This is 99% Invisible. I'm Roman Mars.

In the spring of 1992, the Baltimore Orioles opened their baseball season at a brand new stadium

called Oriole Park at Camden Yards. It sat right along the harbor in downtown Baltimore.

The Baltimore Orioles pulled out all of the stops for opening day at brand new Camden Yards.

At over time, ballpark in the heart of downtown.

The stadium was small and intimate. It was built with brick and iron trusses, a throwback to the

classic ballpark from the early 20th century. But on this day, it was the future, not the past,

it was on the minds of Oriole fans, as they parked the Camden Yards in what was the first of 67

subtleties, 59 of them in a row. Camden Yards was really popular right from the start. Here's a

TV reporter interviewing a bunch of Oriole fans on opening day. Outstanding, outstanding day for

baseball, outstanding park, and outstanding year for the Oriole. And credible, it's just unbelievable

here. Beautiful.

Baseball writers from around the country keep praise on the Oriole's new park.

That's producer Emmett Fitzgerald.

Tim Kirchian wrote in Sports Illustrated, it's magnificent. And an understated baseball only

real grass open air, quirky, cozy, comfortable, cool sort of a way.

All the national attention took the team by surprise.

We were just out to build a ballpark that worked for Baltimore, this blue collar city,

home of crab cakes, netty bow and boogs, barbecue.

This is Janet Marie Smith, one of the designers of Camden Yards.

You know, we weren't looking to create something that would change the paradigm of baseball parks.

But that's exactly what happened.

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