We had mostly enjoyed a wet first day in Baltimore. To finish it off, we had tickets to the Orioles vs. Diamondbacks game that evening.  

This board in a restaurant bar inspired us to go forth and cheer for our D’Backs!

We walked the short distance from our hotel to Camden Yards.  The stadium seats 45,000 and opened in 1992.  It was built over the former Camden railroad yard in industrial Baltimore.  The right field area utilizes one of Baltimore’s many old industrial buildings.

The weather was better, but not great.

It was a bobble-head give-away night and the locals were very excited about them.  I gave one of ours to a most appreciative woman. I’m not sure what we’ll do with the one we still have.

The Mr. Splash bobble-head represents a tradition of fans in a particular outfield section of the stadium getting sprayed with water at times during the game.  The O’s team owner was Mr. Splashy that cold and chilly night. 

On Twitter, I saw this post about Eugenio Suarez.  He was my favorite Mariner last year and was traded to the Diamondbacks in the off season.  Logically, he is now my favorite Diamondback.  The only team he hadn’t homered against in his career was the Baltimore Orioles.  

Alas, Eugenio didn’t hit a home run in game 1 and the Diamondbacks did not win the game.  It rained some, but our gear kept us mostly dry.

The next morning, when we viewed the field from our hotel room, it seemed we had finally gotten a break in the weather!

The game later in the day was pleasant but the D’backs lost again and Eugenio didn’t hit a home run.

We noticed that during the seventh inning stretch, the routine was to  have a patriotic song and then sing Take Me Out to the Ball Game.  That is pretty typical of stadiums around the country.

However, at Camden Yards they follow those up with Thank God I’m a Country Boy and everyone sings along.  We were a bit confused by that because Baltimore is a good sized city and the surrounding area isn’t really very rural.  We asked a local fan sitting near us about it, and he couldn’t explain it.  He just said it has been happening for the 30 years that he has been going to Orioles games.

The next morning, we could see the grounds crew removing the tarp and preparing the field for the third game in the series.  We were not going to the game that day. Instead we were headed to the Babe Ruth Museum and Birthplace and a food tour.

We were able to walk to the museum and learned that George Herman Ruth was born in this row house.    His mother went to her parents’ house for his birth as the apartment she shared with her husband was above a rowdy tavern.

Mrs. Ruth’s parents’ home was a typical Baltimore row house, worth about $1500.  At the time of Babe’s birth, in 1895, Baltimore was the nation’s sixth largest city.  The city’s industry was seaport related.

George was a bit of a problem child, roaming the streets and skipping school.  At age 7 his parents placed him in St. Mary’s Industrial School – a home for orphans and delinquents.  He went back and forth between his parents’ home and the school for 12 years.  

George left St. Mary’s for the last time in 1914 ,at age 19, under the guardianship of Baltimore Orioles’ owner and manager, Jack Dunn.  He signed the talented young man to pitch for his minor league Baltimore Orioles ball-club for $600 per year. Dunn agreed to serve as Ruth’s legal guardian until he turned 21.

Ruth’s exuberance over everything in his new life led someone to observe, “He’s just a babe in the woods.” People began calling him “Jack Dunn’s Baby,” which was soon shortened to “Babe.”

However, Babe Ruth was soon sold to the Red Sox in a financial move to keep the Orioles afloat.  (I’m not sure how that guardian thing went after that.)

By 1916, Babe Ruth was viewed as an outstanding pitcher who sometimes hit long home runs.  Being a pitcher did not allow him to play everyday so he also played in the outfield.  He then broke home run records, hitting 29 in 1919.

After that season, Ruth was sold to the Yankees, initiating the “Curse of the Bambino” which “kept” Boston from winning a championship for 86 years.

Ruth helped the Yankees win four world series championship in his fifteen years with the team. 

He hit 60 homers in 1927 as part of the Yankees “Murderers Row” lineup. 

This picture MAY show Babe Ruth calling his shot – a home run against the Chicago Cubs in game 3 of the 1932 World Series.  It is unclear whether the pointing gesture Ruth made actually had intent but the possibility of it being so added to his baseball lore.

Babe Ruth played very briefly with the Boston Braves before retiring in 1935.  He played in 2503 games in his career and had 714 career home runs.

In 1936 Babe Ruth was one of five members inducted into the first class of the Baseball Hall of Fame.  The others were Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson.

Babe Ruth received press and public attention for his baseball stats and for his drinking and womanizing.  This likely kept him from ever managing a team after retiring as a player.

This picture is of Babe, his second wife, and their daughters.

After his playing days, Ruth made many public appearances in support of America’s efforts during World War II.  In 2018, Ruth’s grandson accepted a Presidential Medial of Freedom on Babe Ruth’s behalf for his service to security and culture in America.

The lower level of the Babe Ruth Museum focused on how the Star Spangled Banner came to be played at baseball games.  That has been broadened to most sporting events, but it started with baseball. 

During the 1918 World Series, President Woodrow Wilson, in attendance at the game, asked the band to play The Star Spangler Banner.  He was hoping to promote some good feelings as the country was involved in WWI.  The third baseman for the Yankees, on leave from the service to play baseball, stood and saluted.  Other players, including Babe Ruth on the mound, took notice.

Playing the Star Spangled Banner was repeated during the seventh inning stretch in game two of the series.  By game three, the song was moved to before the game and has been there ever since.

At the museum, a video showed a montage of celebrities singing different parts of the anthem. This video included Oriole fans.

Baltimore fans shout “Os” at the beginning of the line “O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave…”  We had noticed that during the two games we attended.  We thought that was pretty cool as Frances Scott Key wrote the poem while being held in Baltimore harbor.  (That game tradition makes perfect sense to us – unlike singing Thank God I’m a Country Boy.)

The D’Backs won the final game in the series (when we weren’t there) and Suarez did not hit a home run against Baltimore.

Next up:  Our Baltimore History and Food Tours

We were in Baltimore in May 2024.