Don't get me wrong, Camden Yards is a fabulous stadium. I really enjoyed my visit there some years ago. But Memorial Stadium is where my love for the Orioles was cemented. From my first game there in 1962 (Boog Powell hit one over the centerfield hedges!) to the 1983 World Series and beyond I've always felt this place was 'home'.
I guess living most of my life outside the area (we moved from Baltimore when I was two) I came to treasure and appreciate my trips there more and more. I wasn't a guy rooting for a visiting team when I was there like I was at Yankee Stadium and later in Arlington Stadium. In Memorial I was with 'my people'. Hey, I had my first 'blind date' there when I was set up with a girl my aunt knew and we went to the first game of the '69 Playoffs.
Back when I was collecting everything and anything Orioles-related I bought a cache of postcards of Memorial. The idea was to send them to various player who played on Orioles' championship teams and have them signed.
That idea never really took off for me. I gave up my hobby room for kids bedroom space and most of my collection went into storage. I pulled some out over the weekend and figured I'd post them. With Opening Day around the corner I thought it would be a good time.
The backs of the first three are almost identical. Only the typeface and size changed.
This one is pretty old-school, the Schaefer Beer ad on the scoreboard dates this one to the second half of the 60s.
This one is actually the same shot as the one at the top but it has a different border. The scoreboard over in left field means it was shot sometime after the late summer of 1970.
This last one is actually a notecard with a wide border that my scanner insisted on cropping out. I thought about writing players with these and asking them to sign the front and a baseball card I'd enclose. That idea passed without me doing anything about it. I still have a box of these cards somewhere.
The reverse dates this one to 1980. I like the last sentence..."Orioles baseball is more than just a game, it is a total experience".
Indeed.
I know what you mean about feeling like the old stadium was more a part of your fandom for your team that your current one, even if the current one is far nicer. I'm still very partial to Milwaukee County Stadium and always will be -- even if it had thousands of obstructed view seats, smelled bad at times, and had none of the cool amenities of the new stadiums. Going there meant something special to me as a kid.
ReplyDeleteThere aren't many benefits to being a Cubs fan, but having Wrigley Field around after all these decades is probably the best of the bunch!
ReplyDeleteMy first in-person Orioles game was in the mid-1990's, so while I've heard all about Memorial, I never experienced it. On the other hand, I've been to Camden Yards more than any other Major League park, so that feels kind of like home to me, even though the O's are my "other" team.
ReplyDeleteI only know Memorial Stadium from the games I watched on TV as a kid (that would be NBC's Game of the Week, Yankees games and, of course, the '79 and '83 World Series). I always got a kick out of seeing a street and residential houses beyond center field. They seemed much closer to the park on TV!
ReplyDeleteI went their a few times myself when visiting my grandparents. Don't remember much, but it was baseball, so it was fun!
ReplyDeleteAs a Reds fan, I have no such nostalgia about Riverfront Stadium. Our new park is way better.
Gotta love Fenway jammed into a few square blocks in the middle of the city. Love the postcards
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