If you’re from the state of Maryland or any of the surrounding states, the name Dan Snyder is synonymous with the tag “worst professional sports team owner.”
Now that Snyder has been run out of the NFL, the race is quite crowded for who will take the mantle of the worst professional sports team owner. If you’re from the Baltimore area or a member of Birdland in general, we are frothing at the mouth to throw John P. Angelos onto that unholy throne.
Of course, Angelos does not have the sexual harassment suites and accusations swirling around the team environment, but when you talk of toxicity with a fanbase and city, Angelos easily is beating that drum loud and proud. The sad part about it is that it doesn’t even seem to phase him.
The Angelos family was already teetering on the edge of villainy as their tenure has stretched onward. Once principal owner Peter Angelos started to experience health issues, it was his sons, John and Louis, who started to run the daily operations of the team.
Under Peter, his meddling with the team was one that had fans back and forth wondering if it was a good thing to be a “players owner” or a smack in the face of the front office. The nail in that coffin was the infamous Chris Davis contract that has been an albatross for the team, paying $42 million over the next 15 years.
The tenure of John and Louis taking over began in 2018 as Peter, now 93, declined in health. You heard little from the Angelos family over the course of a full organizational reset. Up until February of 2023, there was hardly a peep until the Orioles opted out of extending their lease with the city of Baltimore.
The brothers would end up filing lawsuits against each other that would kick off 2023 spring training. Louis would file his suit against his mother, Georgia, and brother John, stating:
“John intends to maintain absolute control over the Orioles — to manage, to sell, or, if he chooses, to move to Tennessee (where he has a home and where his wife’s career is headquartered) — without having to answer to anyone.”
Georgia Angelos, along with John, would file a counter suit accusing Louis of fabricating his claims with the intent to seize control of the Orioles and his father’s assets. The suit also would try to remove Louis as a successor and hold him accountable for breach of fiduciary duty and exploitation of his father. Both suits ended up being dropped with prejudice, meaning they can not be refiled or brought back to the courts.
The Orioles, despite the early distractions, would come out of the gate as one of the most exciting and entertaining teams of the 2023 season. Not to let matters with ownership get to them, the O’s would be on their way to a 101-win season and an AL East Title, the third since the Angelos family purchased the team in 1993 (Peter was awarded the organization from Eli Jacobs in bankruptcy court).
Outside of snippets here and there about the lease, it appeared the Orioles’ success would take the spotlight away from ownership, but John Angelos couldn’t have that. His sole purpose to make O’s fans scream and throw a fit was just getting started.
Orioles lead play-by-play commentator Kevin Brown, a talented up-and-coming broadcaster, was suspended from July 23 to August 11 for his comments during a series against the Tampa Bay Ray. The comment that got him suspended, one of utter facts, was as follows: “… the Orioles have won more games against [the Rays] this season than the last two combined.”
It was another stark reminder of how no matter how good things are, the Angelos family would not allow the light to shy away from them. The saga ended with Brown returning and moving forward without any negative response or cross word to say about John Angelos.
As Brown returned to duty, the Orioles continued to roll, and before long, the Birds were driving towards the postseason. Young guns Adley Rutschman, Gunner Henderson and Grayson Rodriguez were showcasing their talents and providing excitement across the city.
In a New York Times article, John Angelos, once again, had to take the spotlight away by crying poverty and explaining why the Orioles essentially won’t be able to keep their young core of players once their six years of club control are finished.
“Let’s say we sat down and showed you the financials for the Orioles. You will quickly see that when people talk about giving this player $200 million, that player $150 million, we would be so financially underwater that you’d have to raise the prices massively. Now, are people going to come and pay that? I don’t know if we’re at the limit, to your point. I don’t know if we’re in equilibrium elasticity, supply and demand. Maybe we are. But really, that’s just one team. What I’m really trying to think about is macro,” John Angelos said.
At every turn, John just wants to take the spotlight off the team. He wants the public to see and listen, whether out of hatred or disgust, that it’s still attention that this spoiled billionaire wants.
The nail in the coffin came while the Orioles were on the doorstep of their 100th victory on September 28. As the game reached the middle of the fourth inning, a message appeared on the video screen over center field. The announcement read as follows:
“Ladies and gentlemen, your attention, please. Earlier today, the Orioles, Governor Wes Moore and the state of Maryland and the Maryland Stadium Authority agreed to a deal that will keep the Orioles in Baltimore and at Camden Yards for at least the next 30 years.”
Of course, the first thought was that the lease saga was finally over, but upon further review, there was never a lease. The message was released in a lawyer-like fashion, where it specifies, but never specifically mentions, that a lease was signed. In the end, it was nothing more than a Memorandum of Agreement to have a lease signed by December 31, 2023, the day the current lease expires.
As that deadline approaches, there have been reports of a lease agreed upon, then a selling of the team to a fellow Baltimore native, only to have it reported that Angelos assured Governor Moore that he wasn’t selling the majority stake, to the lease being pulled off the table.
The current proposal was agreed upon this week, and, once again, John Angelos was seen having lunch with David Rubenstein, the supposed interested party this past week. Whether this is another Angelos ploy or not, it’s odd that a supposed sale comes about as a lease agreement was awaiting a vote.
One thing we do know for sure is that the Angelos family, mainly John, has turned attention his way through numerous news-garnering moments, especially this season alone. Of course, now that Dan Snyder is no longer hogging the negative press, we may unfortunately be finding out that Maryland has a new Dan Snyder on its hands, this one a lawyer who appears to enjoy dashing the hopes and dreams of Charm City.
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