Ballpark

This comment is in response to Peter Schmuck 's column and this ongoing scheduling dilemma involving the Ravens and the Orioles ("Don't blame Orioles for scheduling conflict with Ravens season opener," March 20). I truly feel the Orioles organization is missing something when they are expressing concern that a midweek day game would affect revenues. It is the first day of the Jewish holiday, Rosh Hashana. All of the schools are closed in the observance of the holiday. The ballpark has the potential to be packed with families who have kids off school for the day. Jewish families who are observant are not going to go, nor in some cases watch, whether it is a day or night game, so the possibility of filling the ballpark with families and children off from school could be very positive for them.

The Orioles keep on surprising us, off the field as well as on. Just as we were getting accustomed to a trend-setting ballpark filled to capacity every game with a long, secure 15-year lease, the Orioles double its term. Not to mention sign a lease with the Maryland Stadium Authority that is so detailed it fills 158 pages, not counting eight exhibits and a 14-page index. No wonder it took four years.The news could hardly be better for Orioles fans. The prospect that any future owner, even the reincarnation of Bob Irsay, would have tried to move the team elsewhere while it was getting such overwhelming support, even in 14 years, was extremely unlikely.

Whoever replaces Aramark as the concessionaire at Oriole Park at Camden Yards — and the Orioles are keeping that announcement under their caps — they will have a tough act to follow. While the baseball team has had its ups and downs, the ballpark fare under Aramark's 19-year tenure has been consistently good and widely imitated. Concepts such as selling food on a promenade like Eutaw Street, having a former ballplayer such as Boog Powell cook barbecue at the park, and serving regional favorites like crab soup and coddies were mostly hatched at Camden Yards and have now popped up at ballparks around the country.

From yesterday's inaugural First Day Game Following a Night Game, which was also the historic First Game With Both Teams Scoring (and the sure-to-be-treasured First National TV Game, If Only to 30 Percent of the Country), came this other First for Oriole Park at Camden Yards: The first piece of flawed logic.That, of course, is this suddenly popular notion that the ballpark is going to be pitcher-friendly. Forever. And ever, too.Sorry, not buying. Not yet, at least. It's too early to make that call.

The city's dying? Of course it is; it's the nature of cities. Parts of it die and parts are reborn, and a little while later the birthing and the dying get shifted around.On 33rd Street, a stadium dies and a neighborhood goes through purgatory. At Camden Yards, a ballpark is born and the surrounding neighborhoods await a brand-new fate.The early indications are mixed. From the north, the trains bring fans bearing untold sums of money. Already, the Pratt Street bars are seeing some fallout.

What's new at Camden Yards?Not much compared with last year, when the ballpark was uncharted territory for fans, ushers, even utility infielders.But as the ballpark enters its second season, the Maryland Stadium Authority and the Orioles have made a few changes. The reason: Only a few were needed."We're extra proud of how much planning went into the ballpark and how well it worked last year," said Janet Marie Smith, Orioles vice president and the team's chief ballpark planner.Despite that, said Herbert J. Belgrad, the stadium authority chairman, officials spent most of the off-season working to preserve the ballpark's "forward momentum."

The Hagerstown Suns, shut out in their efforts earlier this year to win county funding for a new ballpark, are hoping the election of some new commissioners next week and the results of an economic impact study may change the score next year.The Maryland Stadium Authority yesterday gave formal approval to a $50,000 consulting contract with CSL International. The Minneapolis company, which has already started the job, will report as early as Dec. 1 on the feasibility of building a minor-league ballpark that would cost $8 million to $10 million.

How do you say goodbye to Memorial Stadium? Th Baltimore Orioles have a few ideas, and they are beginning to reveal them.Orioles officials yesterday offered some details of the promotions they plan for the final weekend at the ballpark, Oct. 4-6 against the Detroit Tigers.Oct. 4: After the game, which will begin at 7:35 p.m., the club will put on "the biggest spectacular of fireworks ever on display at Memorial Stadium." Before the game, Orioles broadcasters of past and present also will be honored.

Beware in Philly, Bronx Bill Kline The Morning Call When they say 99.9 percent of baseball fans are nice, they aren't talking about New York and Philadelphia. True, alcohol makes louts out of most of us. But when you couple booze with the ornery disposition most fans in those cities acquire by kindergarten, the combination is combustible. If you want trouble in New York or Philly, just pop on the visiting team's cap, settle into your seat, duck and cover.

The final game of Camden Yards' first season had some o the electricity of opening day last spring. Those who have complained that this year's baseball fans are less demonstrative than their forebears at Memorial Stadium should have been there. It was a memorable occasion.So what if the season was effectively over before the game, shattering the dream of post-season play in the ballpark's first year.It remained a great season -- for the Orioles' management, which filled the ballpark 59 straight games; for the ballplayers, who unexpectedly gave us a pennant race almost all summer; and for the fans, who have a beautiful, classic ballpark (albeit with a few problems)