Open for business
Lining up Camden Yards’ first game 33 years ago today
Baltimore’s Camden Yards – with a retro, classic look that inspires the construction of every new ballpark over the last 30-plus years – officially opens for business 33 years ago today as the Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians 2-0.
Onetime Yale University first baseman who later becomes, you know, President George H. W. Bush delivers the ceremonial first pitch – a one-hopper to Orioles catcher Chris Hoiles – in front of a capacity crowd of 44,568.
Rick Sutcliffe on Opening Day 1992
Right-hander Rick Sutcliffe then needs only 110 pitches to complete his five-hit shutout of Cleveland.
Historians note that Sutcliffe’s first pitch at the new ballpark comes at 3:20 p.m. with a ball to Cleveland leadoff hitter Kenny Lofton.
Some 109 pitches later and long after President Bush leaves, home plate umpire Larry Barnett calls out Paul Sorrento on a 1-2 pitch to end the game.
The running game time of 2:02 ties the Orioles’ record for their fastest opening day, matching the time it takes them to beat Detroit at Tiger Stadium in 1954 – the Orioles’ first season after moving to Baltimore from St. Louis.
“We’ve been hearing a lot of good things about the park and it’s finally good to get here,” Orioles designated hitter Sam Horn says before going 2-for-2 in the first game at Camden Yards.
“We’re still breaking out maps to get to places,” Horn said, “and I still don’t know where everything is.”
Among the highlights of the new ballpark is the inviting, 25-foot wall that sits only 318 feet away in right field and the restored B&O warehouse beyond.
The target is an inviting one for any left-handed power hitter, a hitter just like Horn.
“It’s not my goal to hit the warehouse,” says Horn, who is among the early candidates to do so. “I'll take 30 home runs that just barely skim over the fence, whatever it takes to help the ballclub.”
Ken Griffey Jr. taking BP in Baltimore
Turns out that future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. will be the first to reach the warehouse, slamming a ball off of it more than a year later during the Home Run Derby preceding the 1993 All-Star Game in Baltimore.
Still has yet to happen during a regular-season game.
As for Horn, he ends up playing in only 31 games at Camden Yards and hits two homers there with neither reaching the warehouse.