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TonySoprano

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Everything posted by TonySoprano

  1. A piercing thought stopped Jim Palmer in the midst of a recent conversation covering his 61 years with the Orioles. He has never traveled to Baltimore for a baseball spring without knowing Brooks Robinson would be there. Robinson, who died in September, was more than a longtime teammate and hot corner hoover who kept runs off Palmer’s pitching ledger. “It was deeper than that,” Palmer said, thinking of the countless times Robinson and his wife, Connie, nurtured Palmer’s family with their kindness and wisdom. Such melancholic moments arrive more frequently now that Palmer is 78. He doesn’t look his age or sound it when he calls games in his fourth decade as an Orioles broadcaster. But he says goodbye to more friends every year. As the Orioles prepare to celebrate 70 years in Baltimore, Palmer is the living thread that binds all eras of the club’s history. He pitched for every Orioles team that made the World Series, accepted mentoring from the men who built the team’s culture and dispensed it to the generations that followed him. He remains a vital, candid voice connecting fans to the current Orioles, who pack so much youthful promise that they remind Palmer of the great teams from his pitching heyday. https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/03/25/orioles-70th-anniversary-jim-palmer/
  2. The Sun reported it yesterday. Sources with knowledge of the deal’s prospects previously told The Baltimore Sun the sale could take as few as six weeks (although it might take longer, the sources hedged). That would make the transaction quicker than other MLB sales and result in the new group taking over as owners before Baltimore’s opening day on March 28. https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/02/07/orioles-sale-mlb-ownership-committee/
  3. Springsteen rescheduled for this year. Maybe he was clued in to the owner change. Maybe the Rolling Bones will come here and dedicate this to Rubenstein
  4. I prefer to reheat pizza in oven at 375, but a quick hack is to put in a covered frying pan, toss in a couple ice cubes, and let steam. The best pizza to eat cold if you're in a hurry.......Ledo. Breakfast of ex-champions. I'm not a fan of any frozen pizza. Wegman's used to make decent pizza if you bought it fresh baked in the store. Different strokes for different folks I guess
  5. That's what the WSJ reported A press release had been drafted announcing the identity of the company that would replace the “Oriole” part of Oriole Park at Camden Yards, people familiar with the matter said.
  6. The WSJ doesn't say why the announcement was cancelled. "Angelos, whose family has owned the Orioles for three decades, had reached an agreement with T. Rowe Price, an investment management firm headquartered in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, people familiar with the matter said. A press release had been drafted announcing the identity of the company that would replace the “Oriole” part of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. It was scheduled to be blasted out on Tuesday. But it turns out that Angelos was also working on something else. It emerged last week that he is selling a controlling stake in the Orioles to a group of investors led by local private-equity billionaire David Rubenstein. T. Rowe Price, which thought that it was about to plaster its name around Camden Yards, didn’t know anything about a possible sale until learning about it in the initial news reports. The future of the Orioles’ naming-rights situation remains unclear, but the episode perfectly encapsulates the confounding saga that will almost certainly end with Rubenstein taking control of the organization. Even days before the sale was finalized, many stakeholders were kept in the dark by Angelos or only partially aware of the status of negotiations, including Major League Baseball and even government officials. " https://www.wsj.com/sports/baseball/baltimore-orioles-sale-camden-yards-angelos-rubenstein-80259dc0?mod=sports_lead_pos1
  7. I suppose that's more of the Milligan sense of..."humor" we've all come to know. This was a thread about renaming the ballpark. I don't know how you could read the WSJ article, which labeled it a "confounding saga," and believe that he is some laser focused hero going out with guns blazing. I've already expressed that the name should be left alone, but it's not worth going to the mattresses over.
  8. I wasn't the first one to quote WSJ and the "three year" sale negotiation in this thread. Also, from the WSJ - "Moore wasn’t completely blindsided by the sale—but not because Angelos had been looping him in. Instead, Moore had been communicating directly with Rubenstein in the weeks leading up to the deal, according to a person familiar with the governor’s correspondence. Afterward, Moore told reporters in Baltimore, “The transparency that was required, it was not there. It’s disappointing.” Would you describe the lease negotiations as "laser focused?" Two governors, around 34 months at least With the decision not to exercise the 5-year option, the club and stadium authority are left with 11 months until an extension signed in February 2021 expires. That deal was made when the original lease, dating to 1992, neared its end. https://www.baltimoresun.com/2023/02/01/orioles-to-decline-5-year-camden-yards-lease-extension-say-new-long-term-agreement-would-revitalize-stadium-district/ I guess you never had Ledo when it was in Adelphi. Before the franchise, people waited in long lines to get in on a Friday night. Even College Park Ledo, before it became just another franchise, was much better than any chain pizza. As to Pizza John's, you can buy their frozen pizzas in the store now. I'm also of Italian descent , and yeah, I've had pizza in Italy. My wife is from Jersey where every other block there's a pizza place better than Pizza John's. Finally, back on topic, let Kevin Plank put the UA name on the field, if there must be a sponsor. Is the $6M-$8M rumored in additional revenue worth it? I say, "no."
  9. As if I needed your permission to bad mouth the Angelos family. That's how I made my start here way too long ago. "Laser minded focus?" From the WSJ article - He negotiated on and off with Rubenstein for three years, frequently leaving people around him wondering where things stood and what his true intentions were. Three YEARS. So " laser focused" that his Governor pal is giving him five years to come up with a development plan. So "laser focused" that it took how many years to settle the 2016-21 MASN rights deal? As to the "laser focus" of the naming rights. I always bring receipts when talking about that family. According to the Baltimore Sun - "The Orioles won naming rights in 2001. A panel of arbitrators ordered the state to pay for stadium improvements to Camden Yards — and gave the Orioles naming rights — based on a clause in the team's lease that guarantees treatment comparable to that given the Ravens." At the time - John Angelos, the club's executive vice president and son of owner Peter Angelos, tweeted to fans last year: “No, there has never been nor is there any plan today to sell naming rights to Oriole Park at Camden Yards.” https://digitaledition.baltimoresun.com/tribune/article_popover.aspx?guid=7cfc2031-c22b-4a1e-9eca-c7596857a833 March, 2023 it was reported The Orioles have quietly been taking Camden Yards naming rights to market this year, according to sources. The nameplate being sold would apply to the field only (i.e. XYZ Field at Camden Yards). https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Morning-Buzz/2023/03/09/camden-yards-field-naming-rights.aspx
  10. Those big market Royals. Ticket prices are going to go up through the roof. Right, Fredo?
  11. Showalter could though.
  12. Courtesy of Brooks Robinson's sporting goods company, back in the day. Boog Powell reportedly hated the look. Finally, Mr. Rosenstein, if your people are listening, lose the flag roundel patch on the left sleeve and put the swinging bird logo in its place. Also, if you're going to keep the Friday O's cap, fix the stupid upside down apostrophe, or better yet, lose it altogether. Sincerely, your new pal, Soprano.
  13. For once, maybe, just maybe, I get a prediction correctly. The purchase of the Orioles by private equity billionaire David Rubenstein will be discussed by Major League Baseball owners at their meeting in Florida next week and is on track to be approved more quickly than similar team sales, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the deal’s prospects. Estimates of the Rubenstein timeline are as short as less than six weeks, but the sources cautioned that it could take longer. source - https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/02/02/mlbs-approval-process-for-orioles-sale-to-david-rubenstein-is-moving-rapidly/
  14. You're sure to dislike the T Rowe Price patch even more than the Nike logo. I know I will. To me, the best look they ever had, home and away, was in the WS era 69-71. Note the cream colored home jersey with the orange numerals and black lettering on the back. I expect we'll see the 1954 jersey throwbacks this year for the 70th anniversary.
  15. You go off on a tangent with Cease at the deadline. His salary was $5.3M; Burnes was $10.1M. To a team like the Orioles, where ownership doesn't give the GM an operating budget; yes even an extra $5M is a big difference. Are you saying that Elias was unaware of the ownership sale discussions over the past several weeks or more? That didn't come together overnight either. Not close. Even if you want to believe Elias was totally oblivious to all that, exploring a trade is what GMs do. He can do all the due diligence, but in the end, he still had to make his case to Fredo. We saw his father nix many deals over money. Could it be a coincidence the deal was approved two days after the ownership sale was approved? Sure. That said, Fredo was keeping payroll at or near the bottom of all MLB to facilitate a sale for the past few years. He now has a deal in place Here's the bigger question - does Fredo still approve the deal if he had no deal in place to sell the team? I say, "no." Far fetched would be answering "yes" to that question, but make your case why he agreed. Was it for the team legacy? Hah. Here's what we know. His development grift deal with the Governor was shot down by people paying attention to how taxpayer money was spent. Where would that money have gone? Orioles or Angelos? This is the same Fredo who tried to cry poor, put it off on the ticket paying public. Don't get too attached to Adley, Henderson and the future. Can't look in the books and see what percentage of revenue comes from attendance versus other sources. Well here are some estimates I wrote down on a napkin. Forbes estimates the Orioles 2023 revenue was *$264M, and it's been over $250M every year since 2017 with the exception of COVID 2020. In 2023, the average ticket price was around $34 with 1.93M going though the turnstiles. Ballpark, close to $200M in revenue wasn't ticket sales. * https://www.forbes.com/teams/baltimore-orioles/?sh=494c255076db
  16. How soon many forget 5 months ago John Angelos, in the NY Times, crying poor, trying to throw big words around like "existential" Without major changes, he sees only one way the team could retain all of its young stars. “We’re going to have to raise the prices here — dramatically,” he said. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/21/sports/baseball/john-angelos-orioles.html Now, he's had a change of heart, like Scrooge on Christmas morning, and is willing to open the team vault (just don't ask to see the books again)?? Burnes will require a 9 figure investment to retain after the season.
  17. In the past, Peter would ask what would it take to re-sign the player, clutch at his heart like Fred Sanford from the sticker shock, and nix the deal. His son, Fredo hasn't fallen far from the tree. Sorry @Frobby, Ellis wouldn't have pursued this deal if he didn't think there was a chance he could bring Burnes back.
  18. Actual headline on the Athletic "How Orioles’ trade for Corbin Burnes impacts Yankees’ outlook" to which I reply F'em. The moves the Yankees made this offseason in trading for Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo and Trent Grisham, plus signing starting pitcher Marcus Stroman in free agency, helped close the gap between them and the Orioles. But this trade for Burnes certainly helps push the momentum back in Baltimore’s direction because of how deep their roster already was. With a new ownership group on the way with deeper pockets than the Angelos family, a stacked farm system that features the No. 1 overall prospect in infielder Jackson Holliday and several young stars firmly established in the big leagues, the Orioles are going to be a problem for many years. This is just the beginning. https://theathletic.com/5246039/2024/02/02/orioles-corbin-burnes-trade-yankees-outlook/?source=freedailyemail&campaign=601983
  19. I prefer to view it as 2 Duke Pukes and object to the lack of any fellow Terps in the group. I assume approval is a formality as there as plenty of owners who won't miss the Angelos clan in their group.
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