Ballparks - # 20 - Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, MD

Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland (1970)

(From Google Images)

When we visited Schuyler Colfax’s grave last month, I noted that we were in South Bend, Indiana on the way to Wisconsin. The primary reason for the trip was to attend Beck’s 50th high school reunion.

A couple of teachers from a half-century gone by were there and one of them, Pat Schellenger, had kind words to say about my little platform here. She said she particularly liked the ballpark posts. So, before we fly west in August to shoot the Hawaii capitol and two new ballparks, I want to introduce one more. I’m guessing she has no connection to the Orioles or Baltimore, but this one’s for Pat.

Memorial Stadium, Baltimore (January 2001)

One more ballpark you newbie collectors can’t do is the Oriole’s former home, Memorial Stadium in uptown Baltimore. Built soon after WW II and Korea…what else could they call it? The stadium was also known as The Old Gray Lady of 33rd Street, and (for Colts games), The World's Largest Outdoor Insane Asylum.

After the O’s moved to their gorgeous new Camden Yards home, the old relic was demolished in 2001. One positive note – the thousands of tons of rubble were used to create an artificial reef in the Chesapeake Bay.

Memorial Stadium, Baltimore (January 2001)

In the thirty seasons they have played at Camden Yards, the team was in the playoffs five times and never made it to the World Series. Before moving to Baltimore in 1954, they were the lowly St. Louis Browns. In 52 years, they managed one World Series appearance…which they lost to their cross-town rivals, the Cardinals in 1944.

The team’s glory years were at Municipal Stadium. In thirty-eight seasons, Hall of Famers like Frank Robinson, Cal Ripken, Brooks Robinson, Eddie Murray, Jim Palmer and manager Earl Weaver led the team to eight playoff appearances and won the World Series three times. The 1971 club had four 20 game-winning pitchers…a feat accomplished only one other time in major league history…by the Chicago White Sox in 1920.

Tagged Ticket Windows

Memorial Stadium, Baltimore (January 2001)

After moving here in 1989, I attended a few Oriole games and two football contests…an NFL exhibition game where the new Ravens team played my New Orleans Saints and a Penn State blowout of the Maryland Terrapins. Didn’t bring the camera to any of them…but returned before the razing to take a few shots of the empty ballpark. There are photographers whose specialty is abandoned, decayed landmarks and public places. One can understand how a place once so alive with people and green grass can still be impressive with the rust, vandalism and nature’s intrusions.

Memorial Stadium, Baltimore (January 2001)

Back to that ‘Insane Asylum’ remark. In what could have been a real tragedy, a fan [?] crashed a small airplane into the upper deck of the stadium shortly after an NFL playoff game in 1976. No one was seriously hurt, including the pilot, as the fans had just left the scene. The pilot, a disgruntled fan who was arrested on multiple charges, was upset because he was thrown out of a bar owned by a retired Colt linebacker.

Dedication Wall

Memorial Stadium, Baltimore (January 2001)

The most prominent feature of Memorial

Stadium is the wall with its dedication.

-------------------------------------

Erected by the

CITY OF BALTIMORE

1954

The mayor and the City Council

And the people of Baltimore City

In the State of Maryland

AS A MEMORIAL TO ALL

WHO SO VALIANTLY FOUGHT

AND SERVED IN THE WORLD

WARS WITH ETERNAL

GRATITUTE TO THOSE WHO

MADE THE SUPREME

SACRIFICE TO PRESERVE

EQUALITY AND FREEDOM

THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

TIME WILL NOT DIM THE GLORY OF THEIR DEEDS

Memorial Stadium Sign

Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore (27 September 2021)

The final line is a quote from Gen. John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. That part of the Memorial Stadium wall was saved from demolition and is currently outside the Camden Yards ballpark.

Memorial Field at the ‘Y’

Baltimore, Maryland (27 September 2021)

The current development on the Memorial Stadium property includes Maryland’s largest YMCA, a number of senior apartment complexes and a new recreational baseball field dedicated to the Ripken Family…with home plate in the very same spot it was in the former stadium.