Oriole Park at Camden Yards - Definition and Overview

Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Facility Statistics
Location	333 West Camden Street Baltimore, Maryland 21201
Broke Ground	June 28, 1989
Opened	April 6, 1992
Surface	Grass
Owner	Maryland Stadium Authority
Construction Cost	$110 million USD
Architect	HOK Sport
Tenants
Baltimore Orioles	1992-present
Seating Capacity
1992	48,262
Dimensions
Left Field	333 ft / 101.5 m
Left-Center	364 ft / 111 m
Left-Center (deep)	410 ft / 125 m
Center Field	400 ft / 122 m
Right-Center	373 ft / 114 m
Right Field	318 ft / 97 m
Backstop	57 ft / 17 m

Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a Major League Baseball stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland which was constructed to replace the aging Memorial Stadium.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards is home to the following sports teams:

• Baltimore Orioles (MLB)

History

In 1989, construction began on an all-new, baseball-only ballpark for the Baltimore Orioles. Construction lasted 33 months on the ballpark, which finally opened on April 6, 1992. After considerable debate on whether to name the new ballpark Oriole Park or Camden Yards, a compromise was reached to use both names.

The retro-style ballpark began a trend among other cities to construct more traditional, fan-friendly ballparks, including Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ameriquest Field in Arlington in Arlington, Texas and Comerica Park in Detroit.

In 1993, Camden Yards played host to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. On September 6, 1995, Camden Yards witnessed Cal Ripken, Jr.'s record-setting 2,131st consecutive game.

Transportation

Camden Yards is built at the former location of a major rail station; its name derives from the rail yards that were formerly on the site. Immediately adjacent to the current stadium is a rail station served by both the MTA light rail and MARC commuter train. The latter rail line provides direct service to Washington, D.C.

External Links

• Camden Yards Info (http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/bal/ballpark/bal_ballpark_history.jsp)