Retired Johns Hopkins pediatric neuro- surgeon Ben Carson is one of 3 Mary- landers virtually unknown nationally to be contemplating a run for president. Of the three, which includes two gover- nors, Carson has never run for office.

Best way to protect against community injustice
is to register voters, increase fair representation

A FOUR-YEAR CONTRACT FOR MARKAKIS
WOULD HAVE REQUIRED A COMPLICATED
AND TOUGH DECISION FOR THE ORIOLES
 
By David Maril
 
While wondering if any of the three Marylanders, Martin O’Malley, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Dr. Ben Carson, who are indicating they may decide to run for the presidency in 2016, would even generate enough local support to win the primaries in their home state, it’s interesting to note the following:

  Retiring Gov. O’Malley, who seems to have been running for president since he was in high school, doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere in his bid for the White House. Despite numerous appearances on network television Sunday news/talk programs, he remains unrecognized outside of Maryland.

Locally, he lost a lot of traction with his anointed successor, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, getting crushed by Republican Larry Hogan. It also doesn’t help gifting a reported $900 million state budget deficit to Hogan as he prepares to take office.

The worst indignity, however, was when Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski encouraged a group of Hillary Clinton supporters in Baltimore County that there would be plenty of support for the former First Lady if she runs for president.

“We need Hillary,” she told the group at Goucher College.

If powerful state Democratic leaders like Mikulski are behind Clinton, O’Malley is in deep trouble.

  While O’Malley has been commuting back and forth to states like New Hampshire seeking political headlines, many Marylanders were astounded to read last week in the Baltimore Sun that his former election sparring mate, Ehrlich, has also been out on the campaign trail and is starting to catch the presidential fever.

Besides being even more unknown nationally than O’Malley, the one-term former Maryland Republican governor would face a huge problem delivering the type of message Tea Party and hard-edged members of the GOP are demanding.

MITT ROMNEY LITE

At best, you could call him Mitt Romney Lite. However the Republican who isn’t bordering on right-wing and who seems the most popular in Maryland is New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

  Carson, who finished second to Romney in a recent CNN poll rating the popularity of potential GOP presidential candidates, has said he will make a decision whether to run by May 1st.

While he is an extremely interesting type of non-political candidate, one has to question how he would do in the harsh, stressful and mean-spirited election campaign process.

A great doctor, with a highly respected and gentle demeanor in the medical world, he seems out of place and too politically inexperienced to tackle this type of intense endeavor.

If he does run and becomes better known, some of his rather stern views on social issues will probably narrow his overall support base. He may also find, as he gets deeper into the process, he is not as aligned with some of the Republican diehards as he believes.

  The most frustrating aspect of the justifiable anguish, indignation and frustration over the teen shooting incident in which 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo. is the negative leadership and influence of headline-grabbers like the Rev. Al Sharpton, MSNBC celebrity.

SHARPTON AND OTHERS LIKE HIM STIR RAW EMOTIONS

Instead of mobilizing people in a positive way who are committed to justice and an end to racial discrimination, he, and other TV-camera chasers, stir raw emotions with generalizations and accusations.

In reality, the focus should be in dramatically turning the conditions around through voter registration and fair representation in Ferguson’s government.

In 1990, nearly 75 percent of Ferguson’s residents were white. Twenty years later that ratio has reversed.

Why not mobilize to get all the residents registered to vote, run candidates for public office who will represent minorities, and change the way the place is run?

This type of action would have a much greater impact on forcing a police department of over 50 officers to have more than three non-white cops on board, than having protesters blocking streets and highways in places like Baltimore, Boston and New York.

Departing Oriole Nick Markakis has played for the Birds his entire MLB career, beginning in 2006.

The popular Markakis, who has played his entire career to date with the Orioles, broke into the majors in 2006.

While Markakis has lived in Maryland year-round, wanting to remain an Oriole, and it’s a matter of pride for fans losing this type of favorite player to another team, it isn’t completely a clear-cut issue.

QUESTIONS ABOUT DURABILITY

Because of a herniated disk in his neck diagnosed a few years ago, there are some questions about his long-term durability. It is also a fact that his power figures have declined the last few years.

When considering a high-priced four-year contract, all this has to be considered. A four-year contract would have been a complicated and tough decision.

On the plus side, Markakis provided an extremely reliable glove in right field and has a strong, accurate arm. Offensively, even with lower power figures for a right fielder, he was one of the few players in the team’s lineup who hit the ball to all fields, was selective at the plate to draw walks, and focused at the appropriate times on being a situational hitter.

In a batting order that relies too heavily on inconsistent feast-or-famine hitters, striking out or hitting the long-ball, Markakis provided some balance. Although not blessed with great speed, he filled the role of leadoff hitter very effectively to help the team.

Orioles Executive Vice-President Dan Duquette will no doubt come up with a right fielder and designated hitter to replace Markakis and Cruz. Hopefully, with the offensive potential of Chris Davis, Matt Wieters and Manny Machado — all returning after missing many games last year — Duquette can add some players with speed and the ability to get on base.

It remains, however, to be seen if the Orioles can replace Markakis’s quiet influence and leadership.

  Speaking of the Orioles, here’s hoping the Birds bring on a hitting coach who can help make the team offense less one-dimensional. Jim Presley, the former hitting coach, has been reassigned in the organization.

Not every player in the lineup should be trying to hit the ball out of the park in the manner of an Adam Jones or Chris Davis.

KNOWN FOR POWER AND RUN PRODUCTION

You can afford to have three or four players who are sluggers and are known more for power and run production than overall consistency. But against top-notch pitching — the type the Orioles faced against Kansas City in the 2014 playoffs — the team needs to be able to manufacture runs in other ways than hitting mistake-pitches out of the park.

With the search on for a new hitting coach, this would be an excellent chance to strive for more consistency and better contact.

  Don’t believe all the sermonizing by National Football League lackeys and shills about teams wanting to make sure the public relations moment is right before any team gets serious about signing Ray Rice.

The former Ravens’ running back, who won an arbitration ruling tossing out Commissioner Roger Goodell’s indefinite suspension for domestic violence against his then fiancée Janay, is now eligible to sign with any interested NFL team.

The judge declared that the commissioner erred in punishing Rice twice for the same incident.

Originally, before the public was outraged by the release on the Internet of a second tape of the slugging incident, the commissioner ordered a rather lenient two-game suspension. Once the tape became public however, Goodell claimed he hadn’t been aware of the specifics of the incident and therefore was entitled to issue a stricter penalty.

THE SEVERITY OF THE INCIDENT

Goodell was unable to convince the judge he had originally been misled, not getting enough evidence to realize the severity of the incident.

And don’t be surprised if Rice wins a similar type ruling against the Ravens, claiming wrongful termination of his $35 million contract when the team cut him from the roster after Goodell issued his indefinite suspension.

The bottom line here, if Ray and Janay Rice do not have any more incidents, a team will sign him either this season or, more likely, next year. The key, however, will be whether anyone thinks he has any greatness remaining as a running back.

Rice is coming off a terrible 2013 season and there are doubts as to whether injuries have taken away his speed, moves and quickness.

The way the NFL operates, it’s a certainty that the reluctance to sign Rice relates more to questions about whether he can return to being a superstar running back. If some team determines he can still be a dominant yard-gainer, he will be signed very quickly — and this will have little to do with public opinion.

  Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is exercising good judgment slowing down the City Council’s effort to rush having city cops wear mandatory body cameras. This project, complex and costly, needs to be done carefully and properly, taking into consideration rights of privacy, ramifications, practicalities and overall effectiveness.

ISSUES PLAGUING SPEED AND RED LIGHT CAMERAS

Perhaps the mayor is thinking back to all the issues that are still plaguing Baltimore related to the once-lucrative speed and red light cameras in the city, which were supposed to generate at least $7 million annually. These cameras remain out of commission because of so many ticketing errors and administrative headaches.

  Hats off to the Baltimore Sun for running an editorial urging the state to drop the film-tax credit going to production companies like Netflix. For a while, it seemed The Sun, which rents building space for use in the production of “House Of Cards,” was putting itself into a conflict of interest position by publicizing the Netflix program and possibilities of employment benefits from the tax breaks.

However, the editorial clears that issue and delivers the type of objective discussion of issues readers have historically expected from the Baltimore newspaper.

  Although it wasn’t headline news, President Barack Obama and soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell recently met quietly one-on-one at the White House. Maybe there’s hope some things will get done in gridlocked and dysfunctional Washington.

Isn’t it about time the President and the Senate and House leaders spent less time trying to argue their talking points publicly and sat down behind closed doors to negotiate and get things done?
 
davidmaril@voiceofbaltimore.org
 
“Inside Pitch” is a weekly opinion column written for Voice of Baltimore by David Maril.

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