Camden Yards staff can be pretty classy.

[crowmst3k!]

Just saying. I went to the ballpark late (got out of work late), after the 7th, and I wanted to go in and see my Dad, who was attending a game during Frank Robinson night (my Dad was a huge Frank fan, and was coming of age during the 66 and 70 series).

I explained my situation, and at first they told me to leave. I told them I understood, then they called me back and let me go up and catch a couple of innings with him. It was really cool. It may have been a violation of protocol, but it allowed me to share in a good baseball moment with him.

I would have paid for a ticket, I wasn't trying to circumvent the rules, and they were very professional about it.

I'm very thankful.

[alaniee]

I'm glad it all worked out for you! Glad you got a good time with your father. I too was there with my dad tonight for the game. Family time is the best.

[scottbbfm]

They were probably just testing you to see if you would make a scene.

The ushers are pretty awful. All they care about is making a couple bucks off wiping down seats. It really really irritates me when they do that in the 4th inning and then holler at me when i grab a seat in the last row during an inning so I don't have to bother folks between pitches.

Common baseball etiquette is not something they get

[DrLev]

Yes, they can be classy, but a number of the ushers remain unrepentant jerks. Last night, with the rain and cold, folks were apt to take shelter in the covered sections in the lower deck. I saw several people harassed by an usher regarding their non-rightful seats despite the fact that the usher was not looking to seat someone who had said people sitting in their seats. Sometimes, you just have to let it go. I was also told to sit down by one usher for standing up and cheering in one of the early 2-out situations that Chen put us in and, might I add, skillfully got us out of.

[notfast]

I've arrived late for some games and been able to purchase $5 general admission tickets in the warehouse "office." I believe it was 6th inning or after.

[weams]

I'm glad it all worked out for you! Glad you got a good time with your father. I too was there with my dad tonight for the game. Family time is the best.

My father and I were there as well. Great memories.

[crowmst3k!]

I've arrived late for some games and been able to purchase $5 general admission tickets in the warehouse "office." I believe it was 6th inning or after.

They said that practice stopped. When the cop and usher encountered me at the gate, I asked if this was still available.

Kind of puzzling that it is not, but, whatever. They were cool to me, anyway.

[section18]

I was at Tuesday night's game with a new girlfriend and in the seventh inning we decided to walk around and we went up on to the new deck/ porch on the centerfield wall to check it out and sat in the centerfield bleachers briefly, the right field lower box and ended up near where I used to sit .....section 18 and watched Strop put away the Bluejays. I saw several ushers during all of this and they knew we weren't sitting in any of these sections and never said a word. Of course there were only about 4000 people there. I mentioned earlier I have been to three games so far and I have not seen any ushers giving anyone a hard time so far. I think the ushers may have been told to not be confrontational or real unpleasant as witnessed in the past. The fans are their customers and need to be treated nice if they expect them to come back.

[crowmst3k!]

I was at Tuesday night's game with a new girlfriend and in the seventh inning we decided to walk around and we went up on to the new deck/ porch on the centerfield wall to check it out and sat in the centerfield bleachers briefly, the right field lower box and ended up near where I used to sit .....section 18 and watched Strop put away the Bluejays. I saw several ushers during all of this and they knew we weren't sitting in any of these sections and never said a word. Of course there were only about 4000 people there. I mentioned earlier I have been to three games so far and I have not seen any ushers giving anyone a hard time so far. I think the ushers may have been told to not be confrontational or real unpleasant as witnessed in the past. The fans are their customers and need to be treated nice if they expect them to come back.

It depends on where you're trying to go, what the crowds are like. I remember going to a game with SilentJames a couple of seasons back. It had rained, the O's were out of contention, there were maybe 1000 people in the park.

We asked the usher in lower left field if we could sit next to the bullpens (our tickets were for 334 upper box, our season tickets). She examined the situation, and said: no problem, but if the ticket holders come, you have to move. I gave her a nice tip and she took care of us.

I also often am able to sneak down almost anywhere in the lower bowl on the first base side, so long as the crowds are sparse. I've never tried to sneak into it, but I've seen people getting escorted away from the lower box sections behind home plate. That seems to be the real "off limits" area. Otherwise, the ushers are usually pretty cool, so long as you're not being a jackass.

[mcinww0]

It depends on where you're trying to go, what the crowds are like. I remember going to a game with SilentJames a couple of seasons back. It had rained, the O's were out of contention, there were maybe 1000 people in the park.

We asked the usher in lower left field if we could sit next to the bullpens (our tickets were for 334 upper box, our season tickets). She examined the situation, and said: no problem, but if the ticket holders come, you have to move. I gave her a nice tip and she took care of us.

I also often am able to sneak down almost anywhere in the lower bowl on the first base side, so long as the crowds are sparse. I've never tried to sneak into it, but I've seen people getting escorted away from the lower box sections behind home plate. That seems to be the real "off limits" area. Otherwise, the ushers are usually pretty cool, so long as you're not being a jackass.

I tried to sneak into that lower section once when it was pretty empty, and the usher caught me and kicked us out, but told me that after the third inning, they generally let people move down as long as they sit to the right of section 20 or to the left of 54 (i think those were the sections they said). obviously if the real ticket holders show up they have rights to their seats, but in most cases you could just move over a few seats.

I thought that it was pretty exceptional for an usher to actually tell me the circumstances under which they let people sneak into better seats.