As James Earl Jones stated in the movie “Field of Dreams;” “The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again.”
One of the most iconic photos taken of the Orioles was snapped back in 1966 after the team had just swept the World Series in four straight games. It features pitcher Dave McNally, catcher Andy Etchebarren and an airborne third baseman Brooks Robinson.
“Brooks made the picture,” said Baltimore Sun photographer Paul Hutchins, who took the photo with a large-format, 21/4 -inch Praktisix camera, using a 600 mm lens. “When the last ball was hit to the outfield, I thought, ‘This is gonna be a big deal.’ So I watched the pitcher [McNally] and, as he came off the mound, I snapped his grin.”
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 →
After the Orioles used all eight available relievers, designated hitter Chris Davis went to the mound and threw a scoreless 16th and 17th inning, helping the O’s to a 9-6 win over the Boston Red Sox. Center fielder Adam Jones, moments after playing a part in a game-saving defensive play in the 16th, hit a three-run homer off Darnell McDonald – the Red Sox’s DH – over the Green Monster in left field for his team-high eighth homer of the season. The O’s swept the Red Sox at Fenway Park for the first time since 1994.
The brainchild of The Sun’s Entertainment Content Editor Amanda Krotki, Baltimore 365* sprang forth in 2012 as a visual chronicle of a year in the life of our city. With our keen collective eye on local news, we began posting visually stimulating photos that best exemplified that day in Baltimore.
The following 13 photos are a sampling from the first 3 months of Baltimore 365. Among the diverse topics covered so far, the winter of 2012 saw unseasonably warm weather, the ups and downs of the Ravens, Orioles spring training and Elvis’s Birthday Fight Club.
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.
Baltimore neighborhoods
Baltimore street photographers
Year in review
Freddie Gray: protests, aftermath
24 hours with...
A. Aubrey Bodine
Viewing Baltimore from above