Larry Lucchino

The Orioles and WBAL Radio have signed a three-year deal making WBAL the originating flagship station. The announcement was made yesterday by Orioles president and CEO Larry Lucchino and Dave Barrett, vice president and general manager of WBAL.Simultaneously, the Orioles have signed a three-year agreement with radio station WTOP in Washington, making that station the Orioles' exclusive Washington radio affiliate. In addition, announcer Jon Miller has signed a three-year contract to remain as the Orioles' primary radio voice.

Clearly, brick and steel age more gracefully than the rest of us, because Oriole Park is about to celebrate its 20th birthday on Opening Day Friday and who can believe it is already the 10th-oldest ballpark in the major leagues? Time does fly, in this case seemingly faster than an Adam Jones line drive or a Jake Arrieta heater. The stadium that changed the way stadiums are built was an instant classic. Now, it's simply the grande dame of the post-modern era of sports architecture, but its continuing impact on both baseball and Baltimore cannot be overestimated.

Baltimore Orioles president Larry Lucchino acknowledged yesterday that club officials are having conversations with the representatives of Glenn Davis, but he wouldn't go beyond that.Negotiations for a contract for Davis between the Orioles and Robert Fraley and Michael Moye of Orlando, Fla., apparently are only in a preliminary stage.Davis, who made nearly $2 million with the Houston Astros last year, has filed for salary arbitration and could go that route before serious talks begin on a long-term deal.

During yesterday's press conference, Glenn Davis was asked how he thought he'd be affected by the dimensions and conditions at the new Oriole Park at Camden Yards.Both Davis and his wife, Teresa, immediately started to laugh. "I don't think anybody knows this," Davis said, glancing in the direction of club president Larry Lucchino, "but we [Glenn and Teresa] went down there on our own to kind of check out the wind conditions."I got a copy of the [wind] studies, but I couldn't understand them," laughed Davis.

Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke granted a request from the Orioles that the team's rent payment on the final year in Memorial Stadium, due March 31, be delayed until the end of June. The mayor said the request seemed "reasonable." The late payment will be without penalty or interest, a concession that will cost the city about $50,000. Orioles President Larry Lucchino said the team needed the extra time to compensate for the "disruption and demands" of moving to the new ballpark in Camden Yards.The Evening Sun would like to know what you think.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- With the opening of a downtown stadium that's closer to Washington, the Orioles will step up their promotion in the D.C. area.For the first time in a long time, there is virtually no talk about the nation's capital getting a major-league franchise, leaving the Orioles as the obvious alternative.Test runs from five different locations in Washington and Northern Virginia have shown the new park to be 20 to 25 minutes closer than Memorial Stadium.It has been estimated in the past that the Orioles have drawn up to 25 percent of their fans from that area.

Three more Orioles officials are leaving the team, including assistant scouting director Fred Uhlman Jr.Uhlman, 27, is the fourth Orioles employee in a week to follow Larry Lucchino to the San Diego Padres. Lucchino is a former Orioles president and part owner of the team. He became president of the Padres last month.Uhlman will be special assistant to Padres general manager Randy Smith, a job in which he will work in most phases of the team's baseball operations. Uhlman worked nine years for the Orioles.

Tom Daffron, a senior Orioles official for the past four years, yesterday became the latest club executive to announce he's leaving the team.Daffron's departure was expected. He was a top aide to Eli S. Jacobs, serving first as assistant to the majority owner and, for the past two years, chief officer for business for the Orioles, a post in which he was the third most important decision-maker, behind only Jacobs and former team president Larry Lucchino.Daffron's spot in the organization became uncertain when Jacobs sold the team to a group led by Baltimore lawyer Peter G. Angelos last August.

The city's NFL hopes apparently have been reduced to three, with word that the Seattle Seahawks are not for sale after all.Gov. William Donald Schaefer last week said the list of teams that could be considered candidates for relocation had grown to four. Several sources said the owners of the Seahawks were considering selling, putting the team's name alongside the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and both Los Angeles franchises as possible tenants for a proposed stadium in downtown Baltimore.Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos, who is trying to buy an NFL franchise and move it to Baltimore, checked the reports and determined they were false, Angelos said.

ANNAPOLIS -- The Orioles responded to anti-smoking pressure from the state legislature yesterday by banning tobacco advertising in Oriole Park at Camden Yards during the stadium's inaugural season. But the Orioles said fans still will be permitted to smoke in any seat in the house.The team said it intends to train and encourage ushers to relocate fans to other seats if they're disturbed by the smoke of others. Ushers also will distribute cards to smokers reminding them that their smoke may be bothering those seated nearby.