To this point, David Rubenstein and his partners have hit all of the right notes as owners of the Baltimore Orioles.
Let’s qualify that for a second. As I write this column on March 31, they’ve officially been in charge for less than a week and weren’t able to say or do much publicly before they took control. It’s quite hard to screw things up in five days when inheriting a pretty good situation.
Adding to it, they come in with the benefit of juxtaposition. It’s often said that in coaching you never want to be the guy who replaced “The Guy.” Coaches who replace legendary figures are immediately and then forever measured against their predecessors. In that way, Rubenstein’s group is fortunate. Fair or not, the public perception of former Orioles point person John Angelos and the late Peter Angelos, specifically as baseball owners, is largely unfavorable. While there is some appreciation for various aspects of their tenure, the totality of the span is considered, at best, a disappointing stretch for the Orioles as a franchise.
Rubenstein’s group benefits from that because even neutral feelings toward ownership would be a net positive for most Orioles fans. Indifference would be a bit of a step up. And in a small dose so far, the feelings have gone beyond indifference.
The new owner has said the right things in the interviews he’s done and during his introductory comments. He’s referenced his upbringing in the city, continuously reminding Baltimoreans of his humble beginnings and education at City College. He’s taken the time to greet fans around the stadium (and in particular the legendary “Fancy Clancy” Haskett) and has spoken about his interest in eschewing the owner’s box to be with the people. His partners Michael Aroughetti, Mitchell Goldstein and Michael Smith even wandered over to Pickles Pub on Opening Day to buy beers for fans, which Dale Carnegie would probably agree is the single best way to win friends and influence people.
These are good things. Seriously. Rubenstein’s ability to call up significant details about Frank Robinson during an interview with Ryan Ripken reminds casual Orioles fans that the new boss cares passionately about the team. He’s repeatedly stated a goal to win a World Series, allowing fans to use it as a measurement. What a concept! I’m going to get to the part where we talk about what needs to happen next, but I don’t want to be dismissive of these gestures. This group has been prepared for the moment, and everyone involved is nailing it.
In fact, we’ve already gotten the first critical answer of the Rubenstein regime. In multiple interviews, he’s made it abundantly clear that he has no intention of disrupting what’s working on the baseball front. That feels like it should be a no-brainer, but wealthy people have a bit of a history of caring less about how things have worked and more about how they want them to work and who they want to have in place to make them work. (And in Rubenstein’s case we should probably have capitalized “wealthy.” Not the W. All of it.)
With all of that said, five years from now we won’t judge the owners by how many beers they purchased the fans or how many facts they can recite about legends of Baltimore baseball past. We will judge them by their ability to take the good situation they inherited and build it toward that World Series title they said they were working for.
Perhaps that World Series title will come immediately. Corbin Burnes and Grayson Rodriguez certainly set the tone nicely for a season that could prove to be historic. If not (and perhaps even if so), there will need to be reinforcements brought in to get the team over the proverbial hump. And even beyond winning a World Series, this fan base is desperate to see the next “Oriole for life.”
It is poignant that Cal Ripken Jr. is part of the ownership group because there is now a generation of baseball fans too young to know Ripken the baseball player, much like the previous generation was too young to know Jim Palmer or Brooks Robinson as baseball players. These men (along with Frank Robinson and Eddie Murray who played for other teams but who left indelible marks on the Orioles nonetheless) are the reason the Orioles are deemed as being one of the most significant franchises in the sport despite a World Series drought that has reached the “and counting” side of four decades.
And yet, there hasn’t been an Oriole for life since Ripken. There have been great players. Adam Jones is the closest we’ve had (and we were so lucky to have him), but he’s not a Hall of Fame-caliber baseball player. Manny Machado might be, but his short stint in Baltimore makes it hard to imagine he’ll be representing the Orioles on his Cooperstown cap, which apparently means he won’t be joining the Orioles legends with statues behind the bullpens at Camden Yards.
This fan base desperately wants the next player to join that fraternity and create stories to be passed down through generations. The current (and hopefully not so distant) roster appears to present hope that the next player could be coming. But there’s real reason to wonder if Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson or Jackson Holliday will be around long enough to join that group, either.
The question of Rubenstein’s financial commitment is double-edged. Orioles fans don’t want him to dramatically change what’s working. They’re hoping he might be able to make up the difference by merely bolstering the club. They’re hoping that boost could be both internal and external. Anecdotally speaking, most reasonable Orioles fans don’t think it’s reasonable to expect that Rubenstein could repeat the wild recent spending of Mets owner Steve Cohen, nor do they expect that. But they would like to at least see the franchise return to the top half of spending, similar to the stretch of success found between 2012-2016.
In interviews so far, Rubenstein has deferred the question about spending to general manager Mike Elias. Well, he’s deferred to the idea that he needs to have more in-depth conversations with Elias before committing to the idea. Which is probably fair, although at the same time it’s more than a little difficult to fathom those conversations haven’t already taken place. It’s possible he just doesn’t want to discuss issues that are still hypothetical at the moment.
Then again, so is winning a World Series. And I would posit that in the same way fans want to hear their owner speak so directly about that possibility, they’d also like to hear their owner speak directly about the possibility of spending money. Promises don’t have to be made, but something as simple as “when an opportunity makes sense, we’ll be willing to spend money.”
But whether spoken or not, that remains the next true measuring stick for these owners. They want to get the ground lease done with the state for whatever the “Ballpark Village” might be for the area surrounding Camden Yards. I acknowledge the significance of that. But “do they spend money to close the gap, fortify the team or keep players around?” is truly the first and most significant way this group will be judged moving forward.
Not that buying a few more beverages would hurt.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox