BALTIMORE — The phrase was in all places. On placards positioned on the seats, the Baltimore Orioles’ scoreboard and everywhere in the group’s web site: The Subsequent Chapter.
For Baltimore, that’s precisely what Thursday’s Opening Day represented, as a brand new possession group — led by Baltimore native David Rubenstein — was formally unveiled to the media, making a day all the time charged with emotion one town will maybe always remember.
The reigning American League East champions, with reigning Supervisor of the Yr Brandon Hyde and reigning Government of the Yr Mike Elias, had new ace Corbin Burnes on the mound, the sort of frontline starter the Orioles have lengthy craved. The times of a downtrodden franchise, one which misplaced 100-plus video games thrice in 4 seasons from 2018 to 2021, really feel like yesteryear. The Angelos household stated goodbye formally Wednesday to a few a long time of possession, first by a unanimous vote by the opposite 29 MLB homeowners and later, in a personal, emotional altering of the guard.
That is the Orioles’ “Subsequent Chapter,” and it’s scary how good it appears.
There’s the on-field group and its successes, coming off a 100-win season for the primary time since 1980. The Orioles are brimming with younger expertise, from reigning Rookie of the Yr Gunnar Henderson to franchise cornerstone Adley Rutschman.
Baltimore has the highest farm system in baseball and a one-two punch with Hyde and Elias that led Rubenstein to quip to The Athletic earlier this week, “What am I going to inform these guys that they don’t already know?”
What Rubenstein can do, although, is make investments on this group.
He may give Elias the assets to signal free brokers, to carry the Orioles out of the underside of baseball’s payroll rankings and right into a extra respectable center floor.
He can discover a decision to the decades-long MASN dispute and safe a floor lease to develop the realm round Camden Yards right into a year-round vacation spot.
He can deliver again the mystique of being an Orioles fan, in a blue-collar metropolis the place the sounds of summer season are the cracking of crabs and the sound of the ball hitting the mitt.
Rubenstein is aware of this. He’s from right here, born and raised and a proud product of Baltimore public colleges. One among Rubenstein’s first strikes, including franchise icon Cal Ripken Jr. as a part of the brand new possession group, is the sort of slam dunk the earlier regime resisted.
“Baltimore is a novel metropolis,” Rubenstein stated. “I do know the pluses, I do know the minuses, I do know the challenges, I do know the alternatives. And now we have now a political group within the metropolis and the state that I feel can actually assist make this metropolis dwell as much as all of its potential. I hope the Orioles can play a small half in that. I hope what can occur is that the Orioles can, by successful, by unifying town, by recovering the sort of greatness that it had in 1966 or ’70 or (’83), we are able to win a World Sequence once more.”
Rubenstein was formally launched by Gov. Wes Moore, and the pair have a transparent rapport constructed from a friendship of greater than 20 years. They went to lunch Saturday to debate how one can get the bottom lease executed shortly, and Rubenstein, who cracked jokes and stored calling up others to share the stage, made it clear: He owns the Orioles, however they belong to town.
“That is greater than a baseball group,” Moore stated. “The Orioles are the soul of Baltimore. … This group reminds us of what we’re fabricated from.”
Moore spoke in what has been a tragic week for town and the state of Maryland within the wake of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. Each the information convention and the Orioles’ opening ceremonies featured a second of silence for the victims and first responders. The bridge collapsed early Tuesday morning after a container ship misplaced energy and crashed into it, sending folks and automobiles falling into the frigid Patapsco River.
The Orioles, who performed in entrance of no followers in 2015 as a consequence of civil unrest after the demise of Freddie Grey, have lifted a metropolis earlier than. However this 2024 group, which has reliable World Sequence aspirations, has an opportunity to depart an indelible mark on town as the start of what many in baseball view as a brewing dynasty.
“I do know the therapeutic energy of baseball,” stated Ares Administration co-founder/CEO Michael Arougheti, who’s a part of the possession group and referred to as Rubenstein a particular chief. Arougheti, whose dad and mom have been public college academics, stated the brand new possession group has “a deep sense of civic accountability to advance the franchise, to advance the neighborhood,” however greater than something, he and Rubenstein are aligned on one factor: successful.
“We’re collectively in our steadfast starvation to deliver a World Sequence championship again to Baltimore as quickly as attainable,” Arougheti stated.
The Orioles ushered of their “Subsequent Chapter” with an 11-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels, as Burnes dealt and the younger studs hit and a sellout crowd persistently bought to its toes.
“That is our 12 months!” yelled a fan clad head to toe in orange on a chilly, windy afternoon, the image of Opening Day hope.
Perhaps this “Subsequent Chapter” is extra than simply the joy of a brand new season and a contemporary slate. Perhaps this 12 months, one stuffed with expectations on the sector and blinding optimism off of it, belongs to town of Baltimore.
“I don’t need this to be the high-water mark,” Rubenstein stated. “I need the high-water mark to be within the fall after we go to the World Sequence and we present what we’re. A metropolis that helps a fantastic group … a metropolis that’s represented by a fantastic group. And we unify town in a approach that solely the Orioles can actually do.”
(Picture of Corbin Burnes: Greg Fiume / Getty Pictures)