Calling the Pen
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June 2, 2018 at 8:00 am
Impressing a girlfriend with Brooks connection leads to lasting impression
It’s embarrassing to admit, but I didn’t fully appreciate Brooks Robinson until a few months before everyone else did. That’s when the Hall of Fame third baseman amazed the baseball world by shutting down Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine in the 1970 World Series. For Brooks, it was a glove story. For me,...
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May 19, 2018 at 7:00 am
Calling the Pen: To be Frank — 1966 was my favorite season as an Orioles fan
It was a sunny afternoon in early October, the kind that connects the fading of summer with the emergence of fall and its bold colors. I was about to make a bold prediction, with my dad as a witness. We had stopped at a diner after going to the grocery store, and...
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May 5, 2018 at 9:00 am
Calling the Pen: 1983 — a very good year for the Orioles, and for me
Every once in a while, a season in our life runs parallel with a season of a lifetime. It happened to me in 1983. April 4th was Opening Day, but my focus was on the birth of our third child, Kelly Patricia, to whom I gave three nicknames — Lover Dover, Special...
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April 21, 2018 at 7:00 am
Calling the Pen: Diamond (Jim) in the Rough
It happened so quickly. I was standing alone in the front of a department store when I noticed a tall, tan man in a tailored suit coming toward me. Somehow, I managed to say, “Are you Jim Gentile?” And for some reason, he said, “No,” and kept walking toward the back of...
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April 7, 2018 at 7:00 am
Calling the Pen: To Pop Pop, baseball and beer
I grew up knowing only one grandfather. He was on my mother’s side, and I called him Pop Pop. We spent more time with the relatives of my father, whose dad died when he was 6, so I mainly saw Pop Pop on holidays and birthdays until I got older. Pop Pop...
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April 6, 2018 at 11:00 am
A huge double play: Announcing the addition of Jack Gibbons and a new feature highlighting baseball essays from the community
When people asked me two years ago why we created BaltimoreBaseball.com, the simple answer was I needed a job. The more complex response, though, is I wanted to create a website that was different from what others were doing. There’s a ton of excellent and thorough coverage of the Orioles out there,...
