Remembering Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos following his passing

Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos has died at the age of 94. Angelos, who has been ill for several years, purchased the Orioles in 1993 and had remained in control of the team until 2019 when his health would no longer allow him to run the day to day business.

Angelos was born on July 4, 1929 in Pittsburgh, PA, but grew up in the city of Baltimore. He stayed for college and law school, attending the University of Baltimore and the University of Baltimore School of Law. He became a very successful trial lawyer, most notably winning over $1 billion in settlements against asbestos companies in 1992.

In 1993, Angelos led a group of investors in the purchase of the Baltimore Orioles for $173 million, the largest price paid for a sports franchise at that time. Angelos allowed the front office to be very aggressive and brought many popular players to the Orioles that are still talked about today. Players like Rafael Palmiero, Roberto Alomar, Jimmy Key, David Wells, BJ Surhoff, Bobby Bonilla, and many others were all brought in and helped the Orioles return to the playoffs in 1996. Many of them were there in 1997 when the Orioles went wire to wire and won the AL East.

Opinions on Angelos as an owner vary greatly. In 2009, he was named the worst owner in baseball by an article in Sports Illustrated, but long time Oriole player and employee Brady Anderson considered Angelos “one of the best people I know, one of the best characters, somebody I’m intensely loyal to, always will be.”

Earlier this year John Angelos, who took over the day to day responsibilities of running the Orioles in 2019, agreed to sell the team to a group led by David Rubenstein. The deal, which has not yet been approved by MLB, said the new ownership group will own 40% of the franchise from the start, but planned to officially purchase the remaining 60% upon Angelos' passing.

The Angelos family issued a statement confirming the death of Peter Angelos and stated that they intend to have a private funeral.