In case you missed all the hubbub, there was a firestorm of sorts in Birdland yesterday. First, let’s get this out of the way:
Yesterday during @Bruce45Sports Saturday show, Bruce had attorney Benjamin Neil as a guest. Mr Neil mentioned a rumor involving the Orioles. It should be taken as just that, a rumor. There are no facts to back up his claim. (1 of 3)
— Chuck Sapienza (@chucksapienza) May 5, 2019
. @1057TheFan allows our guests a platform to speak on their areas of expertise. Guests that choose to use that platform to throw out non-credible rumors, “heard through the grapevine” fail to meet that level.
— Chuck Sapienza (@chucksapienza) May 5, 2019
I apologize to the #Orioles and their fans. We will do better.
— Chuck Sapienza (@chucksapienza) May 5, 2019
That’s Chuck Sapienza, the Director of Sports Programming for 105.7 The Fan in Baltimore. For those of you who heard the rumor, let this put your minds at ease.
Now, let’s back up a bit. On Saturday, as Chuck describes, Bruce Cunningham had Benjamin Neil on his show. The “rumor” on which Sapienza avoids elaborating in his tweets, was that there is an anonymous $3 billion bid on the table for the Baltimore Orioles, with the bidder ready to move the team to Las Vegas.
Of course, Orioles fans who heard this conversation were immediately inspired to consider driving their cars off the nearest Chesapeake Bay tributary bridge.
Here’s our own Paul Valle, host of The Payoff Pitch podcast, tweeting after hearing the interview.
I do not know what I'm going to do if the Orioles move to Vegas. It will absolutely crush and destroy me.
— Paul Valle III (@PaulValleIII) May 4, 2019
I was just listening to @Bruce45Sports on 105.7 and his guest was a lawyer saying there is an anonymous offer for $3B to move the team to Vegas when the stadium lease is up in 2021. Lawyer seems to think it's pretty serious. I don't think I'll ever be the same if it happens.
— Paul Valle III (@PaulValleIII) May 4, 2019
The Orioles Facebook groups were, predictably, an absolute dumpster fire (like, more than usual) as well.
Baltimore fans still remember (or have heard stories) of losing the Colts to Indianapolis. Many are still uneasy with the way the city acquired the Ravens. Stories and rumors about moving teams are always going to get our hackles up.
Backing up just a bit further, on Thursday, the Baltimore Sun reported that the O’s have lost their pending court case against the Nationals regarding MASN.
Orioles-controlled MASN TV network must pay millions to Washington Nationals under sealed decision. #Orioles https://t.co/jdp0eosqar
— Jeff Barker (@sunjeffbarker) May 3, 2019
This case, which has dragged on for years, looks like it could finally have reached a conclusion. However, Matt Perez, who has been following the proceedings closely at Camden Depot (before the site shuttered its doors this season), had this to say:
I'm surprised to see the RSDC decide to use the Bortz methodology. That has the potential to haunt MLB. I presume that MASN will appeal the decision due to the $25M payment and argue that the decision isn't reasonable on its face.
— Matt Perez (@FanOfLaundry) May 5, 2019
So it looks like things could drag on even further. Still, the Orioles’ lease at Camden Yards is indeed set to expire in 2022. Unease among Birds fans is understandable, considering this.
105.7 is the team’s flagship station, playing all O’s games over their airwaves. You have to imagine Mr. Sapienza (or somebody down there) got quite the earful from someone at The Warehouse over the past 24 hours or so. Neil unleashed some psychological warfare against the members of Birdland, and despite the station “correcting” the record here, O’s fans won’t soon forget they heard tale of this supposed pending move.
For all the faults you can otherwise find in him as an owner, Peter Angelos is Baltimore through and through. When he bought the team, it had been less than a decade since the Colts fled town, and he spoke loudly and often about his intention to save the folks of Baltimore from a similar fate with their Orioles. We have to hope he instilled that sense of civic duty and responsibility in his sons (by all appearances, he did).
Moving the Orioles would indeed be a travesty. But there is no reason to believe such drastic action is imminent.
