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My visit to Camden Yards was a part of a road trip that I call my personal 'Baseball Odyssey' which saw me visit 11 stadiums over the course of around three weeks. At this point, my trip was dwindling, I only had three stadiums left, and I'd just visited two of my personal favorites in PNC Park and Progressive Field -- surely it doesn't get even better from here, right? Oriole Park is consistently one of the highest-rated and most praised ballparks across baseball media, so I came in with high hopes. I arrived in Baltimore and caught up with a good friend from high school before making my way to the stadium for a night game.

Oriole Park lies in a dual-stadium sports complex with the Ravens' stadium, M&T Bank Stadium, providing ample parking around the area. It was a small walk from my spot to Oriole Park as I had parked in a lot closer to the Ravens' stadium, but was far from the worst distance I've had to cover to head to a game. The square outside of the stadium was inviting, with plenty of room for vendors to sell wares and performers to show their art. Once I actually stepped through the gate, however, I knew that I was in a truly beautiful place for baseball. There are a few places across the stadiums I've been to that have an open area where fans can congregate, like the Ballpark Village in St. Louis, Gallagher Square at Petco Park, and Gallagher Way at Wrigley Field. However, the gate to Eutaw Street was different -- a much cozier experience, with lights strung across the gap between the towering grandstands and the historic warehouse that sits behind right field. The warehouse is legendary in its own right, converted from an abandoned rail warehouse to an open building housing restaurants and the team store in its lowest floor while private spaces lived in the floors above. Walking down Eutaw Street for the first time felt truly magical, and is something that I chase in the experiences I have at stadiums to this day. Flanked by hot dog and burger stands to the left and restaurants to the right, the area both smelled amazing and was visually stunning.

The stadium is steeped in history -- from relics from Orioles past all around the concourse to the plaque where Ken Griffey Jr. hit a home run against the warehouse during the 1993 All Star festivities, there's plenty more than meets the eye here. The (now) classic retro ballpark design that inspired many parks after it gives it a distinction that no other park has. Orioles fans are also, as a whole, familiar with the history -- owning dubious records such as longest loss streak in the American League (tied this year by my Chicago White Sox!) and fielding poor team after poor team in recent years makes only the strong and loyal survive. The Orioles are on an upswing in recent years, but I still felt like I was surrounded by diehard Oriole fans in my trot around the park.

The food was quite good, with a medley of crab-centric options scattered around the lower concourse. They also had great sweet options, including one of my favorite places and childhood haunts: Rita's Italian Ice. For personal reasons, this Pennsylvanian italian ice chain is important to me and finding it on my baseball odyssey was quite meaningful. I grabbed crab fries, a hot dog, and peanuts as I headed up to my seat along the third base line. This gave me a great view of the warehouse and the passersby on Eutaw, which the sunset hit quite beautifully over the course of the night game. If I sat on the first base line, I would have been greeted by a great view of the Baltimore skyline. The varied views and cantilever seating leads me to believe that there are few bad seats in Oriole Park -- if they exist at all. The field's unique dimensions give the park even more character, and its northeastern orientation makes the sun blanket the warehouse, and by extension the entire stadium and Eutaw street below, in a lovely golden hue. Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a beautiful place to watch baseball.

The game itself, the reason I was here in the first place, was also very good! This was a pitcher's game -- particularly Blue Jays pitcher José Berríos, who was perfect through 4.1 innings and carried his no-hitter into the first out of the seventh until a product of the Orioles-white-guy-with-messy-hair lab, Adley Rutschman, hit a single to center field. Once this hit happened Orioles fans rejoiced as the no-hitter was averted, spraying $12 ballpark beer like it was champagne. The Orioles' pitching was not bad either, with Kyle Bradish carrying a no-hitter of his own into the fourth inning. However, the wheels fell off when Bradish went out of the game after a decent innings-eating start (7 IP, 1 R, 1 K) and the bullpen started to give up runs. The Orioles almost put up a rally in the ninth inning while being down 0-3, scoring a run while having two more men on base and the go-ahead run at the plate. However, reliever Jordan Romano put the game to bed with a swinging strikeout on Adam Frazier. The final score was 1-3, and disappointed Orioles fans streamed out of the park.

As it happened, I took a moment to go against the traffic and take one last walk along the lower concourse and Eutaw Street. The sun had long since set, with the aforementioned string lights and the fans chatting about the game creating a welcoming atmosphere. I wanted to stay longer but had to drive to Washington DC, where I was staying for the night, so not as to arrive unreasonably late and be a nuisance to my host. In whole, Oriole Park at Camden Yards is my single favorite baseball stadium. The combination of the park's ambiance, history, food options, fans, walkability, and views makes it a one-of-a-kind experience and one I highly recommend anyone in the city of Baltimore partake in. The Orioles are looking like a good team, too, meaning that the on-field product is also on the rise -- although, as many Orioles fans know, this is hardly a deterrent from attending what I believe to be the best park in Major League Baseball.