Columns

Baltimore's Laura Lippman talks about her book "Prom Mom," life after divorce and why we all want to think we're the good guy.

How do you build a fan culture from scratch? It’s more than drunken brainstorming in the parking of Navy-Marine Corps Stadium — and soccer, er, football, has a passionate base of supporters right now.

Just because the team’s major league fortunes have well and truly changed doesn’t mean the organization’s philosophies and belief structure changed along with them.

Using concepts borrowed from the Orioles’ system, the league has focused on skill development while creating an environment that helps players stay active and have fun. As a result, the league is growing — and its teams are winning.

The Orioles felt the highs and lows of Grayson Rodriguez’s development again on Monday night against the veteran Dodgers. There’s no way forward but to live with the failure but given the high stakes of the season, that might be difficult to weather.

My first reaction to the announcement that Mayor Brandon Scott and girlfriend Hana Pugh are expecting a child was delight. My second reaction? Shame and disappointment … in some of you.

If the Orioles' top young pitcher can live up to his potential, there might be no need to give up prospects to bolster the rotation with a trade before the Aug. 1 deadline.

Copa Airlines’ nonstop flights from BWI to Panama City are just OK — and that’s great.

The second half of the season is the first true test of whether the process to get here, which started with the trade of Manny Machado, delivered a team that can compete at the highest level.

This was supposed to be a triumphant summer for the Wilma Lee, bought by the Annapolis Maritime Museum four years ago. It is the only vessel of its kind in Maryland’s state capital since the Chesapeake Bay Foundation sold the Stanley Norman in 2020. A lease with the city was intended to return this symbol of Chesapeake heritage to City Dock — the waterfront public square of Annapolis — and boost private charters to help keep it afloat.

The second season of ”And Just Like That…” takes on grief, aging and respectability politics with a fabulous Baltimore connection.

There’s never been a consensus in Maryland on the need for reparations, what they might look like or who should qualify for them. Legislation to create a commission on the concept — just study the idea — has died twice in the Maryland General Assembly in the last two years. Maybe, just maybe, we’re about to see the start of a campaign to approach this at the local level.

How has travel been affected by weather changes? Is it going to get better? I talked to a travel consultant to help answer those questions.

John Angelos appointed his own All-Star deadline for getting a deal done to keep the Orioles at Camden Yards. It would be a nice repayment of faith to make that happen sooner rather than later.

With a unified and cooperative approach, the Orioles know the type of player who can thrive in their program.

Continuing to use valuable early picks on hitters will serve to sustain Baltimore's farm system into the next wave of the team's competitive phase.

Climate change, spelling hotter and wetter weather, is increasing the frequency and severity of storms. Maybe it’s altering clouds, too.

The steady march of top Orioles prospects toward the majors continues. Next up? The 2020 No. 2 overall pick, who had his career derailed but has rallied with a 1.022 OPS and five homers since moving up to Norfolk.

Mayo was frustrated at his inability to drive the baseball early in the year, but has been dominant since a discussion with coaches: He's hit 12 home runs with a scalding 1.206 OPS in 36 games.

Affirmative action wasn’t about giving unqualified people a leg up, but about leveling a playing field that was never, and still is not, level.