June 28, 2014, Camden Yards (Baltimore). Orioles vs Rays, State of the Orioles, and Crush City T-Shirt Give-A-Way

At Camden Yards on Saturday June 28, 2014, the Orioles held their annual State of the Orioles address prior to the 4:05 game against the Tampa Bay Rays.  The State of the Orioles address is open to all Season Ticket Holders (full season, 29 game plans, and 13 game plans).  The full season holders and 29 game plan holders got to get in earlier than the 13 game plan holders and were also allowed to participate in the autograph session held for them (though from seeing the lines and hearing people, many of them did not get autographs).  

Lines by Gate A at Camden Yards

I am a 13 game holder so I got to go in at 1:15, prior to the 1:30 State of the Orioles address.  The lines were a little more awkward then normal prior to the game since there was a line for 13 game plan holders, normal tickets, and those participating in the autograph session for full season ticket holders and 29 game plan holders. 

Upon entering the Stadium I was given the day's Give-A-Way.  A Crush City performance T-Shirt.  A T-shirt was given to the first 20,000 fans 15 and over. 

Crush City T-Shirt Give-A-Way

Waiting for Buck and Dan

The State of The Orioles was held at 1:30 on top of the visiting dugout.  Fans got to hear from Buck Showalter, and Dan Duquette.  After Buck and Dan spoke the fans got to ask questions.  There were plenty of questions asking Buck about his decision making, and Dan about how he was going to keep Manny Machado an Oriole.

Buck Showalter and Dan Duquette

I really enjoyed some of Buck's responses to fans, he seems like a down to earth person and very comical.  He explained to fans on one question that he knew everyone expected them to be perfect all the time and that they would try.  One of the questions for both Buck and Dan was what was their favorite baseball movie.  Dan answered the question with "Bang the Drum Slowly", and Buck said his was "Sandlot".  Buck and Dan even asked the fan her favorite movie which turned out to be "The Field of Dreams".  Dan also spoke briefly on the Manny Machado bat issue.  He did mention he didn't think it was equitable for the batter who "threw" a bat to get a 5 day suspension when the pitcher who almost threw at Machado after a recent injury was warned once, then thrown out the second time he almost hit Machado and isn't facing any suspension.

Batting Practice

Overall the State of the Orioles address was pretty neat to see the Coach and Front Office face to face with the Fans.  It really showed how much they appreciated the fans. 

The nice thing about getting in to the stadium so early is I got to see some batting practice with the Orioles.  Normally about 2 hours or an 1.5 hours prior to the game the visiting team is up for batting practice (so this was a rarity to see the O's batting practice).  I got to see David Lough, Adam Jones, Chris Davis and a few other Orioles take their practice swings on the field.  The Season Ticket holders who got to see the State of the Orioles were also given 1/2 price food options behind Home Plate (which was kind of nice, but I didn't buy any food in the Stadium today). 

Retired Numbers Banners behind Home Plate

Since I had a ton of time before the game I wondered the Stadium a bit.  I got to see some neat things in the Stadium behind Home Plate which I haven't noticed before.  Behind Home Plate they have banners of all the retired numbers for the Orioles.  On the banners they also have the year in which they were retried.

World Series and Pennants behind Home Plate

I also noticed a painted mural behind Home Plate which listed the Orioles World Series Wins and American League East Championship wins.  

After wondering around the Home Plate concessions I then went off to see what else was around, and found several freebie give-a-ways by some other vendors.  On Eutaw Street right by Gate A, I saw MASN which was giving away sunglasses for those who would follow them on Twitter, and Outback Steakhouse which was giving away Coozies along with $5 Coupons.  On the Lower Level, behind roughly Section 17 was the Chevy dealership who gave a way an Oriole bag for those who gave out their e-mail address to get some spam (little do they know I gave them my e-mail with a .net when it should have been .com... hahahaha). 

Free MASN Sunglasses, and Free Outback Coozie (and $5 Coupon)

Free Chevy Orioles Bag

The game started around 4:05 and it was a bright sunny day.  Chen would be the starting pitcher for the Orioles and former Oriole, Erik Bedard would be pitching for the Rays.  Chen didn't start out very well.  He gave up a 1 run homer in the 1st, followed by a 2 run homer in the 2nd.  Chen would then give up another 2 run homer in the 4th and was then replaced by Brad Branch. 

The Orioles didn't give up anymore runs the game. The Oriole's bats woke up in the bottom of the 6th inning with Nick Markakis hitting a home run to right field. Manny Machado would hit a 2 run home run in the bottom of the 8th and Adam Jones would hit in another run in the bottom of the 8th.  The Orioles were unfortunately unable to get anymore runs in the game and lost 5-4.

The Orioles made the game close at the end but finished just short (they missed a few good opportunities and left men in scoring position a few too many times without capitalizing on it).