There’s more to Baltimore than the gritty, litter-filled streets the world grew to love in “The Wire.” During his five years in Baltimore, photographer Joe Sterne has worked to find the beauty the city has to offer. Recently, he moved with his fiancé to California for a job opportunity, leaving behind a city they had come to love. See some of his favorite images from his time here.
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Nineteen years ago today (Aug. 2, 1993), a group led by Baltimore attorney Peter Angelos purchased the Orioles for a then-record $173 million. “This brings back control of the club to Marylanders, but to be candid, I didn’t think the price would go so high,” Angelos said at the time. Fast-forward to 2012 and the Orioles franchise is valued at $460 million, according to Forbes. And the current record price tag for a Major League Baseball club? Try $2 billion, the staggering amount Magic Johnson and investors paid for the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier this year. That’s more than 11.5 times what Angelos and company plunked down for the Birds nearly two decades ago. More →
Oriole Park at Camden Yards celebrated it’s 20th birthday in grand fashion on Friday as the season opener got underway against Minnesota Twins. The Orioles won the ballgame 4-2 to start the season off right and the ballpark had lots of new amenities for the fans.
While the official start of spring in the United States comes in late March every year, baseball fans nationwide mark the beginning of the season at a different time — Opening Day.
And, for Orioles fans, hope springs eternal for that one special day every year.
Although the average attendance for a game at Camden Yards has barely surpassed 21,000 in each of the past two seasons — less than half the ballpark’s capacity — Orioles fans continue to show up for the Opening Day festivities.
Fans pack bars and restaurants from the Inner Harbor to Camden Yards before making the trek into the stadium for the game. That’s if they go to the game at all.
Some people travel into the city for the social aspect of Opening Day, without actually having a ticket into Camden Yards. Some businesses around the Baltimore area close early — or for the entire day — so employees can partake in the partying. To them, it’s more than just the start of another baseball season.
It’s an opportunity to celebrate one of the city’s great traditions.
No matter how dismal the prediction for the Orioles in 2012 — another last-place finish is projected by most analysts — Camden Yards will be filled to near-capacity and fans will be optimistic for a victory.
Once again this year, for Orioles fans, hope springs eternal for that one special day.
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