As with every new spring, most of the 39,055 fans were optimistic on Opening Day, even for a team that has yet to post a winning record since it moved here in 2005.
"I'm still thrilled, no matter how low the quality of the team, that Washington has a baseball team," said David Dreyer, a longtime D.C. resident.
Opening Day at Nationals Park this year may not include a win for our beloved basement dwellers, but it will give fans more chances to drown their sorrows.
The Bullpen, the outdoor bar, music and food joint that has operated across the street from the center field gates on Half Street, has announced plans to open a beer garden on the same block, according to the blog JDLand.
Rick Currence, owner of Sports Card Heroes in Laurel, will be exhibiting at the National Sports Collectors Convention beginning Wednesday at the Baltimore Convention Center.The 31st annual National Sports Collectors Convention begins in Baltimore on Wednesday, and the uncertain economic climate hasn’t dampened enthusiasm for a sometimes pricey industry — local collectors say this is still one of their busiest weeks of the year.
Exhibitors say the demand for sports memorabilia since the 2008 recession has gone two ways — while interest has dropped for the “manufactured” memorabilia, the value of the more rare items has increased.
“We didn’t see a change in interest in the older, true collectible stuff,” said Bill Huggins, co-owner of Huggins & Scott Auctions in Silver Spring. “The ‘true’ stuff is stuff usually [manufactured before] 1970 and it didn’t have a value before. Hence if you’re cleaning out your house, those are first things that get thrown away. Those have really held value through the economic recession.”
The items that have taken a bigger hit are collectibles like limited edition prints or autographed items that don’t have historical significance. (Think Nolan Reimold bobble-heads.)
How big is Washington Nationals rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg?
He’s big enough to sell out Nationals Park days in advance of his scheduled major league debut Tuesday night.
The 100-mph-fastball pitcher is big enough to catapult ad sales — and rates — on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network for his expected starts this month.
The 21-year-old phenom is even big enough to inspire 249-year-old Strasburg, Va. to rename itself (if only temporarily) Stephen Strasburg, Va.
Simply put, expectations have soared beyond Earth’s gravitational pull and the money is already flowing — all before Strasburg throws his first big league pitch.
No one knows if Strasburg’s on-the-field performance will live up to the hype, but the Nationals are already starting to reap the financial benefits after signing him to a $15.1 million contract — highest ever for a rookie — last August.
By Liz Farmer
Daily Record Business Writer
With the chill of a particularly brutal winter finally replaced by warm sun and blue skies, it’s almost natural for most baseball fans to greet the start of baseball season with at least a glimmer of optimism and good spirits.
On the other hand, if you’re an Orioles fan who has endured a dozen straight losing seasons, that cupboard is pretty bare.
But there seems to be a buzz this spring in Baltimore that hasn’t been heard in years, and it’s not about wins and losses. It’s about the team and its future.
While many say it’ll still take time for the chatter to translate into bodies in the seats at Camden Yards, an average of 1,000 more fans per game are showing up at spring training games this year, an excitement that’s also fueled by the team’s new location in Sarasota. And some say the team, which opens its season on the road Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Rays, and its fans are heading to better days.
It’s not that the Orioles are selling hope and optimism inspired by a fresh start and everybody’s just happy to buy it — they’re selling a plan for the franchise that at least some Baltimoreans say they can believe in.
By Liz Farmer
Daily Record Business Writer
Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos just purchased Boccaccio Restaurant in Little Italy, which has been the site of key meetings for him over the yearsOrioles owner Peter G. Angelos is the new owner of Boccaccio Restaurant in Little Italy, an establishment in which he once was a regular fixture.
A representative who bought the property at Wednesday’s auction for $1.45 million was there on behalf of Angelos, said Andrew L. Billig, of A.J. Billig & Co. Auctioneers. Billig had declined to name the buyer — at Angelos’ request — Wednesday.
Angelos was friends with the restaurant’s owner, Giovanni Rigato, who opened the upscale Italian restaurant known for its cuisine and extensive wine selection in 1992. Boccaccio closed shortly after Rigato’s death in August 2008.
“Although he frequented a number of places, I think it’s fair to say it was his favorite place,” said Gerald E. Evans, an Annapolis lobbyist and longtime friend of Angelos. “I know it’s a labor of love for him buying that place.”
Angelos, who is also known as a master litigator and a major player in downtown real estate, was not available for comment.
By Liz Farmer
Daily Record Business Writer
After months without a sportscaster of its own, Baltimore’s WMAR has turned to a local sports media company to produce sports segments on its nightly television newscasts — a move some say is a financial win for both companies but a potential loss for viewers.
PressBox, a Baltimore company with a monthly newspaper, a Web site, and weekly television and radio shows, started producing the script and voiceover for WMAR’s sportscasts more than a week ago and plans to officially announce the new relationship Monday.
A handful of PressBox writers — including company founder Stan “The Fan” Charles and managing editor Kevin Heitz — serve as the nightly voice of the sportscast. A 90-second voiceover of highlights and news is recorded and sent to WMAR, where the video is later edited in and aired during the 11 p.m. newscast.
By Liz Farmer
Daily Record Business Writer
The Ravens’ M&T Bank Stadium is dark, pitchers and catchers report in 29 days and Baltimore Orioles’ baseball season unofficially kicks off this weekend with the first wintertime FanFest in four years.
Saturday marks the event’s return to the Baltimore Convention Center, its home until 2007. That year, FanFest was moved to Oriole Park at Camden Yards and held just before Opening Day due to a conflict with a Ravens home playoff game.
Sports marketers say the move back to January is a better one for the team because FanFest will coincide with the launch of single-game ticket sales and gets fans into baseball season early.
Joseph Geier manages the investments for about 60 retired and current athletes.Last year’s stock market plunge, which saw many investment portfolios lose nearly half their value, has caused some retired athletes to make living adjustments and is proving a cautionary tale to those still in the game, advisors to professional and retired athletes say. LIZ FARMER
Daily Record Business Writer
July 2, 2009 4:06 PM
What the Peter G. Angelos name means in Baltimore depends on whom you ask.
Angelos, who turns 80 on Saturday, is a legal giant — a civic white knight who became the “king of asbestos” in the 1980s, securing $1 billion in settlements for tens of thousands of union workers he has represented for nearly 50 years and identified with his entire life.
He’s also the businessman who some say is suffocating the very baseball team he set out to restore as a source of pride for his adopted city.
A multimillionaire, Angelos could be living in the lap of luxury and enjoying retirement. Instead, the son of Greek immigrants spends six days a week in the office and is just as hands-on with his business ventures as he was decades ago.
LIZ FARMER
Daily Record Business Writer
July 2, 2009 4:15 PM
Looking around Peter G. Angelos’ office on the 22nd floor of One Charles Center, you’d never guess he had anything to do with the Baltimore Orioles.
The tiny clues are practically drowned out by the brilliantly distracting view of the Inner Harbor, the artwork on the walls and the display shelves that house statues and honors from legal and horsemen’s associations.
If you’re looking for something to tell you he’s the owner of Baltimore’s oldest franchise, there’s a notepad with a Major League Baseball logo on his desk and a couple of baseball-related books stacked behind his desk. That’s it.
“I’d insist [people] refer to me as a competent lawyer first,” he said when asked how he wanted to be remembered. “The Orioles are strictly secondary. Or maybe third or fourth.”
But like it or not, that’s not how Baltimore’s baseball fans see it. Angelos says he and his ownership group bought the team to ensure it would remain controlled by Baltimoreans, but many say his micromanaging style has turned a perennial winner into a perennial disappointment.
Ian Oland, left, and Daniel Moroz, co-founders of mattwietersfacts.com, a blog dedicated to Baltimore Orioles newest catcher Matt Wieters.“Clearly for someone who’s yet to have an at-bat in the major leagues, the hype is enormous,” said Orioles spokesman Greg Bader. 
Vendor Jay Smith, of Philadelphia, said he usually sells ‘a couple hundred’ soft pretzels at an event, ‘but Orioles [games] are usually below average for me.’“I’ll normally sell a couple hundred [pretzels] at an event, but Orioles [games] are usually below average for me,” said Jay Smith, a Philadelphia-based pretzel vendor who has been in the business for nearly a half century. 
John Maroon: ‘So what we want people to think of is Nick [Markakis] is a guy that cares about Maryland and is an outstanding baseball player — which is what people here think now — and continue that on a national scale.’His future in Baltimore no longer a question mark, Markakis has hired a local firm to build his brand and catapult him into the national sports scene. 
Orioles spokesman Greg Bader: ‘Fans are less willing to commit those dollars upfront to specific games during the course of the year. They might be more willing to do that when the economy is strong.’year that the Orioles host the Yankees or the Boston Red Sox — which both draw sizable contingents of out-of-town fans. 
Bryan Krandle, in-game entertainment manager for the Orioles, works the high-definition scoreboard at Camden Yards from the stadium’s new control room.On Tuesday, after two off-seasons of work and an investment of approximately $9.1 million from the Maryland Stadium Authority, team officials unveiled the completed control room, which can now play high definition video and sound. If you’ve been to a University of Maryland football game in College Park, you’ve heard him. If you saw the school’s basketball team play Sunday at the BB&T Classic tournament in Washington, D.C., you know his voice.
In fact, Philip R. Hochberg has been announcing area ballgames over public address systems longer than he’s been practicing law. To many, the sports attorney’s voice, which called Washington Redskins games and the Senators from their first game to their last in D.C.’s RFK Stadium, has been synonymous with major sporting events in the area for almost a half century.
