Calling the Pen
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253April 14, 2023 at 7:00 amCalling the Pen: O’s home run celebration sends the wrong message
I like that the Orioles want to have fun playing a kids game, that they want to stay loose and express support...
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182December 1, 2022 at 12:00 pmCalling the Pen: Gaylord Perry, and the birth of a team
Editor’s Note: Gaylord Perry, a Hall of Fame pitcher, died on Thursday at age 84. This essay is from September 2021. I...
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281October 6, 2022 at 12:00 pmCalling the Pen: Orioles ran the race with perseverance
In 1973, when I was a sportswriter for The News American, sports editor John Steadman wanted a different approach to covering the...
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5.3KSeptember 8, 2022 at 12:00 pmCalling the Pen: Traitor to the Orioles — for a day
I’ve become the Benedict Arnold of Baltimore baseball. For 65 years now, I’ve been a Birds fan. I cried when I signed...
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480May 18, 2022 at 12:00 pmCalling the Pen: Happy Birthday, Brooks!
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...
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630April 19, 2022 at 4:00 pmCalling the Pen: Time for Oriole broadcasters to take their show on the road
Back in the 1970s, when I was a sportswriter for The News American, our travel budget took a hit, and I was...
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421April 8, 2022 at 10:00 amCalling the Pen: The future isn’t now for the Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles begin the 2022 season today, and it’s difficult to feel excited. That’s because we live in the present, and...
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832February 14, 2022 at 7:00 amCalling the Pen: Memories of growing up with the Orioles’ No. 1 fan
Anita Karpovich paced around the house, screamed at the television, and eventually fell into a heap of despair after the Orioles lost...
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November 26, 2021 at 7:00 am
Calling the Pen: A first-string Orioles fan after all
On a recent drive, my husband turned on the baseball game, and it sent me back in time: I am 6 years old and drifting off to sleep to the sound of an Orioles game. I am riding home from a cousin’s birthday party in our Volvo station wagon. In my hand,...
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October 16, 2021 at 7:00 am
Calling the Pen: A Brief History of Black Baseball in Baltimore
The 2020 season marked the 100-year anniversary of when Rube Foster, the “Father of Black Baseball,” formed the Negro National League in 1920. To honor the occasion, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred made the following statement last December: “All of us who love baseball have long known that the Negro Leagues...