First Visit to Oriole Park at Camden Yards

First post of the year and it's September already.  You'd think I've been asleep like Rip Van Winkle!

This year, I've been watching more baseball on TV.  Several reasons have contributed to this: the pitch clock, Orioles being really good, and friends who watch the Birds religiously.

In my opinion, the pitch clock might be the main reason why MLB will become more popular and attract new fans.  I've watched plenty of MLB games on TV and this season's viewings have been a better experience.  I've also been to many Nationals games over the years but this O's game was different for sure.  

Gone are the days of the typically long 3 to 3.5 hour baseball games.  It still might happen occasionally but 2.5 hours is the new norm.  The action is back and the eyeballs stay glued to the pitcher's mound.

In the 15 years I've been in the DC metro area, I'd never made it to an O's game.  It was time to change that.  I met my friends in Baltimore City proper after work and by 6pm we were at Pickles Pub.  The place has been around for 35 years.  A cold beer on a pleasant August evening is all one can ask for before the battle of the birds.  The Blue Jays were in town.

After the beers, we headed inside the Oriole Park.  I got a proper tour and another cold beer while the game was delayed a bit due to the "inclement weather."  In reality, there was one rain shower that lasted 10 minutes.  Rest of the evening turned out perfect.

I got to walk down Eutaw Street.  There was the bronze statue of Babe Ruth and all the home run plaques including Ken Griffey Jr.'s (465 feet) on the warehouse from the 1993 home run derby.

We got pretty lucky with our seats.  They were 14 rows above the home plate and cost under $75 thanks to one of the ticket resale websites.

I was looking forward to seeing Kremer pitch but he was moved up a day, so we got to see Gibson on the mound.  I'm a fan of Mullins and Bautista and they both had good games.  Mullins pictured below battling the Puerto Rican pitcher, Berrios.

In the above photo, you can see Bautista pitching vs the 2023 home run derby champ, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.  The Battle of the Dominicans!

The Blue Jays went up 2-0 in the 4th inning.  In the bottom of the 4th, Santander hit a two-run home run to tie it up.  In the 5th, Mullins came through with a two-run homer for the O's.  Henderson drove in another run and the O's were up 5-2.  In the 6th, the Blue Jays smacked one out of the park to make it 5-3.  Bautista came in bottom of the 9th to relieve Gibson who went 8 and did well.  The Mountain struck out the last 3 Blue Jays and the Orioles won again!

As I said at the beginning, baseball is changing.  The happy fans left Camden Yards 2 hours and 15 minutes after the first pitch.  Looking forward to the playoffs and O's making a deep run like the Nats did in 2019!

Trip to the Jersey Shore

In September, I went to the Jersey Shore with three buddies.  It wasn't the 2011 MTV type of excitement but it was fun.  We played two rounds of golf 2v2, stopped by the ex Revel casino, and sat around drinking beer and watching football.

We got there Thursday after work and stayed at my buddy's family home in Ocean City.  On Friday, we played golf at the Blue Heron Pines golf club.  I played well and we won.  On Saturday, we switched teams and played at the Twisted Dune golf club.  A nicer but more difficult course.  Maybe it was more difficult because our skill level had diminished after we were up late the night before in Atlantic City.  My team lost convincingly.

We went out Friday night to the Ocean Casino Resort, formerly know as Revel.  I don't think I had been there before.  We grabbed some dinner at the Amada restaurant and then had more drinks at the sports bar.  I asked one of the casino employees if they had a poker room.  He said that they used to but it had closed.

Since we had a tee-time the following morning, there was no motivation to go to Borgata or another casino.  And that's how my first visit to a casino in three years ended.  No poker, no gamble. 

I saw two rabbits running around freely near the beach homes in OC.  Apparently, it has been an issue for five years (link to a story).

On Sunday, we packed our SUV and drove back to DC.  The only eventful part of the drive was getting out of Ocean City and the surrounding area while trying to avoid hitting bicyclists in the local road race.  Many of the roads had restrictions and trying to find an alternate route without traffic was a game in itself.

Vacationing in the UK

The title should have an asterisk next to it since I didn't really go to Europe to visit the UK. 

Miami Open 2022

Two years ago, I wrote a post about tennis.  It's time for the update.

I had been sitting on my SeatGeek credit for two years.  They were kind enough to extend my credit for an extra year in February of 2021.  As the expiration date approached in February of 2022, I decided to once again buy Miami Open tickets.

To Blog or Not to Blog

Have I abandoned blogging or has blogging abandoned me?

I used to average 40-50 posts per year but in recent years it has been a struggle to reach double digits.  I guess that's what happens when your first child is born right before the whole world shuts down.  Will 2022 be different...I hope so.