Watch the Camden Yards story
Act 1: Memorial Stadium’s fading magic
Flags flew and memories were made on 33rd Street, but by the 1980s, Memorial Stadium, the Orioles' home since Major League Baseball returned to Baltimore in 1954, was showing its age.
Act 2: The Colts’ overnight exit
Baltimore's once-glorious NFL team sneaked out of town in the dead of night in March 1984, a caravan of Mayflower moving trucks ripping a path through the city's psyche and raising an alarming question: Could the Orioles be next to go?
Act 3: Playing the political game
A jilted Baltimore mayor was now governor, determined to convince skeptical legislators to let him build two stadiums to keep the Orioles in town and attract a new NFL team.
Act 4: New home, old charm
A ballpark would be built in downtown Baltimore. Facing time and monetary constraints, planners fought to make it feel both fresh and as if it had been in the neighborhood for generations.
Act 5: Opening Day 1992
Oriole Park threw open its gates to rave reviews and adoring fans, an old-fashioned ballpark with modern amenities that became a template for architecture, design and urban revival.