Cal Ripken and his family built a beautiful minor-league stadium.

Ripken Stadium, in Aberdeen, MD, is said to be the most beautiful minor league stadium in the Country! It's modeled after Baltimore's Camden Yards, home to the Baltimore Orioles (for which Cal played his entire career). Cal invested heavily in the design and construction, along with some help for the City of Aberdeen, and constructed a family-friendly stadium that seats 6,000.

Ripken Stadium is surrounded by little league ball fields, including "Cal Sr's Yard," named for Cal Ripken Senior. Youth league championships are played at Cal Sr's Yard, to the delight of players and their families.

The Ripken folks are also building a hotel on the grounds, and shops and restaurants aren't far behind. All done, we hope, with the same grace and taste that marks the stadium itself.

The Ironbirds themselves are a Single A (short-season) affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, playing in the New York Penn League (against affiliates of the hated New York Yankees, among others). The Ironbirds records have not been all that terrific since the team started in 2002, but that's not the point. This team is one level above rookie ball, and most players come here straight from college or from the island (Many players from the Dominica Republic and other island nations).

A few Ironbirds have graduated to the Orioles, including Brandon Fahey and Nick Markakis (both playing with the Orioles in 2006). But the real purpose of farm team baseball is to develop pitchers, and the Ironbirds roster reflects that - probably twice as many pitchers on the roster as all other positions combined.

Single A baseball is fun to watch. You end up rooting for the kids more than the team. And they try SO hard!

They have a large kids area, including batting cages, pitching speed trials, inflatable jumping thingies and more.

Lots of food, most of it good. Pay particular attention to the steak sandwiches available along the 3rd base side.

Crab nights throughout the season are "all you can eat" extravaganzas, and the ticket price is included in the dinner price.

Another fun aspect of the Ironbirds is the entertainment between innings. Our son was a member of the "flight crew" during the 2004 and 2005 season. Those are the kids who go out onto the field between innings, running games for the fans, slinging T-shirts into the crowds, and generally being silly.

The Aberdeen Ironbirds season starts in late June and runs through early September. And although the stadium is close to sold out every evening (mostly from season tickets) there are usually tickets to be had by walk-up or phone reservation fans. Call the ticket office at 410-297-9292 for a terrific and fun family evening!