Orioles vs Red Sox Baseball March 2011 WAS SOLD OUT !! + Picnic at NEW Ed Smith Stadium
Sunday, Mar 27, 2011 -- Join us next year at the NEW Ed Smith Stadium for a Day Of FuN! Annual Alumni "Catered" Picnic! Give yourself a tour of this Grand New Ball Park. Special Reserved Block of Seats.
11:30 am Harvard Annual Alumni Picnic . . . 1:00pm Play Ball . . . After The Game, Tour The New Park!
Mar 2011 game 100 Seats SOLD OUT. SORRY!
In 2012, we'll try for 125 seats.
CATERED PICNIC + RESERVED BLOCK SEATS = $ 37 per person
NO PICNIC + RESERVED BLOCK SEATS FOR GAME ONLY at $19 per person
FOR TICKETS AND PICNIC RESERVATIONS: CALL Harvard Club Reservations HOTLINE: 941-778-7479
WHERE: NEW Ed Smith Stadium, 2700 12th Street, Sarasota, FL 34237
About The Orioles 2011 Schedule
The Orioles will play their first of 16 home spring training games in 2011 at the newly renovated Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota on Tuesday, March 1 against the Tampa Bay Rays. 2011 marks the second consecutive spring training for the Orioles in Sarasota, and the first in the newly renovated ballpark.
By the time Grapefruit League play begins in Sarasota, Ed Smith Stadium will have undergone extensive improvements, which dramatically transform the ballpark aesthetics and radically expand areas and amenities for fans.
Enhancements to the fan experience include the addition of a two-story concourse with shaded views of the playing field; a new stucco façade with tile accents; refurbished stadium seats directly from Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore; additional private suites and party facilities; and a state-of-the-art audio/video system and video board. Improvements to the player facilities include new dugouts and bullpens; a new half field with AstroTurf; refurbished batting cages; and a practice field with the same dimensions as Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Baltimore will face nine different opponents at home during the 2011 spring campaign and will host the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Tigers two times each at Ed Smith Stadium. The Minnesota Twins will make three trips to Sarasota and the Tampa Bay Rays, Houston Astros and Toronto Blue Jays will each make one visit.
Behind the Scenes at Ed Smith Stadium
By Beau Denton
Excerpts from Sarasota Magazine, November, 2010
It may only be November, but baseball fever is already on its way back to Sarasota. On Monday, the construction crew at Ed Smith Stadium marked the project's "topping out"-meaning the frame's last piece of steel is now in place. The crew, headed by local company W.G. Mills and the national Hunt Construction Group, enjoyed a celebratory barbecue lunch while Janet Marie Smith, vice president of planning and development for the Baltimore Orioles, led an exclusive tour through the stadium.
The project's been in the news for months, especially after the city was sued over its negotiating process with the Orioles. But after a Florida Supreme Court ruling last week, it looks like everything's clear-meaning state and local funding can move forward so the $31.2 million project is finished on time.
"On time" means mid-February, just before spring training starts. It's an aggressive target, and the crews-having already combined for 23,000 hours of labor-are working 12 hours a day, six days a week. But everyone, from the construction companies to the Orioles staff and local government officials, seems confident they can finish on schedule.
Smith designed Camden Yards in Baltimore and played a crucial role in renovating Boston's Fenway Park, so she understands baseball design trends, but she said it wasn't about copying other facilities. She paid tribute to local architecture with the stucco exteriors and the arched entryways that lead to a sweeping view of the field from home plate.
Local baseball fans also played a role. "We kept hearing 'shade, shade, shade,'" says Smith, so the renovations include extended awnings to shield more seats from the sun. Those seats, by the way, are currently being refurbished after coming directly out of Camden Yards-a nice touch that shows just how important baseball tradition is to the design.
An upper-level concourse may be the most significant addition, offering restrooms and concession areas to fans in the higher seats, as well as sizeable standing areas for those tired of sitting. Smith says they're integrating "a lot of vertical transportation and new ways to move around," like four new elevators and plenty of wheelchair access, all perfect for wandering the facility without missing the game.
Add in an air-conditioned deli and retail store, plans for an LED scoreboard, relocated bullpens so fans can watch their favorite pitchers warming up, and an overall aesthetic designed with Sarasota in mind, and you can see why everyone is so excited. Smith says part of that excitement comes from the belief that "Sarasota is the baseball capital of Florida," and she's convinced that our new stadium will help keep it that way.
Oh, one more thing. For all the Baltimore fans, the answer is yes: Former Oriole Boog Powell will be serving his famous barbecue, a Camden Yards favorite, just behind left field. That's where you'll find me, come March: ribs in hand, eyes on the field, celebrating everything that makes spring, baseball and Sarasota such a winning combination.
