On Saturday, we learned that longtime Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos had passed away at the age of 94, following a years-long illness.
A statement from the Angelos family: pic.twitter.com/vRtrc4Y6Gq
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) March 23, 2024
Mr. Angelos leaves behind a complicated legacy in Baltimore. He made his fortune representing workers who had been harmed by asbestos poisoning on the job, and social media was full of stories from folks whose family members benefited from the landmark 1992 settlement. He purchased the local baseball team in 1993, and was heralded as a savior, a local hero prying the team from the clutches of New Yorker Eli Jacobs.
Peter Angelos, legal icon, O’s owner https://t.co/rgZQ6RoqY5 sympathies to the Angelos family. Kept the O’s in Baltimore. And did so much for so many, with little fanfare.Always treated so well by Mr A.. RIP
— Jim Palmer (@Jim22Palmer) March 23, 2024
Shortly into his ownership tenure, Angelos made headlines by being the only MLB owner who refused to use replacement players during the strike of 1994-95. It fit the lifelong Democrat’s reputation as pro-labor, a fighter for the little guy. The Orioles had the second-highest payroll in MLB to start both the 1996 and 1997 seasons, trailing just the New York Yankees each time. Those Oriole teams made the playoffs for the first time since their 1983 World Series win, with the ’96 team taking home the AL Wild Card, and the ’97 team going wire-to-wire to win the AL East. In 1998, the Orioles passed the Yankees in one respect, as their $70M opening day payroll led the majors.
Spending money definitely wasn’t a problem with those early Angelos O’s.
Pete also grabbed attention around the world in 1999, when the Orioles played a two-game exhibition series against the Cuban National Team, with one game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and the other in Havana. Again, Angelos showed himself to be an owner unafraid of bold action.
Peter was a significant influence in Baltimore for decades. His impact on our region through his ownership of the @Orioles and his many charitable contributions has been undeniable. https://t.co/Mk6BVPkX8b
— Cal Ripken, Jr. (@CalRipkenJr) March 23, 2024
Angelos earned himself a reputation as a meddler in baseball operations; a guy who didn’t let his baseball people do their jobs. Manager Davey Johnson famously faxed Angelos his resignation letter just hours before winning the 1997 AL Manager of the Year award. Pete also butted heads with fan favorite broadcaster Jon Miller after the 1996 season, causing Miller to leave for San Francisco, where he remains to this day.
Sound familiar? After Pete’s son John had a similar dust-up with Kevin Brown last year, Miller spilled some beans about what happened back in ’96, per Awful Announcing:
What bothers Miller to this day is that Peter Angelos publicly denied that he wanted Miller out.
“He said, ‘No, of course, we wanted him to stay,’” Miller said. “Everything Angelos told my agent, Angelos denied. He’s a lawyer. He said, ‘I didn’t say those things. Do you have a tape of it?’ It hit me wrong, how he lied about all of that.”
…Author and syndicated columnist George Will was distressed upon hearing that Miller was on the outs with the Orioles and asked if he could intercede. Will was friendly with Peter Angelos and often had lunch with him. Will told Miller he would get to the bottom of everything.
After their meeting, Will called Miller: “Well, I talked to him. And my advice to you is to start packing.”
That was all really the beginning of the end for Angelos’ goodwill among O’s fans. What’s commonly known as “The Dark Years” began in 1998, when the team started a run of fourteen consecutive seasons finishing below .500. It wasn’t just the play on the field that was dark though, as constant turnover in the front office, bad PR moves, poor treatment of fans and media, and the like were commonplace.
“I am saddened to learn about the passing of Peter Angelos. As a native Baltimorean, Peter was an important figure in our city’s rich sports history." pic.twitter.com/tkhMlQXNiN
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) March 23, 2024
During all that, MLB moved the Montreal Expos to Washington, D.C. in 2005, a move Angelos had, understandably, been against for a long time. That led to the creation of the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, and in turn spurred the ongoing MASN legal battle that seems to have been going on for most of our lives.
In another point to his credit, Angelos helped bring in Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter, heralding the end of those Dark Years and a return to winning baseball from 2012-16. The Chris Davis contract though, has been an albatross around the organization’s neck for years, and the days of signing expensive free agents or extending our own stars has been on hiatus ever since.
With Angelos’ health reportedly failing in recent years, O’s fans had hoped that sons John and Lou would help usher in needed change. While bringing in Mike Elias was clearly a huge step in the right direction, we learned over time that the sons and their mother were battling each other in court over control of the team, and rumors of an imminent move to Nashville just wouldn’t stop popping up. With the team returning to respectability, John (who won control of the team), repeatedly put his foot in his mouth and earned the ire of Birdland, and we begrudgingly accepted that the apple hadn’t fallen far.
The news that a group led by David Rubenstein was set to purchase the team earlier this year was met with jubilation.
.@orioles fans, here is my statement on the passing of Peter Angelos:
I offer my deepest condolences to the Angelos family on the passing of Peter Angelos. Peter made an indelible mark first in business and then in baseball. The city of Baltimore owes him a debt of gratitude for…
— David M. Rubenstein (@DM_Rubenstein) March 23, 2024
In a bit of strange timing, news is that the sale will become finalized in just a couple days. While we welcome the new ownership, it’s worth taking some time to reflect on the positives and negatives of the Angelos era, a complicated one indeed.
Our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of Mr. Angelos, and to all those whose lives he touched in a positive manner.
