Baltimore stadium perfect for baseball> Camden Yards is beautifully designed

BALTIMORE — Tear down Fenway Park.

As a lifelong Red Sox-Fenway Park deviate, I stand behind no man in my appreciation of the “Lyrical bandbox,” as the park was famously called by John Updike in his classic “Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu.” If memory serves (it often does not), my first trip to Fenway was in my eighth summer accompanied by my father while the rest of the bloodline was tied up at someone’s bridal shower.

No one forgets their first time.

After 40-plus years, I can still recall the liberating feeling of emerging from the dark, cement bowels of the stadium into the sunshine and the magnificent green of the infield. It is a special green, matched only by the green that greets you when an Aer Lingus 747 descends from the clouds and glides toward Shannon Airport.

There is a spiritual quality to Fenway Park. It makes you feel different, more so than any other place. It seems nothing bad could happen to you at the park. All the women there are pretty. Even the gloom from the historically tragic figures of Bucky Dent, Bill Buckner, Bob Gibson and all the other antiheroes cannot overcome the glow of Fenway. Even the gloom of the hapless 1996 edition of the Red Sox cannot dim the magic of the park.

But the time has come.

There is no parking and there are not enough seats to support the new economics of baseball, where a run-down hitter like Kevin Mitchell is promised $3,000 just for walking to the plate. The Red Sox cannot compete in such a small park, with only 33,871 seats. Clearly the days of the 1912 park, which opened the day the Titanic sank, are numbered.

Some die-hards will fight to the end to preserve the special magic of Fenway. Not me. Not anymore. I will swap Fenway for Oriole Park, even up, no player to be named later.

After a two-day stay in Baltimore, most of which was spent at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, I have seen the future. Camden Yards has become the model for future ballparks and a must-see for all serious baseball fans. Built in the middle of the bustling city, the park replaces vacant railroad yards, features superb access and parking, and provides elevated pedestrian walkways to the city’s spectacular waterfront. A number of hotels are within walking distance of the park, and the streets are heavily policed, at least around game time. More than 150,000 fans have paid just to tour the park, without seeing a ballgame.

This is not a cookie-cutter stadium like Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium, where this year’s all-star game was held. This is an architectural winner, strategically placed on a spot reeking with history. In deep center field is the site formerly occupied by Ruth’s Cafe, operated by none other than Babe Ruth’s father on the corner of Conway and Pica streets.

The crowd starts filing down Pratt Street three hours before the game, in order to get in line for standing-room-only tickets, the only way to get into the stadium these days. The 48,188 seats are virtually sold out for the rest of the year. As of Saturday night, the attendance at the park topped 1.9 million.

The park was designed with the customer — especially the hungry customer — in mind. The party starts before the first ball is thrown. Before the game, the doors are opened on Eutaw Street, a miniature Mardi Gras with a slew of stores, bars and barbecue spots. The smoke from Bambino’s and the competing Boog’s (Boog Powell, of course) filters through the ballpark.

The seats are comfortable and the sight lines are wonderful, even from the highest deck in left field. There are no bad seats, nothing which would even remotely compare with the terrible seats in Fenway’s right field. There are no obstructed views, common at Fenway.

Orioles officials admit the park’s designers borrowed heavily from classic fields of the past like Fenway Park, Ebbets Field, Crosley Field in Cincinnati and Wrigley Field in Chicago. Instead of razing the 1898 Baltimore and Ohio Railroad warehouse on the site, the historic building was preserved and now serves as the Orioles’ ticket and business offices and provides an exquisite backdrop — and juicy target — for batters. Ken Griffey Jr. hit the wall in the 1993 all-star game home run hitting contest, but no one has hit it in a game yet. Detroit Tigers catcher Mickey Tettleton came the closest, only 26 feet short of the 432-foot distance.

The park is aggressively user-friendly, with escalators to the higher seats. For those who always miss the best play when they go to get a fresh lemonade, the park offers a radio broadcast and television screens for those in line at refreshment stands and in the bathrooms. The official Baltimore Orioles souvenir stand in center field has a bank of six televisions, so no one misses a play. The park offers a bewildering array of food and libations, including local microbrews.

The state of Maryland built and owns the ballpark, which was financed partially through lottery ticket sales.

The atmosphere at Camden Yards is reminiscent of minor league parks, like the Portland Sea Dogs’ Hadlock Field. The Oriole mascot goes from section to section leading cheers and dancing with the customers. In the few moments between batting practice and the game, the mascot takes a huge slingshot into left field and scales baseballs into the crowds to the delight of youngsters.

The center-field scoreboards offer up-to-date, out-of-town scores as well as a wealth of information on the current batter. Replays are shown from a number of angles, including a unique overhead shot of plays around home plate.

Even as the Red Sox faded far below .500 this season, the idea of a drive to Oriole Park was intriguing. When Big Pete the Marine needed a ride to New Jersey and offered to pay gas, tolls and food, I took him up on his offer. After refueling at Mom’s at Foxboro, it was a mere seven hours to Baltimore on July Fourth.

The Red Sox have established a strong tradition of losing whenever I attend a game, a history which dates back about 50 years. I have been accused of being a human curse. Friday night, July 5, I squirmed while the Sox held onto a precarious 4-3 lead when Jose Canseco, twitching, strode to the plate. WBZ radio reporter John Miller predicted it. Canseco lofted a beautiful drive through the muggy night, staking the Sox to a 7-3 lead that started Orioles fans on their way home. In the ninth inning, Heathcliff Slocum struck out the dangerous Bobby Bonilla to end the game and Aaron Sele got a hard-earned win.

The curse failed. I was almost as relieved as Boston manager Kevin Kennedy, who is very lucky to be employed with the team struggling at 36 wins and 49 losses. He interrupted his post-game meal to string together a series of cliches. It was the best that Sele had thrown all year, and “He had command of all of his pitches.” “He had the hard curve and the fast ball.” “Good pitching is the name of the game.” “Sele put up some zeros, and the rest of the club just fed on it.”

As the crowd filed out, I received several pointed comments about my hat. I stupidly wore my beloved Texas Rangers hat to the game. I forgot that the Rangers had been pounding the Orioles all year, a major reason the Baltimore club was languishing a half-dozen games behind the hated Yankees. “Lose the hat,” one Orioles fan yelled. The next night, I bought a starched white Orioles hat, part of my weekend disguise.

With the curse apparently on vacation, I insisted on hanging around for the Saturday game, with Roger Clemens pitching. It was advertised as “Rocket” against “Rocky” — Clemens against rookie sensation Rocky Coppinger. Clemens used to be a guaranteed win. But his outfield let him down once again. Mo Vaughn dropped one ball three times. Then Rafael Palmeiro smacked a home run to center field. Baltimore won 4-3. The Red Sox stranded the tying run on third as reliever Randy Myers struck out the side in the ninth. Clemens fell to 3-8. Coppinger went to 4-0, another indication the torch is being passed.

During the short stroll to the car for the seven-hour trip to Foxboro, I vowed to return to Baltimore and Oriole Park at Camden Yards for a much longer stay. With the burden of my presence removed, the Red Sox, with two mammoth home runs by Vaughn, won by a score of 7-5 Sunday.

The four-game series ended in a 2-2 split. The Red Sox were left a disappointing 16 games behind the very hated New York Yankees at the all-star break.

But just wait until next year.