In the midst of a long hard winter, it’s nice to take a moment to reflect on one of the annual rites that give us hope the spring will soon be upon us. One such ritual is the beginning of Orioles spring training in Sarasota, Fla. Baltimore Sun photojournalist Karl Merton Ferron traveled south to capture images of the players as they stretch, run, throw and do drills as the team begins to take form.
The latest installment of Hidden Maryland takes you behind the scenes of the Orioles’ clubhouse kitchen, where this season the team is working with a new chef to offer more nutritious and delicious food options to its players.
Saturday’s national anthem singer at Camden Yards, Michael Fries, surprised his girlfriend, Shelby Trautman, by proposing to her after belting out the Star-Spangled Banner for the Orioles-Rockies game. See photos of the proposal taken by Baltimore Sun photographer Karl Merton Ferron. O!!! And she said, “yes!”
Consider this a Camden Yards checklist.
After looking through 21 years of Baltimore Sun photos, we found 24 different views of Oriole Park at Camden Yards that reinforces what every Orioles fan already knows: Baltimore’s ballpark is the best in the country.
As my time at The Baltimore Sun comes to a close, I was asked to encapsulate the 30 years (half my life) in a few paragraphs – which is impossible. If added together, I’ve spent years at a variety of stadiums, arenas and gyms around the country, with an up-close view of sports history. I’ve covered World Series, Super Bowls, Final Fours, Stanley Cup Finals, etc., and I’ve been paid to be there — what a job! My career in Baltimore lasted longer then Cal Ripken Jr.’s, and I have thousands of photos to prove it.
Whether up in Hampden or downtown at Camden Yards, Baltimore residents were greeted on Friday by a particularly distinct rainbow. Might it have been a sign from Mother Nature about the return of same-sex marriage to California, or just an omen signaling an exciting Orioles win?
Okay, okay, it was probably just a climate-caused optical phenomenon. Still pretty cool. We’ve collected photographs from Baltimore Sun staff and Darkroom readers. Share yours using @baltimoresun on Twitter or Instagram, and it could be featured here!
Ravens executive O.J. Brigance, a former linebacker battling Lou Gehrig’s Disease whose presence inspired current players during last season’s Super Bowl run, and his wife Chanda participated in the first pitch ceremony before Thursday evening’s Orioles game for Major League Baseball’s 4 ALS initiative and ALS Awareness Month. The Brigances’ appearance was the latest in a series of moving first pitch ceremonies at Camden Yards.
Battling lung cancer, Charlie Zill, the longtime Orioles usher celebrated by fans for dressing up in overalls and “Zillbilly” teeth and twirling a fake orange fiddle during the 7th-inning-stretch playing of “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” just wanted to attend one more game. Wednesday night, he got that and more, throwing out the ceremonial pitch prior to the Orioles’ contest with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Nothing says springtime like the opening day of baseball. On a bright sunny day the Orioles kicked off their home stand in a grand fashion as red-hot Chris Davis hit a grand slam home run to lead his team to a 9 to 5 victory over the Minnesota Twins. The fans arrived donning their best Orioles garb as they strutted orange and black. The standard fare of hot dogs and beer were consumed along with lots of other more exotic consumables. In the end the Orioles and their fans left the park a happy and content lot.
This time lapse of Opening Day at Oriole Park was shot over the course of five hours – starting at 10 a.m. outside the stadium and ending right before the game began.
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