Abstract
During the early 1950s, St. Louis Browns’ majority owner Bill Veeck had financial problems. After his team finished eighth and 46.5 games behind the American League (AL) New York Yankees in the 1953 Major League Baseball (MLB) season but then denied by AL officials to relocate the Browns to the city of Baltimore, Veeck sold his club for $2.5 million to a syndicate representing an area in southeast Maryland. Then for $850,000 he also sold dilapidated Sportsman’s Park to August Busch, the wealthy owner of the National League (NL) St. Louis Cardinals.
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- 1.
For the history and business of MLB teams, see Gerald W. Scully, The Business of Major League Baseball (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1989); James Quirk and Rodney D. Fort, Pay Dirt: The Business of Professional Team Sports (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992); and Frank P. Jozsa Jr., Baseball, Inc.: The National Pastime as Big Business (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2006).
- 2.
Besides the books in footnote 1, MLB clubs’ performances are available in “Teams,” http://www.mlb.com, cited 4 February 2015, and the Official Major League Baseball Fact Book 2005 Edition (St. Louis, MO: Sporting News, 2005).
- 3.
Because of controversy, suspicion, and uncertainty whether he lied to Congress after testing positive for steroids, former Orioles infielder and slugger Rafael Palmiero was not in the list of outstanding players. His career is examined in Frank P. Jozsa Jr., Baseball Beyond Borders: From Distant Lands to the Major Leagues (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2013).
- 4.
See the online article by Richard Justice, “Don’t Count Out Underdog Orioles in AL East,” http://www.orioles.mlb.com, cited 29 January 2015.
- 5.
“Biographical Information,” http://www.baseball-reference.com, cited 8 August 2015
- 6.
In addition to being an insufferable tyrant with whom no general manager wants to work, it seems Orioles owner Peter Angelos has also been a poor negotiator. He got entirely insufficient concessions from MLB in exchange for the league’s muscling in the former Montreal Expos into his market, making them, the Orioles, a permanent second act. See Bruce Schoenfeld, “The Complicated Peter Angelos,” SportsBusiness Journal (26 August 2013): 1; Matthew Kaminski, “Cross Country: The Money Feud Spicing up the Nationals-Orioles Rivalry,” Wall Street Journal (4 October 2014): A11; and William F. Yurasko, “SI’s Worst Owners List Includes Snyder, Lerners and Angelos,” http://www.yurasko.com, cited 1 February 2015.
- 7.
Jay Hancock, “Orioles Defy All Business Models,” http://www.baltsun.com, cited 1 February 2015
- 8.
This data is in “Major League Baseball Valuations,” http://www.bloomberg.com, cited 2 February 2015
- 9.
See “The Business of Baseball,” http://www.forbes.com, cited 28 January 2015. Revenue and operating income are for the 2013 season and net of revenue sharing and stadium debt service. Value of a team is the current stadium deal (unless a new stadium is pending) without deduction for debt (other than stadium debt). Revenue is net of stadium revenues used for debt payments. Operating income is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Debt/value includes stadium debts, player expenses include benefits and bonuses, and gate receipts include club seats.
- 10.
Paul Swaney, “2014 MLB Ballpark Experience Rankings,” http://www.stadiumjourney.com, cited 23 February 2015.
- 11.
Two publications to research and interpret about the Orioles franchise are “MLB Team Loyalty Winners and Losers,” http://www.brandkeys.com, cited 14 February 2015, and Barry Janoff, “Report: When It Comes to 2014 MLB Fans, the Most Loyal Group is the Cards,” http://www.nysportsjournalism.com, cited 23 February 2015.
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Jozsa, F.P. (2016). Baltimore Orioles. In: American League Franchises. SpringerBriefs in Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25996-3_1
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