ronveenstra.com::Orioles Park at Camden Yards and PNC Park in Pittsburgh

Sven and I took off late Thursday night, after I returned from my softball game (which we won in convincing fashion). After about 4 hours of driving, we grabbed a motel room, and called it a night.

The room was surprisingly cheap. Huzzah, budget!

Back on the road, heading toward Baltimore. We drove past these wind turbines. The weather was beautiful.

Tunnel!

Allegheny Mountain tunnel.

Inside the tunnel... I was not holding my breath in this one.

We are driving through the hills and mountains now.

It was pretty, and green.

So here's the deal. We had printed off directions from Google, and were borrowing a Tomtomto guide us. Google said stay on the Pennsylvania turnpike. Tomtom said take the exit. We took the exit. Now we're driving on a small road through the hills of Bedford County.

We were interested to see where Tomtom was bringing us.

57 Chevy behind us.

And here is a fancy house. We're still not clear where we are headed.

And here we overlook the hills of Bedford County.

And now we're back on the highway. Tomtom eventually had us get back on the highway... at the same exit we got off on. Thanks, Tomtom, for that lovely tour of Bedford County.

Harrisburg is the capital.

The other side of the highway was jammed up for miles... People leaving the Baltimore / DC area for Labor Day maybe?

Nice bridge.

Another traffic jam.

Camden Yards!

Baltimore!

M&T Bank Stadium. Baltimore Ravens play here.

John Hopkins. Dr. Mike Burton went there.

And we've reached Oriole Park

Searching for parking. Fancy clock.

Walking to the stadium. This is a museum I guess.

Ron at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Sven at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

This in front of the stadium, with the retired numbers set up in front. A few days after we left, the #8 was stolen, and then recovered.

Back of the scoreboard.

This here is across the street, and it was busy.

Nice building.

Ron at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Sven at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Ron and Sven at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Oriole Park entrance.

Across the way is the Raven's Stadium.

We're in the park! Looks like the Orioles used to be good.

Our first look in on the field. Turns out it's lovely.

This screen is the most amazing screen I've ever seen at a Ball Field. It was so clear and crisp from across the park, it almost looked fake.

After a tour around the stadium, we headed towards our seats.

Turns out our seats were in the Club (read: fancy) Section. So we had to walk through the club level, with all the fancy restaurants and VIP sections.

This is the park.

1983. The last year they won it all.

I kid you not. Fletch Bank ATMs were in the next hall.

Ron at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

The old logo. It was fantastic.

Here's a view of the scoreboard from our seats.

Huzzah Cabrera!

Pujols is good at baseball.

Finishing off with the grounds crew.

The mascot played baseball with little kids.

There's the press box. And an older lady either trying to kill herself or describing the fish she just caught.

Infinite Recursion! Also, that screen was amazing.

The mascot throws out the first pitch.

There are the opening line-ups.

There's the warehouse.

That screen is amazing.

And the Orioles take the field.

Here's the first pitch. He bunted straight up to the first baseman.

Here's the first hit of the game. A single to right-center.

Pudge!

Here is the baseball game.

Nachos! and jalapeño! It was glorious.

Here's a panorama of Oriole Park.

On screen is a replay of Felix Pie (former Cub) robbing a homerun. It was a fine catch. Remember when he was awesome on the Cubs? Me neither.

There's the Felix Pie we know and love. Ground outs!

Here's the story. 2 small boys sat in front of us until about the 7th inning.. then they took off. Felix Pie up to bat, and he fouls the ball back. It bounces off the metal railing at the front of our section, and skips off the ground rather fast. It bounced up super high, and bounded way over our heads. We turned around to see the ball smack right into a flat panel TV, and fall nicely back into Sven's waiting hands. Way to go, Sven.

This is a Major League Baseball.

On this screen I watched the Cubs blow two bases loaded scoring chance, and lose to the Mets. Way to go, Cubs.

The game ended, the Rangers won rather handily, and thanks to a nice parking spot, we were able to get back onto the highway rather quickly. After a few hours of driving, we found a hotel, and called it a night.

This is that room.

Here's a helicopter dragging a sign. Weird.

Another Tunnel! This time I did hold my breath.. and I almost died.

Carnegie Mellon! Also, another traffic jam.

Pittsburgh!

We've parked in Pittsburgh, and found a great place to park. In front is PNC Park and the Clemente Bridge.

PNC Park!

Weird. Most cities don't advertise. ("Las Vegas...")

Over there is the air tram.

Down there is the river.

PNC Park!

Ron at PNC Park!

Sven at PNC Park!

Back across the bridge it's Pittsburgh

Skyline.

Irish Night!

Roberto Clemente!

Kayaks for rent!

Here's a look back at the city.

We were many hours early for the game (like noonish for a 7pm game) We saw a bunch of people headed somewhere. We made our way to Heinz field, and Pitt was playing. Huzzah for College football.

Jerome Bettis' Grille

Shuttle buses for students.

Heinz Field.

Tailgating.

Another look back at the skyline. Pittsburgh was a surprisingly beautiful city.

Tony Dorsett Drive.

Here's a look back at the river.

And a zoomed look back in on Heinz Field.

Del Monte!

We took a walk around the river, and they were setting up for some concert/celebration.

I really liked this building.

We're walking through the city.

Back there is the United Steelworkers building.

Another fine building.

And this building was awesome.

Here's another look at that crazy building.

Another tall building reflecting clouds.

... for all your violin needs.

Seagate

Hanging Plants. In the background is a still operational railroad bridge.

Across the river is the convention center.

ducks.

Don't drink the water.

Sven explained how this helped shade the windows.

Sven and I sat down by the river for a while, taking in the city. We saw this building way out there, and Sven thought it had a large "17" printed on the top.

I explained that it was just shadows from the windows, which were inset... and then I made fun of him.

and here's Sven... the guy I was making fun of while taking this picture.

Allegheny Cotton Mill Strikes.

Here's a nice building with a hole in it.

This is where we sat.

Here's a quick scan of the city.

Pittsburgh!

Duck!

Ron in Pittsburgh! This is my new favorite picture.

Sven in Pittsburgh!

Thor graffiti'd everywhere in the city!

Baby Bunny'd!

Thor'd!

The Allegheny Aquaduct!

the Andy Warhol museum.

Ron at PNC Park.

Sven at PNC Park

Honus Wagner at PNC Park

Our first look out on PNC Park.

A look out at the city from PNC Park.

Here's PNC Park's scoreboard.

There are a lot of Cardinals fans watching Pujols' batting practice.

Cardinals warmup.

Pujols batting practice.

Ron at PNC Park.

Ron at PNC Park.

Cubs Win!

Here's a look out at the field, and toward our seats.

Ron at PNC Park. This was my seat. Amazing.

Sven at PNC Park. This was his seat. Amazing.

Pirates Scoreboard.

Skyline.

Pujols warmups.

Pujols warmups.

Cubs win!

Pirates in shrubbery.

This guy went 1 for 1 in the majors, with a narrowly beaten out infield single. He batted 1.000 in his major league career.

Mascot and handler.

Pirates stretching.

they really play up the Pirates theme at the ballpark.

Looks like the Pirates used to be good too.

First pitch.

Ronny Cedeno.. remember when he was good on the Cubs? Me Neither.

They played the best plays of the week around baseball on the big screen, and Pie's homerun robbing catch from yesterday's Orioles' game was #2.

The side displays had a crazy amount of information: Pitch type, speed at 40 feet and at the plate, horizontal and vertical break.

See. Horizontal break.

This dude could have won a $150 Pirates Jacket. He got the question wrong, and got the 2nd question right, so he won a hat. He could either keep the hat, or trade it for what was in the box. He chose the box.. inside: a Pirates Snuggy. Nice.

This guy was the ball boy on the 3rd base side. He had one grounder to him, he missed it, and it hit his shin, and he rubbed it and looked in pain the rest of the game. Also, the people sitting behind him seemed less than pleased.