In Baltimore, nothing marks the beginning of Spring like Opening Day. It’s an unofficial holiday where parents gladly allow their kids to cut school to go to the game and employers know that all sales calls are really, just a day at The Yard. It is a day of hope, a day when every team still can be a winner and long summer days are just around the corner. A day where friends reunite and everyone looks good in orange. The smells of hot dogs and grilled pit beef waft thru the air while you wander thru the stadium looking for your seat so you can maybe, just maybe, catch a ball during batting practice.
Monday is the 30-year anniversary of the Grand Opening of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. It seems like just yesterday when I was a senior in high school and was able to sit with my friends next to the right field foul pole. I was too young to appreciate that I was a part of history, the pageantry. This is the ballpark that started a revolution around the country as everyone wanted to build their own Camden Yards. 30 years later, the park is still as pristine as it was that very first day and a place that every baseball fan has on their bucket-list to visit.
As you make your traditional trek to Camden Yards Monday morning for the Home Opener, grab a $1.50 all-beef hot dog at Santoni’s for you and the kids and enjoy the time together and make memories. Take pictures, listen to the crack of the bat, the wonder in your kids’ eyes. Take note, because as my Gram always said, “these are your happy times.” And you know what, she was right.
Written by Malinda Davis
