The Orioles are 523,645 people away from the 50 millionth fan to pass through Camden Yards’ gates since its opening in 1992. If the team’s attendance continues to hover around 27,000 per game, they should hit that mark during or before the Aug. 9 game against the Texas Rangers. (Anyone placing bets?)

O’s spokesman Greg Bader said last week that Camden Yards was the fastest ballpark to reach the 50 million landmark “and probably will be so for quite some time.” Bader added he thought the New York Yankees’ new stadium, scheduled to open next year, stood the best chance to beat the Orioles.

What’s interesting is the logistics of nailing down who exactly will be the 50 millionth fan later this summer. (The O’s are also on pace to host the 100 millionth fan in franchise history this year, which will potentially happen during the late-August series against the Yankees.)

With multiple gates at Camden Yards and people entering at the same time, pinpointing the lucky winner will not be an exact science. The best they can do, Bader said, is track the order of the tickets being scanned for entry as accurately as they can to select and announce who the milestone fan was during the game.

With an enticing prize package provided by the team and partner Maryland Lottery that includes season tickets for five years, $50,000 for the 50 millionth fan and $100,000 for the 100 millionth fan, how bad would you feel if you were the guy that walked in behind the winning ticket? Or what about the people who enter the park at the same time as the winner but at a different gate?

Bader said that everyone at the ballpark those days will receive a commemorative pin (which to me is like letting someone suck on an old piece of gum while you keep the caviar for yourself) but how disappointed would you be if you knew you were within inches of winning the prize?

And because of that, will there be people throwing elbows to get into Orioles Park this August when they’re getting close to the milestone? And does that then make it a great marketing campaign?

LIZ FARMER, Business Writer

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Would Edgar Allan Poe be rolling in his grave? He might if he knew the Baltimore Ravens have hired a trainer to teach their avian namesakes to fly around M&T Bank Stadium before home games this season.

According to Associated Press, the team’s vice president for marketing, Gabrielle Dow, thought of the idea after seeing a trained hawk at a Seattle Seahawks game.

Georgia-based trainer Daniel Walthers is apparently teaching the birds to fly out of the tunnel players use to run onto the field and to mimic the words “touchdown” and “go Ravens.”

Can he teach them how to say “nevermore”? Or to “accidentally” drop birdie bombs on the opposing players’ bench?

What do you think of this new marketing ploy? Is it fun? A lame spectacle? Is there something else you’d like to see the birds do?

Or do you have concerns (like whether the birds will develop an attitude midway through the season and demand more money for next year’s contract)?

LIZ FARMER, Business Writer

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On the way to work today, I was talking with a co-worker about recessions. Are we actually in one, and, if so, how can we tell?

Most economists say that it can take several months of being in a recession for experts to actually determine that we’re in one, and sometimes we don’t know for sure until well after they’re over.

If you’ve heard and believed forecasts that the economy will bounce back in the second half of the year, Washington Post columnist Steven Pearlstein has some bad news for you.

Unlike some financial gurus (see: Warren Buffet) who say the limping economy and announcements of job cuts are a sure sign that we’re already in a recession, Pearlstein writes in Friday’s Post that the trouble has just begun.

Pearlstein says the only way we can get the economy back in shape is by “letting the dollar fall to its natural level, wringing the excess capacity out of industries that overexpanded during the credit bubble and allowing real estate prices to fall in line with incomes.”

What do you think — are we already in a recession, or is the worst yet to come?

DANIELLE ULMAN, Business Writer

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Retirement continues to be a postponed option for a pair of seaplanes, built in Middle River, that have been fighting forest fires in the Pacific Northwest since a brief stint in World War II.

According to a report by the Canadian Broadcast Corp. on Friday, one of the two remaining Martin Mars “flying tankers” has been hired by the U.S. government to fight wild fires in California. One of the planes was brought in to fight fires in 2007 as well.

The planes, also called “water bombers,” were purchased in 2007 by British Columbia-based Coulson Aircrane for an undisclosed amount. The Glenn L. Martin Maryland Aviation Museum unsuccessfully tried to buy one of the planes and bring it back to Baltimore, where it was built.

The Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Co., precursor to Lockheed Martin Corp., manufactured the seaplanes in the early 1940s where they were originally envisioned as “flying dreadnoughts,” capable of carrying troops and raining down thousands of pounds of bombs on a battlefield. The planes were re-tasked before the end of the war to serve as long-range reconnaissance or cargo transport. Five Martin Mars were built at the Middle River plant.

The planes have a wingspan of 200 feet, are 117 feet long and can hold 7,200 gallons of a fire-suppressing water and foam mix.

The good news though, is that at least one of the planes is getting a bit of respite. Coulson Aircrane owner Wayne Coulson told the CBC that only one of the water bombers is in regular rotation until there is a high enough level of demand to put both in the rotation.

BEN MOOK, Assistant Business Editor

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Comptroller Peter Franchot spent a good part of Wednesday’s Board of Public works meeting advocating for the spending panel’s July 16 meeting be relocated to the Eastern Shore so it will be easier for officials to attend the J. Millard Tawes Crab and Clam Bake in Crisfield on that same day.

The Tawes event, named for the former governor and held in his home town, is something of a political tradition in the state, and can draw upwards of 3,500 people. Franchot does not want to miss it. He repeatedly mentioned moving the meeting, and even got Salisbury University to offer meeting space for the BPW meeting.

Gov. Martin O’Malley and Treasurer Nancy Kopp were decidedly noncommittal, which made for a few awkward exchanges at the public meeting. One possible reason, the state has scheduled a bond sale that day, where it expects to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for capital spending. It’s a big deal, and Kopp was concerned about the legal implications of moving the scheduled meeting.

Not to be deterred, Franchot sent out a letter to his two BPW counterparts on Thursday (he also shared it with the press).

“… The Tawes Crab and Clam Bake is one of Maryland’s grandest civic traditions, bringing lawmakers, government officials and business leaders from across the state together for a day of Eastern Shore seafood and hospitality. This annual event also brings tourists, consumer spending and statewide media exposure to a region of the State that needs all the support that we can provide,” he wrote.

ANDY ROSEN, Business Writer 

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The real estate market must be really lagging, if this Florida woman is trying to auction off herself and her home in a combo deal. She’s using Craigslist and Ebay to do it.

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor 

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It may have something to do with the fact that Charles Center turned 50 this year, or maybe it’s all the condo and office buildings rising along Key Highway and in Harbor East. Whatever the reason, there has been a lot of looking back recently, remembering and critiquing Baltimore’s downtown redevelopment.

Two recently-produced documents demonstrate that there are two very different perspectives on the “downtown renaissance,” and whether it was really as visionary and beneficial for the city as its creators would have us believe.

“Global Harbors: A Waterfront Renaissance,” a documentary film that aired June 10 on Maryland Public Television, and will re-air July 22 at 9  p.m., revisits both Charles Center and Harborplace through the eyes of Martin Millspaugh, former Evening Sun reporter and urban planner, whose work made both developments possible. The basic premise of the film is that Baltimore’s plan to re-develop its waterfront was risky, but it has been a tremendous success, and has inspired waterfront redevelopments in “90 to 100” cities worldwide, including Sydney, Australia — where the Rouse Co. partnered with local government to build a festival market that looks remarkably like Harborplace — to Osaka, Rotterdam, Pittsburgh and Honolulu.

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We’ve all heard that if we want to save the planet, and perhaps a bit of money on our electricity bills, compact fluorescent light bulbs are the way to go.

The problem is that the swirly bulbs contain small amounts of mercury, and recycling options haven’t exactly been accessible. So, when CFLs land in the trash heap, we’re possibly doing more damage to the Earth than we were back when using incandescent bulbs was in vogue.

People who wanted to dispose of used CFLs in an Earth-friendly way once had to live near an Ikea or True Value, where they have recycling programs, or buy special kits to mail them back to manufacturers — but not anymore.

This week, Home Depot announced it would accept all unbroken CFLs at its retail locations for recycling, allowing tree huggers and carpenters alike to dispose of CFLs properly, and just a little closer to home. The company estimates that 75 percent of Americans live within 10 miles of a Home Depot.

According to The New York Times, Ron Jarvis, Home Depot’s senior vice president for environmental innovation, said the company is just “trying to do the right thing.”

Home Depot also stands to bring in some heavy foot traffic if people latch onto the idea.

I guess the question is what’s worse for the environment, burning a gallon of gas on that round trip to the Home Depot or throwing out your bulbs with the rest of the garbage?

DANIELLE ULMAN, Business Writer

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The Washington Nationals announced yesterday they’ve partnered with the Spanish Beisbol Network to launch Spanish radio broadcasts of all Nats games. The first broadcast on WZHF 1390 AM will hit the airwaves Friday when the team hosts the O’s at Nationals Park.

The broadcasting team is headlined by Angel Castillo, Carlos Guillen and Luciano Rodriguez…not that many Spanish-speaking Orioles fans will be able to hear it in Baltimore — the broadcasts will just reach the District, Northern Virginia and parts of Montgomery County and MLB Radio, according to the news release.

O’s spokesman Greg Bader said in an e-mail yesterday that Spanish language broadcasts are “something we are exploring along with our partners at CBS Radio. Nothing is imminent, but it is being discussed and evaluated.”

WZHF will be the primary carrier of Nats games, with XM Satellite Radio and WMET 1160AM, a multi-cultural format station, carrying a small portion. Washington is also one of the few MLB teams that has a Spanish language Web site, which was launched on April 7.

Do you think the Orioles are missing out on an important fan base here? 

I will note that, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics from 2006, Montgomery County has the largest Hispanic population in the state with nearly 14 percent of its residents being of Hispanic or Latino origin. Baltimore County’s percentage is just under 3. (Data was not available for Baltimore City in the same year.)

LIZ FARMER, Daily Record Business Writer

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An interesting bit of found treasure out of the Eastern Shore: a painting left with the Maryland Goodwill a little while back has been auctioned for $40,600.

All proceeds to charity, of course.

“Marche aux fleurs” or “Flower Market” by Edouard Leon Cortes, was donated to a Goodwill in Easton in March. Volunteers suspected they could have something significant on their hands, and a bit of Googling led them to Sotheby’s in New York.

“We just lucked upon an opportunity to increase our ability to give back,” said store manager Terri Tonelli, according to the AP.

I doubt the person who donated the work meant to part with something so valuable, but though they might be kicking themselves right now, they can take a bit of comfort in their excess of karma credits.

And now I’m off to my parents’ basement in search of works of art by notable French Impressionists.

JOE BACCHUS, Web Specialist

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