Opening Day in Review

The O's are in first place!  No doubt that the season will end this way.  Get your playoff tickets now!

Opening Day 2012 was the best opener I can remember.  I've been to every Opening Day but one in my memory and the weather, crowd and result couldn't have been better. 

My festivities started just before 10am with a Jack and diet at Sliders.  A wise man once said:  "You can't drink all day if you don't start in the morning."  To my surprise, Sliders already had a decent size crowd and neighboring Pickles Pub had a larger crowd.  Sliders is my home bar before the game and I will stand by my home bar but what the hell was it doing serving Hamm's beer in place of Natty Boh?  Apparently Hamm's is a Miller product and Miller paid a little extra to have exclusive Miller products for Opening Day at Sliders and neighboring Frank and Nik's restaurant.  Hamm's beer makes Coors Light taste like an IPA because Hamm's beer is god awful.  A colleague of mine have a side bet where the winner gets a case of Natty Boh.  We joke that the loser would keep that case in the sun for months before giving it to the winner.  I would drink a warm Boh over Hamm's any day.  Since I got the Hamm's for free, I took two sips, dumped it, and got my second Jack and coke.

I left Sliders for about an to go to a buddy's house party for an hour.  When I came back around noon, the bars were slammed.  That ended my day at Sliders and Pickles and I went back to the house party across the street from the yard.  After another hour or so, we came back and decided to go to Frank and Nik's.  Frank and Nik's was also jammed but we managed to pry a spot out where my cousin was tending bar.  I like Frank and Nik's for opening day because the crowd not unbearable and they pour a proper drink.  Frank and Nik's is also the only bar that has good albeit expensive food. 

After a solid 5hr pregame, my fiancee and Amy made it into the Stadium sometime after the first inning.  I started by checking out the scene at the home plate bar on the club level.  Surprisingly the bar was dead but at least one of the same terrible bartenders was there.  I immediately left and we got some food.  I have nothing good to report about the food on the club level.  It wasn't even worth wasting space or time writing about it.

Still the food selections have changed as I mentioned in a previous blog.  They opened a Geno's burger and chicken stand just below the centerfield bar.   Former O's catcher Rick Dempsey opened up a bar/restaurant on Eutaw street on the first floor of the Warehouse.  I look forward to trying all of these but my goal was to check out the new bar in centerfield.

 If you have a chance to get to Oriole Park, there's no doubt that the best new addition to the stadium is the center field deck.  Apparently I was not the only one who felt the same way because there was a long line to get up to the deck.  When we got upstairs I questioned whether the Fire Marshall had a limit on the people allowed on the deck because there was room for another 200 people.  Despite the wait, the new perch is easily the best thing that has happened to Oriole Park since it has opened.  The sight lines are incredible and there's a full bar to support the new spot.

When I went to order my first drink, I realized why there were limiting the people on the deck.  The bartenders, specifically Hugh the bartender.  I watched for 15 good minutes as I waited for a drink at a bar that was not that packed.  There was no sense of urgency from the four working behind the bar and it's not like they were serving anything more than beer really.  After the 15th minute, I called out Hugh in a not so friendly manner and he actually came over and served me immediately.  That's when I realized that none of the bartenders at Oriole Park are real bartenders.  A real bartender would have made me wait for another 15 minutes for my disrespect.  The only real bartender left at the stadium is a guy named Lumpy and I'm not sure he even works there anymore. 

By the time the 7th inning came around I left to find that no one had left the bars.  Still slammed.  Either no one went to the game or no one could find tickets.  That crowd proves without a doubt that Opening Day is a social event more than it is about baseball.