Baseball

Wednesday night Cindy and I completed our pilgrimage of the three local baseball stadiums. We'd seen the Bowie Baysox early in the season, so early we almost froze from the fifth inning on. The team isn't very good, but the price was right and it's a fun atmosphere.

About a month ago we went to Baltimore and saw the Orioles beat the Yankees (pre-Palmiero steroid controversy), which was a lot of fun. Watching thousands of obnoxious Yankee fans reduced to shame at the very end: priceless.

Then Wednesday night we saw the Washington Nationals beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-3 at RFK Stadium. So here's my comparison of Camden Yards vs. RFK Stadium:

Parking: The nod goes to RFK – Much easier to get in and out of, plus you don't have to deal with parking garages.

Concessions: Camden Yards – You can buy food and/or drink from the street vendors for much less than they charge at the stadium AND Camden lets you bring it in. Not so at RFK. Four bucks for peanuts? Try two on the streets of Balto.

Security: Probably a little better at Camden, although they're a little uptight about it. I expected RFK to be more anal, but they were actually pretty cool.

Fans: Orioles were pretty catatonic. Maybe they were intimidated by the Yankee fans until the final inning. Nationals were much more spirited; of course it's their first year and they're doing surprisingly well, so why not yell your head off and act a fool?

Ticket prices: We were given our tickets to the Nationals game (Thanks, John and Lera!). We paid $8 or $9 for upper level at Camden; RFK upper level is $5.

Entertaining roving vendors: Much more colorful characters schlepping beer and peanuts at RFK.

Overall I'd have to hand it to RFK.

Now I'd love to do the same comparison for the Ravens and Redskins. Anybody got any tickets?

Now Playing = "Stop This World" – Diana Krall