The public assertion issued Monday by John Angelos, chair and CEO of the Baltimore Orioles, supplied no ifs, ands or buts about the way forward for the baseball franchise: “As I have said before, as long as Fort McHenry is standing watch over the Inner Harbor, the Orioles will remain in Baltimore.” He goes on the clarify his household’s deep roots within the metropolis and the way a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in new state funding in Oriole Park at Camden Yards accepted simply two months earlier is a key issue to protecting the ballclub right here for “generations to come.” The message is clear, the logic is sound, and Mr. Angelos is probably going honest.
So why are so many sports activities followers within the Baltimore metropolitan space nonetheless having flashbacks to 1984 and the day the beloved Colts left town for greener pastures in Indianapolis? Are they apprehensive that Fort McHenry is packing up, too? Here are two theories. First, too many people have watched the TV collection, “Succession,” and seen how a dysfunctional household, albeit fictional, offers with a patriarch in in poor health well being after which acknowledged quite a lot of parallels within the lawsuit filed final week by Louis Angelos in opposition to his brother John and mom Georgia. At the middle of the dispute is the ailing 92-year-old Peter Angelos. And second, the sad departure of the Colts left a gaping gap on this metropolis’s collective psyche over whether or not Baltimore is an enormous league metropolis or not. It was a cavity that even the arrival of the Ravens (previously of Cleveland) in 1996 couldn’t utterly heal.
Let’s take some deep breaths, lets? Major League Baseball franchises don’t have a tendency to choose up and depart city. Even of us in Nashville, who very a lot need an MLB enlargement workforce, have acknowledged they haven’t even talked to a member of the Angelos household. And that $600 million the Maryland Stadium Authority plans to borrow for enhancements at Camden Yards is conditional on the Orioles signing a long-term lease. And whereas we had some hesitancy about approving such largesse with no recreation plan over precisely how that cash can be spent, we should acknowledge that the Maryland Stadium Authority has a reasonably good observe report in managing such negotiations. What higher second to dangle stadium upgrades than proper now when folks worry that some out-of-town possession group might swoop in to purchase the franchise?
And, by the way in which, right here’s one more reason for optimism: Did anybody discover the extraordinary success of the sold-out Paul McCartney live performance at Camden Yards on Sunday evening? Not solely had been patrons keen to speculate 1000’s of {dollars} for premium seats close to the stage, companies many blocks away had been providing parking areas for concertgoers at $40 a pop. Apparently, downtown Baltimore shouldn’t be so unhealthy that the presence of a single Beatle can’t immediately wipe away suburbanite issues about crime. It didn’t take a military of police utilizing strong-arm techniques to make folks really feel snug; it simply took an attraction that was irresistible.
Make no mistake, Baltimore loves its Orioles, and even a foul day at Camden Yards beats a complete lot of different issues one could possibly be doing. But there are limits to how a lot shedding any baseball fan can tolerate. If one needs to know why Baltimore has the eighth lowest dwelling attendance to date this season (and the fifth lowest final season), one want solely have a look at the standings. The Orioles are solidly on the backside of the American League East. Last yr, the workforce had the worst report within the American League with 110 losses (and tied for final in all of MLB with the Arizona Diamondbacks which noticed lackluster attendance, too).
We want the Angelos household effectively in resolving their variations. But it feels like they want household counseling, not a fleet of Mayflower transferring vans. We can’t blame folks for feeling somewhat paranoid, however there’s already fairly a little bit of “trust but verify” within the state’s dealings with skilled sports activities franchise homeowners lately (don’t even get us began on Dan Snyder of the Washington Commanders). Meanwhile, let’s not lose observe of the little bit of spark we’ve seen within the Orioles clubhouse of late from franchise savior/catcher Adley Rutschman to left fielder Austin Hays, the workforce’s close to .300 hitter. If we begin seeing Baltimoreans strolling round with reproductions of the house run chain round their necks, we’ll be much more satisfied that attendance is headed in the precise route and that the apparent pleasure being expressed contained in the clubhouse is catching on exterior it — and all regardless of the possession travails.
Baltimore Sun editorial writers provide opinions and evaluation on information and points related to readers. They function individually from the newsroom.
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