Camden Club

University of Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams is the featured guest at the Camden Club on Tuesday.The luncheon is between noon and 2 p.m. and costs $18, including food and beverage.If space is available, non-Camden Club members may make reservations by calling (410) 332-4649.

Opening day for the Baltimore Orioles was a downer for O's managing partner Peter Angelos. His team lost, and he was feeling so poorly that he missed not only the game but also his party at the Camden Club.Not to worry, because he was well-represented by some of the other investers -- author Tom Clancy, tennis great Pam Shriver with her mom, Margot; David Bernstein, chairman, Duty Free International, and his wife, Pat; Wayne Gioioso, of Gioioso Investments, a real-estate investment company, and his wife, Judy; Jack Dunn IV, executive vice president of Forensic Technologies International, with his wife, Elizabeth, and his mother, Mary Rose; Bud Meyerhoff, chairman of Magna Holdings, an investment company; and the team's general counsel, George Stamas, and general manager, RolandHemond.

It was appropriate that the outgoing chairman of the Maryland Stadium Authority, Herb Belgrad, and his wife, Joanne, gave his DTC farewell party at the Camden Club. After all, he had been the authority's chairman since it was created in 1986 and had been there when the Camden Club opened. Also, their two daughters were married there and a son became engaged there.Herb's replacement John Moag, managing partner of Patton, Boggs and Blow law firm in Baltimore, Mayor Kurt Schmoke and former Gov. William Donald Schaefer were among the 150 people who stopped by. Moag was overheard to say "he felt somewhat like a replacement player."

It was appropriate that the outgoing chairman of the Maryland Stadium Authority, Herb Belgrad, and his wife, Joanne, gave his DTC farewell party at the Camden Club. After all, he had been the authority's chairman since it was created in 1986 and had been there when the Camden Club opened. Also, their two daughters were married there and a son became engaged there.Herb's replacement John Moag, managing partner of Patton, Boggs and Blow law firm in Baltimore, Mayor Kurt Schmoke and former Gov. William Donald Schaefer were among the 150 people who stopped by. Moag was overheard to say "he felt somewhat like a replacement player."

At first glance, Oriole Park's Camden Club seems to have everything you'd expect of an upscale restaurant overlooking one of baseball's most talked-about ballparks: Good food, appealing surroundings and striking views.But five months after opening, the club is missing one desirable ingredient: A dining room bustling with members.The club, located on two floors in the B&O Warehouse, attracted some interest among fans of Orioles baseball and linen tablecloths when it served its first gourmet meals last April.

Come Opening Day, Oriole Park at Camden Yards will be crawling with baseball fans, most of whom will have converged on the new ballpark for a specific reason.To witness the first pitch ever heaved at the new downtown stadium?Maybe. But there may be other Opening Day attractions, including this unlikely one: steamed mussels and chorizo in a sweet pepper cilantro broth.Not all Baltimore Orioles fans will be able to begin a day at the ballpark by lingering over a plate of chorizo (spicy Portuguese sausage to most of us)

It was a madcap evening for the 160 people who attended the seventh annual Madhatters Ball at the Camden Club at Oriole Park.Most guests got into the spirit and wore some very funny hats -- however, Rich Evans scared a few women when they saw the two live mice running around the brim of his hat.Kevin Scott and Dean Charlton chaired the ball, which raised $11,000 for United Cerebral Palsy.Others bidding on auction items or trying their luck at the casino games were Kathy Scott, Trish Charlton, Streett Baldwin and Diane Delbrook, Chip and Vicky Chew, Michael and Julia Martin Keelty, Kim and Carol Kennedy, Chip and Susan McCormick, Garland and Audrey Williams, Claudia and Dave Wilson, Lois Baldwin and Dr. Gregg Rhodes, and Al Grimes, owner of American Personal Communications, who wore a summer hat with a duck's nest and decoy on top, which won a first-place prize.

SEVERAL dozen names have been proposed, in response to Salmagundi's call, for the 19th century batsman sketched in the Orioles' new monogram. The jury, throughout appreciative of the emblematic player's noble, stalwart lineaments and ever sensitive to the uncanny ingenuity of many an entry, has agonized.But, we have a winner!For an idea of the contestants' acumen, consider these nominations:Mugsy Battersby (from Sol Goodman); Crabclaw Cannon (from John Martin); Merle Lane (i.e., Maryland, from J. Napfel Jr.)

Opening day for the Baltimore Orioles was a downer for O's managing partner Peter Angelos. His team lost, and he was feeling so poorly that he missed not only the game but also his party at the Camden Club.Not to worry, because he was well-represented by some of the other investers -- author Tom Clancy, tennis great Pam Shriver with her mom, Margot; David Bernstein, chairman, Duty Free International, and his wife, Pat; Wayne Gioioso, of Gioioso Investments, a real-estate investment company, and his wife, Judy; Jack Dunn IV, executive vice president of Forensic Technologies International, with his wife, Elizabeth, and his mother, Mary Rose; Bud Meyerhoff, chairman of Magna Holdings, an investment company; and the team's general counsel, George Stamas, and general manager, RolandHemond.

Patrick Mahan didn't have a ticket to the Orioles' home opener yesterday, but he may have had the next-best thing.For much of the game, he had a clear view of the action from a spot on the seventh floor of the long B&O warehouse that serves as a backdrop for right field.Mahan is one of several dozen waiters at the Camden Club, the posh, members-only restaurant and lounge that occupies the seventh and eighth levels of the 1,016-foot-long warehouse. Before and after the game, the restaurant was full of patrons.

Among the perks of a Camden Club membership are monthly luncheons with Orioles players during the season. The format is casual -- a 45-minute lunch followed by a question-and-answer period with several people from the Orioles organization.I joined my legal-eagle buddy, Camden Club member Frances Reaves, at the luncheon, which featured O's manager Johnny Oates and O's catcher Jeff Tackett. Others at her table were Diane Bark, stockbroker; Edie Brown, public relations director at the Baltimore Arena; and Renee Ades, one of the founders of NeighborCare pharmacies.

The long, cold winter officially ended two weeks ago, but the spring did not truly begin in Baltimore until 3:17 p.m. yesterday, when Mike Mussina threw a strike past Kansas City Royals outfielder Vince Coleman to open the 1994 baseball season.The downtown area had come to life hours earlier, as if the ice had just melted and the sun had come out for the first time. The Orioles were soon to follow, unveiling their new-look lineup to defeat the Royals, 6-3, in front of a festive sellout crowd of 47,549 at Camden Yards.

You won't be able to keep score, yell at the ump or even sit in the stands. But Orioles fans and nonfans alike can soon drop by Camden Yards at lunchtime to savor what some consider the most important part of the ballpark experience: THE FOOD!Starting Monday, the stadium will begin serving hot dogs, Italian sausage and other concession delicacies from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays along the Eutaw Street corridor.Eating won't be the only activity, though. There will be tours winding from the skyboxes to the dugout.

It was a madcap evening for the 160 people who attended the seventh annual Madhatters Ball at the Camden Club at Oriole Park.Most guests got into the spirit and wore some very funny hats -- however, Rich Evans scared a few women when they saw the two live mice running around the brim of his hat.Kevin Scott and Dean Charlton chaired the ball, which raised $11,000 for United Cerebral Palsy.Others bidding on auction items or trying their luck at the casino games were Kathy Scott, Trish Charlton, Streett Baldwin and Diane Delbrook, Chip and Vicky Chew, Michael and Julia Martin Keelty, Kim and Carol Kennedy, Chip and Susan McCormick, Garland and Audrey Williams, Claudia and Dave Wilson, Lois Baldwin and Dr. Gregg Rhodes, and Al Grimes, owner of American Personal Communications, who wore a summer hat with a duck's nest and decoy on top, which won a first-place prize.

University of Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams is the featured guest at the Camden Club on Tuesday.The luncheon is between noon and 2 p.m. and costs $18, including food and beverage.If space is available, non-Camden Club members may make reservations by calling (410) 332-4649.

Wayne Simonsen doesn't have season tickets to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, but he may have the next best thing.As a waiter in the posh Camden Club restaurant on the seventh and eighth floors of the warehouse behind right field, he has a clear view of the action whenever he looks out the window."

Among the perks of a Camden Club membership are monthly luncheons with Orioles players during the season. The format is casual -- a 45-minute lunch followed by a question-and-answer period with several people from the Orioles organization.I joined my legal-eagle buddy, Camden Club member Frances Reaves, at the luncheon, which featured O's manager Johnny Oates and O's catcher Jeff Tackett. Others at her table were Diane Bark, stockbroker; Edie Brown, public relations director at the Baltimore Arena; and Renee Ades, one of the founders of NeighborCare pharmacies.

At first glance, Oriole Park's Camden Club seems to have everything you'd expect of an upscale restaurant overlooking one of baseball's most talked-about ballparks: Good food, appealing surroundings and striking views.But five months after opening, the club is missing one desirable ingredient: A dining room bustling with members.The club, located on two floors in the B&O Warehouse, attracted some interest among fans of Orioles baseball and linen tablecloths when it served its first gourmet meals last April.

Reading Time, Two Minutes:How come U2 can do blockbuster dates at RFK Stadium, the Meadowlands and the Vet in Philadelphia and Baltimore wouldn't even allow the rock group to practice in lonesome Memorial Stadium for a big fee?The city's argument that the practices and construction of a stage for U2's world tour would mess up the field for the ho-hum Saints-Dolphins exhibition Aug. 27 doesn't fly in the face of those other stadiums playing host to NFL teams with the regular season right around the bend.