On May 2, 2014, I checked out one of the Orioles AAA Minor League affiliates, the Norfolk Tides. The Norfolk Tides were playing the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders a AAA affiliate of the New York Yankees.
I arrived in Norfolk around 2PM and checked into my hotel, the Waterside Marriott located in Downtown Norfolk. One of the reason for my choice of the hotel was I would be able to walk around downtown instead of using my car during the short stay. In addition, there was a light rail station near by the hotel which I would be able to take to the game (they call their light rail "the tide").
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| Waterside Marriott, Norfolk VA |
I hopped on the light rail after purchasing my all day $3 ticket around 5:15 PM. The ride was a quick 2 stops east to the Harbor Park stop which was about a 5-6 minute ride. The light rail was pretty empty, nothing compared to the masses of people in DC's Metro, or even Baltimore's light rail after or before games.
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| Outside Harbor Park by 3rd Base Gate |
I arrived at the stadium (Harbor Park) about an hour and a half before the game. There was almost no one in line, even though it was a blanket give-a-way night, and the gates at Harbor Park opened 65 minutes before game time (I was actually the fourth person in line).
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| Blanket Give-A-Way |
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| 3rd Base Line, Harbor Park |
Once the stadium opened I entered the 3rd base gate and looked around to see some of the food vendors. Before getting food I stopped by the information center desk behind home plate to get my Birdland Passport stamped. I initially picked up my Birdland passport in Camden Yards off Eutaw Street near fan services. Anyone can pick one up for free and get a stamp for all the Orioles affiliates stadiums you visit. If you manage to get stamps at 5 of the 6 stadiums you can get a special Orioles prize (a T-Shirt). If you get all 6 stamps you can get entered into winning a spring training trip. After getting my stamp on my passport I picked up some food.
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| Birdland Passport |
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| Birdland Passport with Stamp |
I ended up getting food at one of the stands and settled for chicken tenders, fries, and a souvenir soda. The price for food did mirror the Major League stadiums. I paid $7.50 for the chicken tenders basket (with fries), and about $5 for the souvenir soda.
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| Food and Souvenir Soda |
My tickets for the game were in the front row along the 1st base line between the foul pole and 1st base (Section 120, Row A). The seats weren't bad but after a few innings I got tired of the angle (i.e., in hindsight I would have bought a ticket closer to first base in a further back row to see better). The ticket price though for my seats were $11 (which are actually the most expensive seats in the Stadium, if you buy in advance you may have to pay some convenience fees and ticket master fees which I did and it cost me $17 total). If you want to avoid the convenience fees there were plenty of empty seats at the stadium and tickets could be purchased on the day of the game at the home plate box office prior to the game, and once gates opened at the other box offices (i.e., 3rd base box office).
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| View from Section 120 |
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| View from Section 120 |
Prior to the game, there were plenty of pre-game activities. They flew in the person to throw the first pitch into the stadium via a helicopter, as he was the local meteorologist for the local news.
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| Helicopter Fly In |
They were also celebrating the local girl-scouts recent cookie sale prior to the game. I also saw a few players that were previously on the Oriole's Major League team, including Alexi Castilla (#12).
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| Alexi Castilla #12 |
For anyone who is looking to get autographs its a good idea to get to the game at gate opening and pick up a program. Within the program they have an insert with the players roster and numbers for both the home and away team. That way you might get a chance to spot a person and autograph you want (and can call them by their name). Where I sat was perfect for autographs from the home team prior to the game since most of the players warmed up right in front of me (and many kids were successfully getting autographs).
The game started and the tides took an early lead with 2 runs in the bottom of the first. I was amused by many of the between inning events the Tides mascot, Riptide, did on the field. He drove a motorcycle around the park, played tug-of-war, and ran the bases with a kid. It was a great family atmosphere.
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| Riptide running the bases with a Kid Challenger |
The game was all the Tides from the 1st to the 9th inning. I did notice a few names though on the RailRiders squad I recalled being in the Majors. One of which was Scott Sizemore.
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| Scott Sizemore #22 |
The Tides ended up shutting out the RailRiders in a 10-0 score.
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| Final Score Board 10-0 Tides |
The experience was overall exciting and very family friendly. There was definitely a more laid back feel to the game and you got to see plenty of things you rarely see in the Majors (i.e., more errors and slow pitches). Hopefully, I'll get to return to Harbor Park again and maybe I'll be able to score some great autographs from future Major Leaguers (i.e., I didn't come prepared for autographs this night).
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| Harbor Park, Norfolk VA (behind home plate) |
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