All American gal

My first American hot dog,  yummy

The beer was good to

A sea of orange for the Baltimore Orioles

How close are we!

Do you like my hat!

The National Anthem

Sue and Bruce

The day I have been waiting for has finally arrived!

Bruce and Sue arrive to pick me up and we are off to get to the game. Our destination is Baltimore about an hour away.

Some background to this day, Sue and I met through work and when she heard I was coming to America and her home town a plan was hatched to catch up. Her husband Bruce is a long time Baltimore Orioles fan and as they say the rest is history.

We are in the car chatting and before I know it we are here at the home of the Orioles. I start to get an inkling we are in for VIP treatment when we pull into the car lot next to the stadium. Across the road we go and merge into the sea of orange. I so picked the right t-shirt to wear and Bruce has given me my very own Orioles cap to wear.  I fit right in!

First port of call is to get in the line for a hot dog and beer. Yes, you read correctly its traditional to drink beer at the game. Mission accomplished. Now we have to go over to the sides stand and add ketchup, mustard or one of the other condiments to our hot dogs. How cool is this.

There is lots of music coming from the stadium what is going on in there. I want to see. We go through the tunnel and down to our seats, and then down some more, and then down some more. We have front row seats right behind the batters. This really is the VIP treatment.

Now we know I am not the most sporty of people however with Bruce’s explanations I get to understand some of the basics. But it’s the tactics that are most interesting to me, every part of the field has something going on. The Baltimore Orioles are playing the Toronto Blue Jays. Both named after birds I saw in Central Park with Ricki.

I learn baseball is not just hitting the ball and running as fast as you can. It’s more about the strength and skill of the pitcher to win the game. There are 9 innings and between every innings there is something happening. The crowd interaction is what makes the whole day so special.  From the little kid who is selected to run out and steal second base to the crazy games between each innings on the big video screen.

My favourite player of the day is Adam Jones who gets to second base with a magnificent slide. Then later in the game he hits a home run! Alas we did not win the game outright, but I barely noticed.

My summary of baseball is there is never a dull moment. I could have come to a baseball match by myself and I would have been in the crowd somewhere enjoying the excitement however the amazing seats and the expert commentary from Bruce made it such a unique experience.

But the day has not ended there I get a tour of Baltimore harbour, see Fort McHenry where Francis Scott Key wrote the national anthem, star spangled banner and have the best Maryland crab cakes at an authentic dinner.

A big thanks to Bruce and Sue for a day I will never forget.

[Local news article about the game]