When was the best home crowd ever at Camden Yards?

It was not a World Series win. It was not even a playoff win. But on the night of Sept. 6, 2012, the Orioles won a huge game against the New York Yankees behind an eighth-inning homer barrage. What brings that game to mind was that is was replayed recently on MASN and I got into a Twitter conversation with fans about whether that was the best home crowd we've ever seen at Camden Yards. That, of course, is subjective - personal to each of us and some would not agree. That night, some fans felt Game 2 of the American League Division Series that year produced the best crowd. Others may think back to playoff years and games from 1996 and 1997 or some other time. But for me, that crowd on that one night can hold up with any in the park's history. The Orioles begin the night one game behind New York for the AL East lead and they surged to a 4-0 lead in the first inning behind a Matt Wieters three-run homer as the crowd of 46,298 went crazy. Later, the O's seemed to have the game well in hand leading 6-1 before the Yankees scored five in the top of the eighth. But then came the explosion against David Robertson in the last of the eighth. Adam Jones led off with a homer to put the Orioles back ahead 7-6. After a Wieters single, Mark Reynolds homered and it was 9-6. Boone Logan came on and Chris Davis greeted him with a solo shot. Two pitchers, four batters, four runs and one frenzied crowd as the O's led 10-6 and they won by that margin. At that point, they had won eight of their last 11 against New York and were 31-16 over their previous 47 games as they charged toward their first playoff berth in 15 years. What also made the night great was it came the same day as Cal Ripken's statue ceremony. That helped fuel the crowd and also made it a rare night at Camden Yards with a very small presence of Yankees fans. It seems O's fans, coming to honor Ripken, had scooped up almost all the seats, further making it possible to produce such a great home crowd atmosphere. A home win with a sellout crowd and late-inning win over the Yankees to tie for first place. It doesn't get too much better for an O's fan. I think it's the best home crowd I've ever seen and heard at the Yard but don't expect universal agreement on that. Click here to recall the game story from MASNSports.com on that night. Click here to see some edited highlights from that night's telecast. Click here to see what the final out looked like from the stands. So was that the best home crowd ever at Camden Yards?