Creating Camden Yards
The most complete telling of the Camden Yards story, produced by the students and faculty of the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism.
On April 6, 1992, Rick Sutcliffe of the Orioles threw the first pitch of the first baseball game played at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. More than a third of a century later, Camden Yards stands as a monument to ballpark design — modern, yet classic, a throwback and a turning point in urban and sports architecture.
“Creating Camden Yards” is a comprehensive account of the people and events that contributed to the birth of an architectural icon, and of the numerous challenges confronted by the planners.
The project is the work of more than two dozen students and faculty at The Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. It includes interviews with more than 40 key participants in the ballpark story.
A century of Baltimore baseball
Camden Yards has the ability to make you weep. There's others that don't. I mean, Nats Park, nice place, no tears, right?...This thing has something to it that really kind of puts a tear in your eye when you go and watch it every time.
Robert Flanagan, former Orioles secretary and treasurer
The Camden Yards story in five acts
Overview of the timeline.
Act 1: Memorial Stadium, the Orioles’ home since 1954, was showing its age.
Act 2: The Colts’ departure ripped a hole in Baltimore’s psyche.
Act 3: Gov. William Donald Schaefer persuades skeptical legislators to approve two stadiums to keep the Orioles in town.
Act 4: Battling time and budget constraints, planners fought for a modern ballpark that looked as if it had been in the neighborhood for generations.
Act 5: Oriole Park shined on Opening Day and for years to come, becoming a model for architecture and urban revival.
Inside the project
Creating Camden Yards displays the research, interviewing, reporting and writing skills of students at the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism and the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. More than two dozen students contributed to the project, gathering stories of nearly 60 participants. The work of student reporters is combined with archival video and photos from news organizations and other archives from throughout Maryland.
Support
Gifts from two dozen foundations and individuals helped the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism preserve the story of the creation of Camden Yards. Help us continue to tell important stories that touch sports, business, politics, gender, race, globalization and more.
About The Shirley Povich Center For Sports Journalism
The Povich Center prepares students to be innovators and leaders in all facets of sports media. The center's unique, experiential curriculum and public programs elevate and amplify discussion of race, gender, politics and the world.