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Baltimore Orioles: Strolling down Eutaw Street

Oriole Park at Camden Yards is now over 25 years old, but in a way, the ballpark that led the revolution in modern stadium design and construction still feels new. Plenty of that credit goes to the Orioles and the Angelos family, who have worked hard to keep the stadium current, but it may also feel that way because virtually every other stadium that has been built since Camden Yards leans heavily on its design features.

Camden Yards ushered MLB out of the Dark Ages of stadium design of the 1970s and 1980s where everything was a cookie cutter, multi-purpose bowl surrounded by acres and acres of parking lots. The Orioles built the first modern, urban ballpark that felt like a true part of the surrounding city.

The old B&O warehouse looms large behind the ballpark, and it is the most recognizable feature of the park. Wedged in between the park and the warehouse is Eutaw Street. Instead of completely changing the street and cutting it off from the city to roll it into the stadium, the Orioles turned it into a huge gathering place for fans to congregate before and after games as well as eat signature ballpark foods like Boog’s BBQ, owned and operated by franchise legend Boog Powell. Players whose home runs land on the street are immortalized with a marker for the fans to find.

Every new park features some sort of open-air fan zone following the Eutaw Street concept, but most are somewhat contrived. On off days, Eutaw Street is just part of the City of Baltimore. The Orioles may currently have fallen on hard times, but Camden Yards will always shine.