RIP to Peter Angelos, a Baltimore trial lawyer who owned the Baltimore Orioles for more than 30 years. He died on March 23, just days before the Angelos family was due to sell the team to its new ownership group, headed by businessman David M. Rubenstein. Angelos, 94, had been in poor health for several years before his death at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center in Towson.
“I offer my deepest condolences to the Angelos family on the passing of Peter Angelos,” Rubenstein said in a statement. “Peter made an indelible mark first in business and then in baseball. The city of Baltimore owes him a debt of gratitude for his stewardship of the Orioles across three decades and for positioning the team for great success.”
George Angelos was born on July 4, 1929, in Pittsburgh, though he was renamed Peter at an early age. His parents were Greek immigrants from the island of Karpathos. The family moved to Baltimore when Angelos was 11 years old, and his father bought a tavern in Highlandtown. Young Angelos was a bartender there. After spending several years in business with his father, he focused on his own education. Angelos went to Baltimore City College, Baltimore Junior College and Eastern College of Commerce and Law. After spending two years in the U.S. Army, he began working for a Baltimore law firm and decided to run for the City Council. He won his election in the Third District, and the political neophyte wasn’t afraid to tangle with some of the established city bosses, right from the start. No sooner had the City Council session started when Angelos began trading barbs with Solomon Liss over the appointment of political clerks. The 300-pound Liss pointed out the much smaller Angelos when he said, “I am quite a sizable dragon, and would like to admonish the new councilman he is too small to be a St. George and to accomplish my demise. I expect to be here after he’s gone.”
“Yes, he will be here after I have gone — after I’ve gone higher,” Angelos replied, referring to a higher office than city councilman. “I hope the abilities of my colleague are as big as his head,” Liss shot back.
Angelos was on the City Council for just one term. He ran for Baltimore City Council president in 1963 and mayor in 1967, losing each time to Thomas J. D’Alesandro III. Of note, his running made for the mayoral campaign was Clarence M. Mitchell III, an African-American state senator. It was the first integrated political ticket in the city’s history. While Angelos never held another political office, he remained a significant donor to the Democratic Party for the rest of his life.
Angelos made his name, as well as the fortune, as a personal injury lawyer. He had made connections with organized labor and frequently sued large corporations for unsafe working conditions or unsafe products. In his biggest case, he went after Bethlehem Steel for exposing its employees to asbestos, many of whom died or became ill from the exposure. As he expanded his lawsuits to other asbestos manufacturers, he greatly expanded his own Peter Angelos Law firm into a massive business that still operates today. Eight asbestos companies agreed to settlements, and a Baltimore jury found in 1992 that seven manufacturers were responsible for the illnesses and deaths of up to 8,500 workers, many of whom worked at Bethlehem Steel. “It became very much a crusade, a good guys vs. the bad guys sort of thing,” Timothy Murphy, a former member of Angelos Law, told The Baltimore Sun in 1993. “That was very much Pete’s attitude. These were garden-variety workers, the people from whom he had come, and he saw their lives shortened by evil corporate America.”
As the sole partner of the law firm, Angelos became very wealthy from the cases. He gave back to his adopted hometown through philanthropic efforts. Buying the Orioles came about more as a measure of civic pride than any real passion for baseball. As The Baltimore Sun noted in a June 1993 article, Angelos and Baltimore native/best-selling author Tom Clancy originally got together to discuss purchasing an NFL expansion team — this being after the Baltimore Colts had left town but before the Cleveland Browns moved and became the Baltimore Ravens. Talk turned to the Orioles, which was up for sale by owner Eli Jacobs. The leading bidder was a group headed by veteran baseball executive Bill DeWitt, from Cincinnati. “Why do we need someone to come in from out of town?” Angelos asked Clancy. Through financial maneuvering, Angelos, Clancy and DeWitt all became part of an ownership group that successfully bought the Orioles for $173 million, then a record for a baseball franchise.
“I predict that this club will never leave Baltimore and I promise you that the club will never be controlled by outside interests,” Angelos said at the onset of his group’s tenure. He also showed some baseball acumen by noting the team’s need for a dependable run producer in the lineup and its failure to land slugger Fred McGriff in a deadline trade. “If I would have been around at the time Fred McGriff was going to be traded, I think Fred McGriff would be here today,” Angelos said. “Some of our key personnel say our offer for him was better than the one the Braves made. Maybe not enough energy was put behind the effort.”
The sale was made official just after the end of the 1993 season. By December, the team had acquired first baseman Rafael Palmiero, the run producer Angelos said the team needed. His 5-year, $30.35 million showed that the team wouldn’t be afraid to spend money. It took a little while for the results to show on the field. The Orioles finished above .500 in 1993 and 1994 and 2 games under .500 in 1995, but the team was well out of the pennant race. Baltimore reached the AL Championship Series in 1996 and 1997 but lost each year. After winning 98 games in 1997, the Orioles wouldn’t approach a .500 record for the next 14 years.
In the midst of those initial years of ownership, Major League Baseball was wracked by the players strike, which ended the 1994 season and delayed the ’95 season, too. Angelos was unafraid to show his independent streak, as opposed to the rest of the owners, who largely took the corporate line behind commissioner Bud Selig. He didn’t support a salary cap, which the other owners did, and Angelos consequently was left out of negotiations between owners and players. Undaunted, he met privately with Don Fehr, head of the players union, without the knowledge of baseball officials.
“I don’t believe I need to advise anyone of my meetings with any other party,” Angelos said. “As a courtesy, maybe. But I felt my presence at a meeting with Don Fehr not only could benefit the Orioles but potentially be helpful to the interests of all the franchises.”
As the strike carried over into 1995, Angelos’ rebellious streak became even more noticeable. He called the owners’ demands “mass economic suicide,” saying at one point, “Why don’t we just pass out the Kool-Aid and get it over with?” The Orioles didn’t use any replacement players at the team’s spring training camp — despite the threat of punishment from MLB — and wouldn’t play exhibition games against teams that did. Baltimore’s designated hitter Harold Baines credited Angelos for scuttling the replacement player idea. “I think we owe a lot of credit to Mr. Angelos for saying he wouldn’t use them,” Baines said. “I know when I see him, I’ll thank him personally. He stood by what he thought was fair.” When the strike was finally settled, Angelos refrained from any I-told-you-so statements and merely expressed his happiness that the impasse was over.
There is another wrinkle to the replacement players issue. Had the 1995 season started with replacement players, and the Orioles participated in the sham, then Cal Ripken Jr.’s streak of consecutive games played would have come to an ignominious end. The resulting outcry would have been devastating to baseball and financially damaging to Baltimore in particular. Later that season, when Ripken surpassed Gehrig by playing in his 2,131st consecutive game on September 6, Angelos spared no expense by making the game one of baseball’s biggest events in years. It was a nationally broadcast game with special guests and a ceremonies before and during the game. No less a baseball icon than Joe DiMaggio was a special guest in Angelos’ owners box. “At my age, he is my baseball hero. Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio,” Angelos said.
Away from baseball, Angelos served on many boards in Baltimore and was dedicated to revitalizing the city’s downtown area. He bought the vacant Hamburger’s clothing store building in 1997 announced plans to transform it into a part of Johns Hopkins University’s campus. He also owned a number of race horses and bought Ross Valley Farm in Baltimore County as the home for his enterprise. The Baltimore Sun named him as its Man of the Year in 1998.
As it happens with any ownership group, there were some negative news stories. Angelos had a veteran baseball brain trust with the Orioles, including Roland Hemond, Frank Robinson and Doug Melvin. However, he relied on his sons, John and Lou, for baseball decisions. The boys reportedly played a big part in the team signing free agent closer Lee Smith, which was done over the objections of the team’s in-house experts. The departure of long-time broadcaster Jon Miller rankled fans, as did the resignation of manager Davey Johnson after leading Baltimore to back-to-back playoff appearances. Angelos’ hands-on approach to ownership didn’t mix with Johnson’s personality.
Angelos was willing to spend when necessary, as evidenced by the signing of Albert Belle to a 5-year, $65 million contract in December 1998, breaking his unwritten rule of limiting yearly salaries to about $7 million per year. Belle delivered quality play for just two seasons before injuries brought his career to an early end. Baltimore plays in the same division as the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, both of which were unafraid to sign superstars regardless of the price tags. Then there are the Tampa Bay Rays, who create winning teams consistently despite miniscule payrolls, and the Toronto Blue Jays, who have home-grown talent along with a wealthy corporate ownership. Baltimore was often the fifth-best team in a five-team division.
The team had its moments. Angelos arranged for the Orioles to play exhibition games against a team of Cuban All-Stars in Havana and Camden Yards in 1999. It was a controversial move but one that Angelos hoped would improve the relations between the two countries. He also fought the move of the Montreal Expos into Washington D.C., which was part of Baltimore’s market. Through his negotiations, the Orioles and Washington Nationals created the Mid Atlantic Sports Network, which carries both team’s games — and the Orioles get the majority of the profits.
In more recent years, the Orioles began to operate in a way that seemed contrary to Angelos’ original vision. In 1998, he flatly refused to dismantle a team that was clearly not bound for the postseason. “I’m not going to give the these fans a Triple-A team when I’m charging major-league prices,” he said. “I’m not going to strip the team for the sake of saving $1 million or $2 million. It’s nice to try and save. But if you save money in the process of creating a different team than you promised at the beginning of spring training, that’s not doing the right thing.” During the team’s playoff runs under Showalter, its star player was Manny Machado, an offensive juggernaut and an heir to Brooks Robinson‘s third base defensive wizardry. But he was traded to Los Angeles in 2018 in a trade deadline deal that brought back five prospects — only one of which, Dean Kremer, had a significant impact in Baltimore.
By then, the 88-year-old Angelos’ health was in decline, and his sons had more day-to-day responsibilities. They were aided by Brady Anderson, vice president of baseball operations and their advisor. In the 1998 offseason, Baltimore signed free agent pitchers Alex Cobb and Andrew Cashner and re-signed Chris Tillman, who won a combined 21 games over the next two seasons. By 2019, Major League Baseball requested that the Orioles state who exactly is in control of the club, indicating turmoil in the front office. By 2020, Louis Angelos filed a lawsuit against the rest of his family, hinting that John was looking to either sell the team or move it to Nashville. In the end, and in accordance with Peter Angelos’ wishes, the Baltimore Orioles were sold to an ownership group led by Rubenstein — a Baltimore native. The deal, estimated to be worth $1.725 billion, had Rubenstein’s group acquiring 40% of the team at the onset and then acquiring the rest of the family’s stake after Angelos’ death.
The job of baseball ownership is a thankless one, at least from a public relations standpoint. Failure to bring repeat World Series championships will result in a legion of upset fans. Angelos and his family had a mixed bag of success during their tenure. A World Series win, or even an AL pennant, never materialized, though the team reached the postseason six times. The 14-year losing stretch, along with more recent 100-loss seasons, were damaging to the fanbase. On the positive side, Angelos worked hard to minimize the long-term damage of the 1994-95 strike, in spite of the owners’ willingness to set the entire sport on fire to get a “win” in financial negotiations, and he created the best financial result possible for his team during the Washington Nationals move. After a series of executives and managers, the team settled on Mike Elias as general manager and Brandon Hyde as manager, and they look to be ideally suited for their roles. The Orioles have signed a 30-year lease at Camden Yards, eliminating any hint of leaving town. And even some of the dismal recent seasons brought the Orioles a wealth of young stars and prospects. The team won 101 games in 2023, and if the new ownership group is willing to spend to keep the young core together and supplement with some key free agents, the Baltimore Orioles may be in better shape for long-term success than any other team in Major League Baseball. The Peter Angelos Era ends on a high note.
For more information: Associated Press
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