Camden Yards

For his 60th Orioles home opener, Justin Vitrano didn't dress in orange. He didn't paint his face, pull on a team cap or arrive hours early to guzzle beer. He didn't jump to his feet, scream or even clap as players jogged, one by one, onto the field. But when the announcer told everyone that after a long baseball-less winter, it was time to play ball, the 84-year-old — who might have enjoyed more consecutive Orioles openings than anyone else in town — allowed himself a little fist pump.

For the first four games of this season, Orioles first baseman Chris Davis had been on a historic offensive run, one that put him on the precipice of doing something no other big league ballplayer had ever done. But baseball, the cruel mistress, doesn't take kindly to someone making the game look so ridiculously easy. So on Saturday night, baseball struck back at Davis. He not only failed to homer for what would have been a historic fifth consecutive game to start a season, but he made a key error in the ninth inning that led to the Orioles' 6-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

After Oriole Park sat silent for six months and the Orioles spent the past seven weeks in Sarasota, Fla., preparing for the season, manager Buck Showalter believed his players needed the “pickup” that only a Camden Yards sellout crowd could give them in Friday's home opener against the Minnesota Twins. But it was first baseman Chris Davis who supplied the big lift, providing the home crowd with a memorable Opening Day fireworks display in the Orioles' 9-5 comeback victory as he continued his assault on baseball's record books.

We will see history tonight if Chris Davis, who had four home runs in his first four games, hits another homer. If the hottest hitter in baseball puts another out of the ballpark, he will become the first player in major league history to hit a home run in each of his team's first five games of the season. As we wait for his next at-bat here at Camden Yards, here are some Chris Davis facts, courtesy of the Orioles. --- In his first four games of 2013, Davis had more RBIs (16) than 17 major league teams and at least twice as many RBI as the Marlins (8)

Orioles right-hander Chris Tillman had a rough go of it at Camden Yards on Saturday night, not making it out of the fourth inning. But down on the farm, the Orioles got mixed results from a pair of noteworthy starters. Kevin Gausman, the team's first-round pick in 2012, allowed eight hits and six runs, four of them earned, in his first start of the season for Double-A Bowie. He struck out eight batters and walked none in four innings. He allowed two runs in each of the second, third and fourth innings.

At some point today, probably a couple hours before the first pitch is thrown by Jake Arrieta in the 2013 home opener at Camden Yards, I will grab a copy of the Orioles' daily game notes, and place them on the press box ledge in front of my work station. They'll stay there all game. Untouched. I assume I'll do that for a chunk of games this season, just as a reminder. The Orioles' public relations staff puts a lot of time into creating those notes packets. And I'll surely use another copy for my writing purposes Friday.

When they introduced him at Camden Yards on Friday, Brian Roberts walked out like a 70-year-old man to slap hands with his teammates during the Opening Day festivities. One by one, the rest of the Orioles' starters jogged in from center field on a bright orange carpet to a rousing ovation from the capacity crowd. Roberts watched it all with a wistful look on his face. "I had to kind of nudge him to go out for the introductions," Buck Showalter said after the Orioles' 9-5 win over the Minnesota Twins.

It's here -- the day Baltimore baseball fans have been awaiting since Game 5 of last year's AL Division Series loss to the Yankees. Riding the momentum of a series win in Tampa Bay, the Orioles will play their home opener this afternoon against the Twins here at Camden Yards. There's a special energy in the air today. Talking to players in the clubhouse the past few days, they've been eagerly awaiting this day as well. Regardless of expectations, it's always a special day for players as they run down the orange carpet for pregame introductions. But coming off last year's resurgence, they anticipate an energy today that will duplicate last year's postseason games at Camden Yards.

While the Orioles await the results of this morning's MRI on second baseman Brian Roberts' injured right hamstring, utility man Ryan Flaherty is in the starting lineup at second base for today's home opener against the Twins. Roberts was able to move up the MRI to get the test done at 10 a.m., but it still needs to be read by team orthopedist Dr. John Wilckens. As a precaution, infielder Yamaico Navarro traveled to Baltimore from Triple-A Norfolk last night and arrived at the Orioles clubhouse this morning.

If you're heading to Camden Yards for today's opener and you want to smoke during the game, you're going to have to leave the stadium to light up. Orioles fans will be able to smoke only in a designated area just outside of Gate E1 on the third base side of the ballpark. On March 4, the Maryland Stadium Authority's smoking ban went into effect at the Camden Yards sports complex, which includes Oriole Park and M&T Bank Stadium. The new code “prohibits smoking or carrying lit tobacco products (cigarettes, cigars and pipes)