Camden Yards Center Field Ivy Succumbs To Disease
BALTIMORE (AP) -- The Baltimore Orioles won't be hitting it in the ivy as much this year.
That's not because of a hitting slump, but because of a disease that attacked the ivy behind the centerfield wall, forcing
groundskeepers to remove it.
However, Camden Yards won't be completely ivy free on Opening Day. Groundskeepers left vines on a wall nearby that faces northwest and has shadier conditions better suited for ivy.
The ivy is one of the touches that gives the park its retro feel, and head groundskeeper Nicole Sherry says it broke her heart to remove it. Sherry says she can't replace the English ivy with any plant. Plants covering the spot behind the pitcher's mound that batters look at have to be uniform and the same color.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
