A quarter-century later, Larry Lucchino can be self-deprecating about a vision that ushered in a new era of ballpark construction.
''I tell everyone I've had one good, original idea in my 38 years in baseball,'' said Lucchino, whose career as an executive has included stints with Baltimore, San Diego and Boston. ''It was to build a traditional, old-fashioned ballpark with modern amenities, intimacy and irregularity.''
It sounds so simple the way Lucchino describes it, and he insists the Orioles weren't trying to set any sweeping trends when they opened their new ballpark 25 years ago. That's exactly what happened, though.