Baseball has evolved into a power game

This is in response to Bob Lancione’s letter to the editor and his take on the Baltimore Orioles (“O’s may prove less than they appear,” June 26). He fears the concept of “small ball” has vanished with this Orioles team.

I will agree with the writer in that many of the Orioles players do swing for the fences. For better or worse, this is the way the game has evolved (or devolved). The small-ball era made its mark on the game, but that is all in the rear view.

All Major League Baseball teams swing for the fences. The chasm between small ball and yard ball has widened precipitously in the past 20 years. My suggestion to Lancione is simply to cope with modern-day baseball and the players’ penchant to smash gargantuan home runs.

— Patrick R. Lynch, Towson

BGE pipeline at Key Bridge site should be closed

I was surprised to learn that Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. operates a natural gas pipeline at the Francis Scott Key Bridge site (“BGE pipeline at Key Bridge site ‘fully operational’ after shipping channel cleanup,” June 28).

Pipelines pose serious environmental risks even under the best of circumstances. Operating a pipeline in a shipping channel adds significantly to that risk. And given the risk underwater pipelines pose to mariners, it’s clear that BGE’s pipeline is too dangerous to operate and should be shut down permanently.

As BGE admits, shutting down the pipeline temporarily had no “significant impact on customers,” so there’s no reason to believe a permanent shutdown would affect customers either. And while we’re waiting for BGE to shut down the pipeline (and clean up and restore the vicinity around it), the state should hire an independent inspector to ensure that the pipeline doesn’t pose an imminent danger.

— Robert Wald, Silver Spring

One year after Brooklyn Homes, more deserve to be punished

Here we are commemorating the anniversary of the worst mass shooting in Baltimore’s history (“City plans event in Brooklyn on one-year mark of Baltimore mass shooting: ‘We’re not forgetting them,'” June 21). Young lives were snuffed out. Future leaders were erased. Parents were driven into a loss that will hurt for all their lives. And how did the city recognize this event?

The police officers who did not follow proper procedures were punished. And rightly so. There should have been consequences for their wrong choices. But what about all the other responsible parties?

Has anyone in the Housing Authority of Baltimore City been fined or fired? No! Have the residents who supported the gathering been punished? This should be open knowledge for taxpayers who are supporting their living in the homes. They were protected as far as the public knows. And the leadership of the Housing Authority has treated them like children who made a “mistake” instead of adults cooperating with drug gangs!

Has anyone in the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement been punished? Any of the supposed street workers who knew of the mass gathering and of guns being present been fired or punished? No!

So, the city administration observed the anniversary of Baltimore’s worse mass shooting by punishing only the police. But is anyone surprised? No! This administration is pro-criminal and anti-police. They have found a way to defund the police and enable the criminal elements. Meanwhile, many families are in pain, and far too many are afraid to go out of their homes.

Good job, Dems!

— Rev. Michael T. Buttner, Bel Air

Bay Bridge will need to be taller too

In calling for a replacement span for the Francis Scott Key Bridge to provide greater clearance to vessels (“Why Key Bridge replacement must stand taller,” June 27), The Baltimore Sun Editorial Board failed to mention that the twin spans of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge will have to be raised for taller ships to enter Baltimore.

— Martin Sadowski, Fallston

Driver in fatal Beltway crash deserves more than home detention

So, after spending three months of an already lenient 18-month sentence for driving 122 miles per hour and contributing to the deaths of six construction workers, the defendant now gets to serve the remainder of her sentence on home detention (“Driver in fatal I-695 crash to serve remaining sentence on home detention, judge rules,” June 28).

Baltimore County Circuit Judge Vicki Ballou-Watts’ decisions in this matter should be critically scrutinized by the judicial powers-that-be and the public.

— Steve Block, Pikesville