Squeeze

Homes in Carroll and Howard are least affordable compared with median family income, while homes in Baltimore City and Harford are most affordable.

Members of the Orioles starting rotation have had their struggles getting deep into games, but right-hander Jason Hammel gave the team a gritty six-inning effort against the Dodgers in Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader. Through 16 games, no Orioles starter has yet to last more than six innings. Still, the way Hammel battled through early pitch-count problems was key to the series-opening victory. It also served as an example to the rest of the rotation. Hammel struggled through a 32-pitch first inning that saw the Orioles go down early on Andre Ethier's three-run homer.

Supreme Court approval of the Bush-Clinton policy of forcing NTC Haitian refugees back to their native land without a hearing places a high moral obligation on this country. The U.S. has to make sure a United Nations oil embargo taking effect today will force Haiti's repressive military regime to its knees. The time for real pressure is now.For the first time, Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras, head of the illegal junta, has agreed to negotiate directly with Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti's first popularly elected president, who was overthrown in September 1991 and sent into exile.

As a four-year varsity player, captain and the catalyst of his team's undefeated start this season, South River pitcher Scott Mitchell has earned the right to have a say. So when he asked to stay on the mound to get the final out in Friday's showdown against Anne Arundel County rival Severna Park, the Seahawks' brass obliged. And Mitchell finished what he started. When Severna Park second baseman Danny Fulton swung through Mitchell's high fastball for the third strike, the No. 2 Seahawks completed a sound 2-1 win over the No. 9 Falcons in Edgewater.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A 325-pound police officer was a bit too ambitious when he tried to squeeze through a broken window to rescue a man fighting a burglar.Officer Jorge Benitez-Merlo got stuck."It must have looked pretty ridiculous with me stuck halfway in and halfway out," Officer Benitez-Merlo said yesterday.The 6-foot, 1-inch tall weightlifter was able to free himself quickly, but not before being cut by jagged glass.A neighbor who saw the officer's problems offered to crawl through the window and open the front door from the inside.

After hitting .341 as a team in the previous 10 games, the Bowie Baysox ran into an offensive drought just in time for a doubleheader last night.So, manager Don Buford decided that the squeeze play was the proper remedy and the Baysox salvaged a 2-1 victory in the nightcap after losing to the Binghamton Mets, 4-0."We weren't swinging the bats well, so we had to go to something else," said Buford. "We got the first squeeze man in all right and then tried to do it again for the winning run."

Because there's a different lineup every time Squeeze heads out on tour, some people might think the band is in constant state of flux.But Glenn Tilbrook sees the situation a little differently. To him, what truly defines Squeeze are the songs he and Chris Difford have written together over the past two decades. Consequently, all those personnel changes really are is little more than "an opportunity to play with different people under the umbrella of Squeeze."Squeeze," he adds, "is a sort of collective body of people that gather around Chris and my songs.

In late June, as we were driving along the Dordogne in Perigord, southwest France, we came upon the tiny town of La Roque-Gageac. It is squeezed between limestone cliffs and the river, with just enough room on its narrow main street for two cars to pass. In January 1957, a huge mass of the cliff came crashing down on the village (toward the far end of the photo), killing three and destroying a dozen homes. With that exception, the town is much as it was three centuries ago. Gary Vikan, Baltimore The Sun welcomes submissions for "My Best Shot."

Steve Nagrabski is struggling for words, trying to say what it is about the accordion that grabbed him and has held him for a half-century, through its peak in the 1950s and later exile to the ethnic fringe of American culture. Something about the sound, "the accordion has a sound of its own," he says.He can't describe it, so he leans down in his chair to lift from the floor a 30-plus-year-old Italian accordion, a wheezy thing with papery lungs and keys yellowed the shade of a jaundiced eye."

BOWIE -- D. C. Conner's bases-loaded, one-out squeeze bunt in the eighth inning lifted the Bowie Baysox to a 5-4 Eastern League victory over Trenton last night at Prince George's Stadium.The hit off knuckleballer Jared Fernandez scored Tommy Davis, who had led off the inning with a double -- his third hit of the game -- to set up the rally.Ryan Minor was intentionally walked and Danny Perez reached on an error on a potential double-play grounder to fill the bases.Ryan Kohlmeier pitched a flawless ninth to save the win for Aaron Lane (1-0)

Ravens veteran wide receiver Anquan Boldin bullied defensive backs during the NFL playoffs, emerging as a Super Bowl XLVII hero. Now, he's in danger of losing his job. The Ravens are attempting to lower the $6 million salary of the three-time Pro Bowl selection, and it could lead to his release by the start of the free agent signing period Tuesday if talks continue to be unsuccessful, according to league sources with knowledge of the situation....

As federal budget cuts loom, a state task force is suggesting how Maryland might get more bang from the bucks spent by federal agencies in the state. The raft of recommendations in the Federal Facilities Advisory Board report — released Thursday at the sprawling complex of an Annapolis defense contractor — include doubling down on cybersecurity efforts and coordinating with universities and government labs to get more federally funded research turned into commercial enterprises.

On this week's episode, Snooki and Jionni get to being Baby Lorenzo home and start their lives as parents, and Jenni heads with Roger to Maine, where she proves she is wifey-material. Snooki holds little Lorenzo while he continued to “fart like a man.” Despite him being excessively gassy, Snooki glowingly talks about him and is surprised at how natural motherhood comes to her now that they are home.  Meanwhile, Jenni and Roger head to his family's cabin in Maine, where Roger is in heaven, and Jenni is in hell, despite holding her feelings inside.

With respect to liquor licenses, the state of Maryland is pushing in one direction, and the city of Baltimore in another. Both moves will hurt small businesses, and as a byproduct, if we are not careful, Carroll County businesses could be hurt or destroyed. Carroll's Board of County Commissioners needs to take precautionary action now. The state views alcoholic beverage sales as an income stream. Hence, there is a proposal to open off-sale liquor licenses to grocery stores and such.

A week before his inauguration, President Barack Obama said he wouldn't negotiate with Republicans over raising the federal debt limit. At an unexpected news conference Jan. 14, the president asserted that he won't trade cuts in government spending in exchange for raising the borrowing limit. "If the goal is to make sure that we are being responsible about our debt and our deficit, if that's the conversation we're having, I'm happy to have that conversation," Mr. Obama said. "What I will not do is to have that negotiation with a gun at the head of the American people.

The days of getting a free pass at Maryland's toll plazas might soon come to an end for scofflaws who have been cheating without fear of penalty. The General Assembly will be asked to toughen the toll evasion law to include a $50 citation — and the possible suspension of vehicle registration. "That's the biggest hammer we could possibly have," said Harold Bartlett, executive director of the Maryland Transportation Authority, the agency that runs toll bridges, tunnels and roads.

"The squeeze is on," yelped Jon Miller, and it's a good thing the Oriole announcer was providing radio-style play-by-play for Channel 2's telecast of the O's glittery opener yesterday.The suicide squeeze, perhaps the most exciting play in baseball, was executed perfectly by Billy Ripken, ninth man in the batting order. It not only took the Cleveland Indians by shock, it caught WMAR with its, uh, cameras down.While Leo Gomez chugged in from third and Ripken sprinted for first as the Cleveland pitcher scurried to make a play, viewers were being treated to a slow-motion replay of Chris Hoiles ambling into second base on a ground-rule double.

A rare, two-strike suicide-squeeze bunt by Ricky Sillaman with one out in the bottom of the seventh capped a two-run rally as host and No. 2 Arundel squeaked by No. 4 Severna Park, 2-1, in an Anne Arundel County baseball game yesterday. "It was a heck of a play with two strikes, a gutsy call, and the kid executed perfectly," said coach Jim McCandless, whose Falcons had won five in a row over the Wildcats dating to 2003. Severna Park pitcher Sammy Sheckells said he "wasn't expecting that [squeeze]

Tensions between Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold and the school system over funding have been well documented, but Leopold's recent comments at a meeting with residents appear to have further strained the already contentious relationship. Leopold met with residents of the Green Haven community in Pasadena after two teens were charged in the fatal shooting Oct. 13 of a 21-year-old man outside a house party in the area. According to Patch.com, Leopold spoke about increasing police presence in Green Haven as well as other parts of the county.

The first goal scored by the C. Milton Wright girls soccer team against upstart Patterson Mill on Monday provided a fitting sample of the high standard the No. 3 Mustangs have set in Harford County in recent years. Megan Frailer outworked an opponent to win a ball on the left side, won the end line before sending a cross to the middle. Sarah Piazza settled the ball in close and with her back to the goal, alertly dropped a pass to midfielder Angela Kuhn. In stride, Kuhn one-timed a shot from 10 yards that found the lower left corner just past the midway point of the first half.