Day 23: Baltimore

Today we saw the Baltimore Orioles host the Philadelphia Phillies in beautiful Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The stadium was awesome, but what was even better was our experience during the game. We are staying in Baltimore with fellow Furman tennis player, Brian Crook, and his family. Brian's uncle, Bob Cecil, who works for the Orioles, was able to set us up with 3 tickets that were 3 rows behind home plate, the seats you see every game when you watch on television. The Orioles out-slugged the Phillies, taking a 12-5 victory. I picked the O's, and now have a 12-5 edge in picking games on our trip.



The highlight of the evening came during the 3rd inning rain delay, when the WBAL Radio Broadcast invited us to do a live interview with them. We were able to do a full segment, probably about 10 minutes worth of air time, where they asked us all sorts of details about the trip. Questions were raised from how we paid for the trip, where they were a bit surprised by our poker explanation, to logistics of making the schedule, to what places and amenities we had enjoyed the most. The situation could not have worked out better, as they were looking to fill time during the rain dealy, and seemed genuinely interested in our trip around the country. We hope to have the clip of while we were on air available from WBAL in the next few days, and will make it available if that happens. We would like to especially thank the Crook family for setting up this amazing opportunity for us.



After we finished the radio interview, we saw Jim Palmer, who does color commentary for the Orioles t.v. broadcast, standing in the hallway. After Katherine Dietrich, our radio tour guide, introduced us, we were able to get a picture with the Hall of Fame pitcher.



Also during the game, there were some festive fans sitting a few rows behind us, who did an excellent job of heckling the opposition. At one point, one of the drunken fans correctly called 6 consecutive pitchers, before the pitcher threw the ball, pretty impressive. They also started calling me "Roberto," and asked several intriguing questions about the trip that aren't quite blog-appropriate.



The day started out with Ben and me watching Wimbledon in the morning, waiting for Brian to get back from work. While we waited, we were treated to Dunkin Donuts courtesy of Mr. Crook. We then headed over to Chesnut Ridge Country Club for lunch and some tennis, which turned out to last the whole afternoon. After an hour or so, we called Brian's Dad to be our 4th for some doubles. The 1st matchup was Brian and me vs. Ben and Mr. Crook. Brian won the toss, deferred to the elder statesmen, and never looked back, winning 6-3. Then, Ben and I took on Brian and his Dad, winning 6-4 again. The results of these matches only confirm my superiority as a doubles specialist.



Before the game, we headed downtown for an excellent dinner at Bo Brooks, a crab house that was delicious. It was the 1st time eating crab for both Ben and myself, and we enjoyed the entire process. Thanks again to the Crooks for providing wonderful meals and housing for our 2 nights in Baltimore.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 25,110
2-miles traveled today: 0
3-miles traveled total: 8,467
4-states traveled in today: Maryland
bonus stat: teams are 4-0 on our trip when their no. 2 hitter scores 2 or more runs