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Saturday, March 31, 2012

Camden Yards, the Stadium That Changed Baseball and Baltimore, Turns 20

Clearly, brick and steel age more gracefully than the rest of us, because Oriole Park is about to celebrate its 20th birthday on Opening Day Friday and who can believe it is already the 10th-oldest ballpark in the major leagues?

Time does fly, in this case seemingly faster than an Adam Jones line drive or a Jake Arrieta heater. The stadium that changed the way stadiums are built was an instant classic. Now, it's simply the grande dame of the post-modern era of sports architecture, but its continuing impact on both baseball and Baltimore cannot be overestimated.

"Building Camden Yards was one of the most important things that happened to baseball in the last 20 to 25 years," Major League Baseball commissioner Allan H. "Bud" Selig said. "It changed the whole dynamic. It led to all these wonderful stadiums and allowed us to finally market our sport to its potential -- particularly the last five years of terrific growth.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did you know the original bluegrass sod laid 20 years ago came from right here in Salisbury? It was grown right behind Sam's Club by Oakwood Sod Farm to a special recipe requested by the Orioles. In about 2005 the original sod was removed and replaced, again with bluegrass grown right here by Oakwood.

Anonymous said...

Yes, although I did not know the particulars, I knew the sod was locally grown. Thanks for the reminder and the details!!! Now if I can just get through the crap that is verification...grrrr

Anonymous said...

2005 the bluegrass was still grown in the Salisbury area by Collins Wharf sod farm in Allen.