CURRENT EDITION: baltimore (none)🔄 Loading BlueConic...EDITION HISTORY: No changes tracked
🔵 BlueConic: ___🍪 Cookie: ___ UNKNOWN🔗 Query: ___✏️ Composer: ___
Jon Meoli: Why the top of the Orioles lineup holds the key to their season
COLUMN | These are extremely uncomfortable decisions the Orioles are forcing opposing managers to make, and there’s too much quality at the top of the lineup to not punish teams.
The Twins and Rangers paid special attention to Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson during the first two series of the season.
Hutzell: Maryland Republican’s fraud charges started with Chasing Sunsets
COLUMN | By the time James Appel, a top Maryland Republican finance expert, set off for the Bahamas in November 2023, he and his wife had upgraded to a 65-foot luxury yacht. That’s what got the Annapolis man in trouble.
FILE - Spiro T. Agnew, who recently resigned from the vice presidency, talks a member of the media after he pleaded no contest to a federal tax evasion charge, outside the Federal Court building in Baltimore, Oct. 10, 1973. The last time Secret Service agents delivered a U.S. leader to face criminal charges, they kept their mission a secret, even from their own bosses. It was Oct. 10, 1973, and just a few agents knew the historic role they were playing in ensuring that Agnew appeared in a federal courtroom to enter a plea and resign from office.
Hutzell: What’s it like being Frank Sinatra? Ask Wendell Rakosky.
COLUMN | Wendell Rakosky is a professional Sinatra tribute artist. What’s it like? I guess you could say he did it Frank’s way.
Wendell Rakosky performs at Carpaccio Tuscan Kitchen on a quiet Tuesday night. He performs a Frank Sinatra tribute up to five nights a week across the region.
Kyle Goon: 3 Baltimore kids are living out their NBA dream with the Wizards
COLUMN | Julian Reese, Bub Carrington and Cam Whitmore grew up in the same basketball circles. Now their NBA dreams have become a reality — together.
From left, Washington Wizards players Julian Reese, Bub Carrington and Cam Whitmore.
Jon Meoli: It’s barely April, and it feels like the Orioles are already in the grind
The Orioles' uneven start doesn’t mean anything in the context of a six-month season. It’s just not what this particular season needed to separate everything that will happen going forward from everything that happened last year.
Orioles starter Chris Bassitt walks to the dugout after being replaced in the fifth inning against the Texas Rangers on March 30.
Jon Meoli: Anthony Nunez’s surprise inclusion in the Orioles’ bullpen fits his improbable journey
With two scoreless innings in Nunez's debut Saturday, one of the most improbable stories in baseball may only be getting started.
Catcher Adley Rutschman greets Anthony Nunez after the pitcher made his major league debut without allowing a hit in two innings against the Twins on Saturday.
Hutzell: Maryland loves mail-in voting. Brett Kavanaugh, maybe not.
COLUMN | If the U.S. Supreme Court decides to disqualify mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day, Maryland voters will mostly be OK. The unlikely hero? The U.S. Postal Service.
Nick Frisone's long lost 2020 ballot after arriving in the mail two years late.
Streeter: A reimagined Harborplace has to be for everyone
COLUMN | As Harborplace’s planned refurbishment continues to progress, it must remain a third space welcoming to all — or it won’t work.
A sparse number of pedestrians meander through Harborplace at lunchtime at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore on Wednesday.
Jon Meoli: By doubling down on Shane Baz, the Orioles can turn their rotation into a long-term strength
With Baz’s five-year, $68 million deal, the Orioles have bet on him to be a meaningful part of their rotation for the rest of this decade — and having him in place will help them build that out however they see fit.
Shane Baz’s contract extension could keep him with the Orioles through the 2030 season.
Kyle Goon: The Orioles need to sign big extensions. Shane Baz’s deal could be a stepping stone.
COLUMN | While there are bigger fish for the Orioles to nail down extensions with, Shane Baz is a great early entry who keeps the organization pointed in the right direction to lock down more players.
Shane Baz is scheduled to make his first start for the Orioles on Sunday against the Twins.
Hutzell: O say can you see ... another song that is not Maryland’s
COLUMN | Like that famous beat, the search for a Maryland state song goes on. The newest contender is “The Heart of Maryland.” It’s a little bit country and a little bit politics.
Jayla Elise Diggs, who performs as Jayla Elise, has performed "Heart of Maryland" more than 400 times since writing it in 2025. State legislation to make it the state song died in committee.
Kyle Goon: Orioles fans have missed home batting practice for years. Finally, they get their wish to see it again.
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.
Gary Mangold, center, from Allentown, Penn., attends his first opening day at Camden Yards. He got to the park early to watch batting practice, something the Orioles hadn’t opened to fans since before the pandemic.
Jon Meoli: With a win in his image, Orioles manager Craig Albernaz earns his beer shower
Everything Albernaz did in spring training to set the Orioles up for success was intentional. On opening day, it paid off.
Orioles manager Craig Albernaz had the club ready for opening day Thursday at Camden Yards.
Kyle Goon: After ticketing brouhaha, Orioles Birdland Members have mostly returned
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.
Fans rally for the Orioles on Opening Day at Camden Yards on March 28, 2024.
Jon Meoli: It’s uncomfortable believing the Orioles will be good again. I think I do anyway.
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.
Orioles players watch as pitchers throw during a simulated game during Spring Training in Florida earlier this year.
Streeter: Why is it so hard to keep a trash can in Baltimore — and get a new one?
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.
Garbage cans line an alley in Baltimore's Charles Village neighborhood.
Jon Meoli: The Orioles have built bullpens this way before. This time, it’s more of a risk.
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.
From left, Yennier Cano, Dietrich Enns, Keegan Akin, and Rico Garcia.
Hutzell: There’s still no art in Annapolis’ empty circle. Maybe this is progress.
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.
Westgate Circle in Annapolis is at the intersection of West Street, Taylor Avenue and Spa Road.
Streeter: When a child goes missing, it should shake us all
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.
Hutzell: Maryland deportations won’t stop, even when the ICE insanity ends
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.
Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins, Republican, explains his opposition to a Democratic-led effort to ban cooperative agreements between local jails and U.S. Custom and Immigration Enforcement.
Load More Stories
Oh no!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes. If the problem persists, please contact customer service at 443-843-0043 or customercare@thebaltimorebanner.com.