Orioles Information

Things you might like to know about the O's, Camden Yards, or attending a game.

The Orioles' address is 333 Camden Street, Baltimore, MD 21201.

Tickets can be purchased at 410-685-9800 or at Ticketmaster outlets. (A pricing diagram for 2002 is available for your viewing.) For ticket companies, I've used Great Seats a couple of times and found them to be fair. The best way to buy seats for games is to use the no-scalp zone located on the Camden Street (north) side of the stadium. Ask any usher for directions. Lots of sellers for every game (except Opening Day). Beware the scalpers that work this area...check the seat locations carefully when listening to their spiels. You'll often find yourself under an overhang when they are selling you a "field level box" or something of that nature. If you're not familiar with the park, be sure to have a schedule from the O's you picked up at any ticket window with you; they have a stadium map. Also, know that rows do not start with "A" in most sections, but "AA", so if you're looking at a ticket with row "A" on it, you're not in the first row but somewhere between 15 and 27.

"Upper Box" seats above row FF are not really upper boxes, but the lower end of the upper reserve. They aren't worth the $20. By the way, views in Upper Box seats in the first two rows, and the third if you're under 5'8", are obstructed a bit by railings. The annoyance level can range from minute to "I can't see the plate unless I stand on my chair or slump down in my seat."

Ballpark Access is darn good for a downtown stadium. There's lot of parking if you don't insist in parking within three blocks of the stadium. Avoid parking in the "O's lots" unless you have a parking pass. You'll often find yourself directed to an auxiliary lot that took you longer to get to than most anywhere you'd have found for yourself, and no closer.

Avoid the garages on all north-south streets on weekends, especially the "Grand Garage" close to the park. It's nearly impossible to get out of the garage after a Friday or Saturday night game due to the large regular traffic flow on those streets. East-west garages are much better. (The Warehouse points North-South.)

In the past, a great bargain has been the garage at Lexington Market. It's seven blocks away (and uphill on your way home), but the garage always has plenty of space, it's inexpensive, and the route is well patrolled and well traveled before and after games. There's also a McDonald's and an ATM on the left side of the street as you walk down to the ballpark. Once you leave the garage, if you're traveling west, you can hop onto Mulberry and take 40 out to Howard County in a snap, or cut across to MLK and get on 95.

Food and soda in the ballpark is welcome as long as there are no glass bottles, cans, and the container they are in will fit under your seat.

In-park food at the Yard can be a real treat, but a bit pricey. My personal faves include (of course) Boog's BBQ (get there early or go back out there around the third inning...though I will say that even at it's longest the line takes no more than 20 minutes or so)...the Italian Sausage and Grilled Chicken sandwiches at any of the Grill Works (I love the marinade they use on the chicken)...and the burgers aren't bad. The Esskay hot dogs are just too expensive for what you get, IMO. The lemonade is great, the sodas just soda.

The worst values in food include the nachos (bring your own bag of Doritos and a plastic container of salsa), the cotton candy, the popcorn, and the ice cream in a helmet.