Game 9: Oakland @ Baltimore

Our 9th game featured New Jersey native Jack Cust of the Oakland Athletics and Major League Baseball's Worst team, with a manager who since the game has been fired, the Baltimore Orioles.

Pregame:
Baltimore was the site of one of our most enjoyable pregame experiences. We received no balls from the players, caught no homeruns (thanks in large part to the lack of talent on the Baltimore Orioles), had to wait outside the gate and talk to an incredibly stupid person, but it was still amazing. The reason why it was amazing was Oakland Athletics' Third Baseman, Kevin Kouzmanoff. Kouzmanoff showed us the human side of a baseball player. We sat online in order to talk to him while he had a 20 or so minute conversation with an old family friend. During this time, the A's catcher, Kurt Suzuki, came up to the fans and began signing autographs, so my mitt now had 3 signatures. The three of us grew to respect Kevin Kouzmanoff the man, not the baseball player. Earlier, Sam, had teased Kouzmanoff during Batting Practice yelling at him, "KOUZ! WARNING TRACK POWER!" Kouzmanoff laughed at Sam's joke. Finally after his long conversation, we had the chance to speak with Mr. Kouzmanoff a little bit, amidst the swarm of fans begging for the newly acquired 3rd Baseman's autograph. He then asked if we wanted to sign anything, we said sure, so he signed my glove and a few other items. We then watched more of batting practice as the A’s did hit some home runs. Cust and A’s first baseman Daric Barton put on a show launching balls over the high scoreboard in right field. The last interesting pregame action was when Sam wandered off with the intention to speak to Flemington, NJ native, Jack Cust. He joked with Cust about being from “the Dirty jerz” and told him that Pingry’s baseball team practiced at his facility in Flemington over Spring Break. Cust enjoyed the conversation, so he signed Sam’s glove. Next up… the game itself.

The Game:
The game itself featured Oakland Athletics’ left hander, Dallas Braden who was about to pitch for the 2nd time since he threw the 19th Perfect Game in Major League history and the Orioles’ highly talented and Stanford graduate (I mention that for Sam’s amusement), Jeremy Guthrie. The scoring opened in the top of the 2nd following a leadoff walk to none other than Jack Cust who later scored on a groundout to 2nd by Mark Ellis and the A’s took a 1-0 lead. It took a few innings for the O’s to bounce back. They tied the game in the 4th following a pair of walks to Nick Markakis and Miguel Tejada. After Markakis was retired on a fielders’ choice, Tejada scored on a throwing error by Cliff Pennington, the A’s shortstop. Although Braden had been pitching well, he mysteriously left after the 4th inning due to an apparent ankle injury. The Orioles took advantage of getting to the A’s bullpen early and bounced on reliever, Tyson Ross on a pair of sacrifice flies by Ty Wigginton and Adam Jones in the 6h, giving the team a 3-1 lead. Guthrie was strong for the O’s going 6 innings allowing only 1 run. The Orioles looked for insurance in the 8th inning against A’s reliever Craig Breslow. An actual conversation during the 8th inning: Spencer: “Markakis is so underrated…” Sam: “I know” Me: “it’s probably because he hasn’t been hitting homeruns.” Seconds later we look up, and Markakis appeased me by hitting a fly ball over the right field seats, giving the Orioles a 4-1 8th inning lead. Later in the inning, Matt Wieters hit an rbi double for the Orioles making it 5-1, and lefty reliever Will Ohman made the lead stand with a 1-2-3 9th inning including 2 strikeouts. Final score 5-1 Baltimore.

Win- Jeremy Guthrie
6IP 6H 3BB 1ER 2K

Loss- Tyson Ross
1.2IP 0H 2ER 2BB 0K

What we Ate:
This is a somewhat interesting segment of this because Sam and I didn’t really eat at the ballpark. We went to the Inner Harbor about a 5 minute walk from Oriole Park at Camden Yards. At the Inner Harbor, we went to a seafood restaurant, and Sam and I “pigged out” on oysters, shrimp, muscles, and clams. They were wonderful, probably some of the best oysters I have had in my entire life. Spencer had a hot dog at the game + Lobster Bisque at the seafood restaurant.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards:
Fans: 7 (There were so few people at this game, it was truly unfortunate)
Food: 10*
Seats: 9
Overall Experience: 8

*Game Notes*: Our seats were 8 rows back and right in line with 3rd base. Orioles 3rd baseman Miguel Tejada apparently loved attention. We would yell “MIGUEL” at him at random time throughout the game and no matter what the situation was, he would acknowledge us. Tejada also made a terrific diving catch on a line drive hit by none other than our buddy, Kevin Kouzmanoff. Braden went 4 innings allowing 3 hits, a couple walks and no earned runs before leaving due to injury. We spoke a little bit with the two gentlemen sitting behind us. One of them claimed to have seen Hoyt Willhelm’s No-Hitter for the Orioles in 1959. Camden Yards, despite not being as beautiful as some of the newer ballparks, is the pioneer for the new wave of baseball stadiums. It is beautiful in many ways and has now completed 15 years of being home to the Baltimore Orioles, and everyone who visits there loves it.