who were playing the Orioles. The Red Sox have been a big disappointment to say the least. Pat did arrive early enough to get a bobblehead doll though. I was happy for him that he did.
As for the game we saw, the Orioles needed to win to keep the pressure on the Yankees who they were battling for first place. Joe Saunders started for the Orioles, he set the tone early by getting the Red Sox out in order in the top of the first inning. Then in the bottom half of the first, Nate McLouth lead off with a home run to left center to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead. After J.J. Hardy and Chris Davis singled, Adam Jones got hit by a pitch that loaded the bases with nobody out. Matt Wieters followed but he hit into a double play that made the score 2-0 Orioles. Veteran Jim Thome was up next and he came through with a big two out that rounded out the scoring as the Orioles lead 3-0 after one inning. The crowd was so fired up.
In the third inning, the Orioles tacked on more runs thanks to a lead off homer by J.J. Hardy who make it 4-0. Before the inning ended, Jim Thome came through with another clutch hit that gave the Orioles a 5-0 cushion.
The Red Sox finally got on the scoreboard as Cody Ross lead off the fourth inning with a homer to make it a 5-1 game. The Orioles answered right back as Chris Davis launched a homer to right center to extend the lead to 6-1. In the seventh inning, the Red Sox added a few more runs as Daniel Nava left the yard to pull the Red Sox within three at 6-3. By doing so, it ultimately set up a save opportunity for Orioles' closer Jim Johnson who came on in the ninth inning in pursuit of his 50th save of the season. Needless to say, he got it by pitching a 1,2,3 ninth inning as the Orioles kept pace with the Yankees who trailed but came back to beat the Blue Jays as they headed into the last three games all tied for first place.
After we left Baltimore, the King and I headed towards home but we made a pit stop in Philadelphia first.
Stay tuned for the wrap up of the rest of our Sunday as we closed out our September to remember in style.
Thank you for reading and following along.
Yours truly,
Gary Herman
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