The Orioles yesterday detailed "several of their upcoming changes to Camden Yards, including a permanent tribute to the six most decorated players in modern franchise history and a slight alteration to the right-field wall," according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore SUN. As part of Camden Yards' 20th anniversary, the Orioles "will honor their six Hall of Famers with bronze statues in a picnic grove beyond the batter's eye wall in center field this year." The statues -- "in the likeness of Frank and Brooks Robinson, Earl Weaver, Jim Palmer, Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken Jr. -- will range from seven to eight feet in scale and weigh between 600 and 1,500 pounds each." The Orioles "will dedicate each Hall of Famer statue individually at home games throughout the season." In addition to the statues, the team is renovating Eutaw Street and the picnic area "with a new bar and seating area on top of the batter's eye wall in center." Anyone "with a ticket to that day's or evening's game will be able to access that section." The batter's eye picnic area "will also be accessible to fans during the day and closed at night when the team is not playing, similar to Eutaw Street being opened on non-game days." One of the "more interesting changes for 2012 is that the flag court wall directly above the out-of-town scoreboard will be removed in place of a railing, so that fans in that area can have a better view of the playing field." That means the "25-foot, right-field wall will now be about 21 feet, which could end up producing more homers and fewer doubles to that area." Other additions "to the complex include new concessions at the north end of Eutaw Street, a canopy added to the B&O Warehouse to provide shelter from inclement weather and new flooring and wall coverings throughout the main concourse." The renovations "were estimated at $1.8 million and the expenses will come out of the Supplemental Improvements Fund for Maryland Stadium Authority structures and, to a lesser extent, the Authority's operations funds." The statues, however, "will be paid for by the ballclub." (Baltimore SUN, 12/20).
