Columns

COLUMN | When COVID-19 hit, the Orioles ended the long-standing practice of letting fans in early to watch the home team take batting practice. The opportunity finally returned for early arrivals.

Everything Albernaz did in spring training to set the Orioles up for success was intentional. On opening day, it paid off.

COLUMN | The Orioles caused a stir within their fan base last season by changing the Birdland membership tiers and displacing a number of members from their seats. After a few months, most fans who spoke to The Banner remain season ticket holders, but they are cynical about the direction of the program.

COLUMN | It’s strange when you stack up just how many facets of the Orioles are better — the lineup mix, the rotation, the manager — to still feel uneasy about their chances. A lot of that has to do with how last year went.

COLUMN | Baltimore City living has its highs and lows, like parking issues and potholes, but it shouldn’t have to mean that your trash can goes missing.

If there’s anywhere the Orioles get the benefit of the doubt, it’s maximizing value by identifying pitchers who might help and guiding their development to make that true. That doesn’t make it any less risky.

COLUMN | Westgate Circle in Annapolis is more than an embarrassingly empty canvas for public art, a small round of grass that screams, “Fill this space!” It’s a symbol of what’s wrong with publicly funded art in Maryland’s small-town state capital.

COLUMN | Tristan King is not my kid, but his ordeal makes me, as the mother of a brown son who looks a little like him, wonder why the systems failed and how we can shore them up.

COLUMN | Most local governments don’t want you to know that they’re working with ICE. It’s not the horrific campaign to drag pregnant women and friendly neighbors to the border and give them a sharp kick. It’s the routine business of removing criminal aliens.

Manager Craig Albernaz said the pitching coaches were “studs” at December’s winter meetings and called them “elite” both then and at the start of camp.

COLUMN | Meteorologists’ apologies were almost as wild Tuesday as their forecasts were on Monday. Spring arrives at 10:46 a.m. Friday, if you define the vernal equinox as the first day. As this week showed, it is a difficult season for the forecaster.

COLUMN | For 30 years, the Eastport Oyster Boys have been at the center of Chesapeake Bay folk. With a benefit concert Sunday in Annapolis, they celebrate a shift to a slower pace and spending more time on their own boats.

I bet everyone around and employed by the Orioles has watched the last couple of weeks play out thinking Henderson was going to be on a mission.

It seems, as a parent, that Baltimore City Public School kids have too much time off. Some educators tried to set me straight.

COLUMN | For a first-year manager, Craig Albernaz has tremendous self-confidence, a combative personality and a motormouth. The Orioles have felt stagnant too often for the past season and a half. It’s hard to imagine Albernaz letting that happen.

COLUMN | The Mimi DiPietro Family Skating Center is scheduled to close forever after this season with no plan to replace it with a new indoor ice rink. The Baltimore Banners hockey team, whose existence may hinge on the dome staying open, is hosting a weekend rally in an effort to extend its life for a few more years.

COLUMN | The Orioles have a talented group of potential reinforcements who will be in the high minors this year and could contribute in the major leagues.

COLUMN | Gov. Wes Moore launched the experiment in November, giving state employees a chatbot to speed up approval of benefits like food stamps. What happens, though, when your innovation partner gets banned by the federal government?

COLUMN | This is Holly Beach Farm. Minutes outside of Annapolis, it is a pocket wilderness hidden next to highways and urban centers. The state bought it for $1 and is figuring out how the public can enjoy it without loving it to death.

COLUMN| I’ve been having flashbacks to a time, four decades ago, when my family was trapped in the Middle East, unable to get home. It was awful. But at least, unlike the Americans currently trying to make their way out of the same region, there weren’t any bombs.