Freddie Leatherbury came to Camden Yards hungry, because he was hell-bent on getting his money’s worth. The Orioles fan from Catonsville decided Thursday would be the day to splurge for a secondhand market ticket to the all-inclusive Truist Club.
On his first pass through the buffet, Leatherbury tried the chicken sandwich, pimento mac and cheese, pork belly and pepperoni pizza. “I just went down the line,” he said. Later he’ll try the desserts, the ice cream, maybe even a classic hot dog.
Why not? He has 18 innings to eat and drink and enjoy baseball.
For at least two Orioles fans, Thursday became the ideal time to try Camden Yards’ exclusive club level. They knew they had two games to enjoy as part of a single-admission doubleheader against the Houston Astros. That meant twice as much time to eat, drink and be happy at the ballpark.
“My kids want to do it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get them out of school today to play hooky,” said Chris Cote, an 81-game season plan holder who took a leap at the Truist Club on Thursday. “I told them I’d make it up to them another day. But this was a perfect day to test it out. The prices were reasonable today. Not sure why, but they were good deals, and being able to be here for 18 innings, man, this is a bang for my buck.”
Leatherbury and Cote bought tickets off SeatGeek for the Truist Club for multiple hundreds of dollars, but in their calculus, this is a rare treat. “That would be steep for one game, for sure,” Leatherbury said. But the doubleheader changed everything.
Leatherbury had a ticket for Wednesday’s rained-out game, and he thought his ticket would be valid Thursday, so he called his boss and took the day off. He later learned he would need to exchange his ticket for a game later in the year (which he did), but he already had a day off, so …
“It’s two games, plus in between games,” Leatherbury said. “There’s not going to be a better time to do it. Let’s see what this is all about.”
He arrived when the gates opened and ate a large lunch. He’ll have another meal later. Drinks are served throughout. Cote said the buffet line ends after the fifth inning of the first game and will be replaced by a spread including beef, burgers and pizza through the seventh inning of the second game.
“I can totally get my money’s worth for it,” Leatherbury said.
With his family, Cote traveled to Pittsburgh to see the Orioles play the Pirates at the beginning of the month. They got tickets in the Truist Club equivalent at PNC Park, and while they enjoyed it, he said the Baltimore version is preferable. Pittsburgh’s club level is underground, so when eating, fans can’t see the game.
Cote usually sits behind home plate with a full-season plan, and it’s almost impossible to beat that view, even in the Truist Club, which took over the space where the press box had been since Camden Yards opened in 1992.
“I think those are the best seats in baseball,” Cote said. “When I think of value, what I pay for those seats versus this, those seats, truth be told, I think are better value, because I’m not going to eat $200 worth of food every game or drink that. But it’s a cool thing to check out.”
Leatherbury has a 40-game plan in Section 48, behind the third base dugout. That view is more than good enough for him most of the time.
But, when evaluating what to do on a Thursday in Baltimore, there may have been no better deal than this one: 18 innings with all the food they could want.
“I expected there would be a day I would be willing to check it out, and it would be a day like today,” Leatherbury said. “These only come up once a year or so, so you may as well. I knew I would do it once, but I got lucky and jumped at the opportunity to do it for a doubleheader.”
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