With the Orioles playing with a year-to-year lease and seeking unspoken improvements near Camden Yards from Governor Wes Moore, Mike Rosenfeld tells Nestor about what he saw on the north side of Chicago during the Birds recent weekend at Wrigley Field.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
orioles, years, team, atlanta, angelo, game, stadium, money, john, give, camden yards, people, baltimore, live, owings mills, built, questions, talked, bars, ballpark
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Mike Rosenfeld
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
W N st Towson, Baltimore and Baltimore positive reminding you set us on your dial today and 57 If you haven’t, well after 25 years, you’re gonna be celebrating 25 years I’m wearing my cost the shirt about pappy shirt on early Ruby Costas on August the third August. The third is our 25th anniversary. We’re going to be broadcasting giving away Maryland lottery tickets amidst the scratch offs. We’re going to be spirits West this week over Wilkins Avenue as well. It’s all brought to you by our friends at window nations Well, 866 90 nation you buy two, you get two free and 0% financing for two years. If you purchase now. And you know, I’ve been watching baseball, loose, gonna be at the ballpark all weekend to America stuff. If you’ve been listening. It’s not because I’m bored or because I’m a media prick. It’s because the state is about to give John Angelos in the Angelo’s family and the next ownership group and the value billions of dollars into perpetuity. There you like 30 years into this. I talked about this at length last week, and it sort of opened an old wound about media coverage accountability billionaires, we talked about the Saudi prince and golf last week with John Feinstein talk this week with Bill call. Mike Rosenfeld from web connection is our Chief Digital Officer here and he’s also a poop star. Good. You got me started before I went on vacation on this. Where is the baseball stadium lease thing? And it’s gotten me churning and I’m talking more about it now. And then you went out to Chicago Orioles over the weekend and I pick up one out of the three in Chicago. I haven’t been to Wrigley since Pearl Jam. 17 Maybe so it’s been a couple of years since I’ve been the Wrigley Field to see everything that’s happening around there. But I went and 17 and I’ve been going to Wrigley since 1989 88. I’ve been going to Wrigley the what’s happened there. It’s easy for John Angelos to take Westmore out there and run them around and say, Hey, we can do this. Let’s do this. Give me the money. Give me Give me Give me Give me Give me. You saw it in play. They’re serious out there about making money in the north side, aren’t they?
Mike Rosenfeld 02:14
I mean, it was it was. It was nice. First of all was a perfect day. 75 degrees. I hadn’t been there for baseball game in decades.
Nestor Aparicio 02:24
Which game did you go to?
Mike Rosenfeld 02:26
I went to the second game was run by one run. And
Nestor Aparicio 02:31
it’s all it’s fine on the air. I believe we’ve had dogs all week if you’re quarantine with your dog and your dog barks we’re gonna live through this.
Mike Rosenfeld 02:38
Okay, you got it. You saw the panic that you saw the panic in my face. But yeah, it’s inevitable of Yoda or scream of barking is gonna
Nestor Aparicio 02:47
that’s fine. You got dogs. What kind of dog? Yeah,
Mike Rosenfeld 02:49
I have mine is a small little kavas shine they call but he’s like a retriever athletic. And then I got a golden doodle that’s at the door about the bark. We
Nestor Aparicio 02:59
don’t play pickleball
Mike Rosenfeld 03:01
neither pet they came up. They don’t have opposable thumbs, so they can’t hold the racket.
Nestor Aparicio 03:07
Alright, enough. Anyway, she went to Chicago and I was also
Mike Rosenfeld 03:11
we took a Uber stop blocks away. So I was just in regular neighborhood. I have my
Nestor Aparicio 03:19
pizza joint. You didn’t take my advice, did you?
Mike Rosenfeld 03:20
Oh, I didn’t have time. Damon. That’s time. That’s time for anybody.
Nestor Aparicio 03:24
Chicago. I lived in Chicago for a couple years on and off, right? Pequots PE quod and just saying it to you, again, makes me want to get on a plane and find some stupid reason to go to Chicago, just to get it.
Mike Rosenfeld 03:41
Not that you needed the affirmation, but my son’s a bit of a foodie. And he, of course, cooperated that that spot is for real, so we’ll have to add it to the
Nestor Aparicio 03:50
sausage.
Mike Rosenfeld 03:53
Anyway, you four sides, you know, we have our you know, pickles and, you know, four bars side by side, which I think is awesome. And I love the vibe
Nestor Aparicio 04:05
of the coffee bear still there. I drank the coffee bear.
Mike Rosenfeld 04:07
Yeah, they have. I mean, serious, serious, you know, rooftop deck.
Nestor Aparicio 04:13
It’s a serious bar scene. It’s it’s the most serious neighborhood bar scene you will ever see in your life, anywhere in the world. And I mean that, like around a sporting event. There’s nothing like it in soccer. There’s nothing like it. It’s certainly in this country where the tailgate doesn’t exist, because there is no parking. There are only bars and a McDonald’s.
Mike Rosenfeld 04:39
Well, for those people who aren’t familiar, there’s a town. It’s Wrigleyville is the name of the area. Imagine Camden Ville where beyond just those four bars.
Nestor Aparicio 04:49
Oh man, you’re sounding like John Angelos with his feet up on West Moore’s desk. Holy owl. Listen to you can Denville holy owl
Mike Rosenfeld 04:58
come up with something good happens. I want you to take
Nestor Aparicio 05:01
a turn. They could make Baltimore Peninsula thing. You know, we we could turn Otterbein in or Andersonville?
Mike Rosenfeld 05:10
I’ve been I’ve been getting involved with what’s going on in the city. I don’t think a lot of people know this but but there’s a development that’s in the works. I don’t know if they’ve broken ground yet from the casino. There’s road there. I don’t know what the name of the road is. But there
Nestor Aparicio 05:27
was where the box was and where the bus station was. They’re
Mike Rosenfeld 05:31
going and they’re developing bars and nightclubs and a smaller concert venue like, you know, like a hammer jack back in the day. All the way to rave to the to the m&t Bank Stadium.
Nestor Aparicio 05:44
Cincinnati has that Cincinnati built literally bars that link the two stadiums, right? So the water, it’s a little more sexy, but they don’t really use the water as well as they could I mean, right.
Mike Rosenfeld 05:58
So that’s happening. You know, Port Covington is around that area, you know, and they’re going to, you know, imagine have restaurants bars and things like that. I know what Angeles is looking for is the things directly, you know, connecting you know, Pratt and Utah and although
Nestor Aparicio 06:13
they were I mean come on is old man was looking for the hotel, right? Right hotel space, right did the firewalk with Tony Robbins during the HFS of all that the Red Hot Chili Peppers played. And Angelo’s never got that land. He you know, he had rosecroft he was trying to get casinos and he was trying to build in Cuba, which is why he was he’s the only American in our lifetime that went down and sat next to Fidel Castro think about that think just think about that. went and hung out with Castro for fun for different casinos, basically to spread the American joy of baseball, but I mean, I was there it was it was about Peter thinking he was gonna be was it the high was the guy from the 50s in Miami. What was his name? I don’t know. Anyway, all the movies, but but nonetheless. The notion that the land around the stadium and what pickles is that the Orioles would love to put pickles out of business and be pickles. Right that’s that’s Fenway Park Fenway Park bought the alley right Lansdowne Street and all that area around there they own all the concessions out in the alley because they bought all of that I like the Orioles one thing that Angela she’s gonna things Angelo’s is wrecked my god the list is including the Orioles. But I mean completely destroyed the sports legends Museum. The whole concept of the sports legends Museum and the Jeppe museum was that Peter hated them always because they were competitive to him. And he didn’t own it. And it wasn’t his and he couldn’t have it. And it wasn’t gifted to him as part of the stadium authority thing that happened beforehand. So but he had the warehouse and the camping club and the bricks out on the block waiver boots. Boots BBQ was supposed to be a 365 day a year P stand that you that you can come down and park your car, bring the kids on Saturday and and have a pit beef in February like literally, I was around I worked at the paper then I like was on the radio like what the vision for it was disappeared. The minute Angelo’s bought the team, it was that until the All Star Game Angeles bought the team then there was a strike. Right? And then all of that went away because Angeles Fire John Miller and John Lowenstein, and people like Rick Vaughn, who was a guest on my show this week, disappeared. I mean, all the good people disappeared, and all the good ideas went with them. And this is what we’ve had. I mean, literally, the ideas of Peter Angelos and his wife, and whatever you could get away with was the and judging every paper clip. And I mean, that’s who these people have been for 30 years. So there’s been no progress. I mean, they’re really I mean, other than them getting the state to pay for a deck to drink beer on in centerfield and having to state pay to move the fences back so that they could get better pitchers. And Elias went through all that Alaska last couple years. But this is we’re not talking about adding an outfield deck or getting rid of seats in left field and adding whatever the hell they would add up there to make money. We’re talking about like the neighborhood, right. I mean, that’s really what’s at stake here. That’s why John Angelos is flying Westmore, to Atlanta. That’s why and Wes really offended me this week. And I’m going to tell him he offended me because politicians can offend me. I got a text from from one of his votes give me money people. And it was him wearing an oriental Jersey saying he’s sending the text with the same energy brought to the Orioles game last week and asking me for money. And I’m thinking to myself, are you in the bag on this? Are you going to negotiate for the like I say Angeles? What’s Angela’s gonna get? Because the threat is Nashville and the threat is there’s no lease and the team’s winning, and I have a good team and it’s worth $1,000,000,000.02 and a half billion dollars probably. And what is the future and the future is what you saw in China. or at least in John Angeles, his mind, right, especially in regard to gambling?
Mike Rosenfeld 10:03
Well, let me take a step back because you just said something that I was not on the same page, but because I may have been mistaken. When I was in Wrigleyville, all the hooks it appeared to me the hotels, the restaurants, the bars, the all the entertainment options were privately owned. So,
Nestor Aparicio 10:28
some are some are not. Okay. So, you know, like, like, if, like the, the Chitra Tribune Company, go back and look at the reputation of the Tribune Company in regard to owning the Cubs for 40 years, right. Like, just, I remember going out there 30 years ago, with a buddy of mine to go to a game in the 90s. And I’ll never forget this. I’m out. I’m standing on the street and the facades out there. And it was a dump, I mean, still kind of a dump. I mean, it’s not, I don’t love going to games there. I’ve never, I’ve been to a million games there. It’s it’s Fenway parks, equally uncomfortable, much better. It’s not one of my favorite places, but been there many times and sat all over the stadium. But when I went there, it was the first time I felt a little weirdly scalped. So when I went up, this was their legitimate ticket thing on the window. This is before they started scalping their own tickets, other teams, they were the first thing to really scout their own tickets. Because if you wanted to sit in the bleachers, the bleachers were more expensive than the box seats. Because there was demand for them to be a bleacher balm and the rep. Like literally when I went out there, the bleachers were 20 box, and the box seats were 18. And the upper decks were 12, or whatever the number was it it was more than that, I think, I think it was 30 bucks to sit in the bleachers when it was eight bucks to sit in the bleachers anywhere else in the league, because they were really, you want to sit there and go pay a premium to go have the worst seat because it’s the seat everybody wants and the cops were the first people I saw do that. That being said, the last time I was out there, the things that I noticed was parking, garages, garage spaces, things stacking up on top of things that look to be big money, not look to be the copy bears people’s money. And even that, that house across the street that everybody would rent out and sit when Sammy Sosa was doing that. Pretty sure the club’s own all that now. Pretty sure they do.
Mike Rosenfeld 12:24
That’s interesting. Well, is it your understanding, and if we don’t know we don’t know that what they’ve done in Atlanta, which I know is a thing, but I I’ve not been there. So
Nestor Aparicio 12:35
different kind of thing. The thing in Atlanta, that is more like if you can envision when they got rid of Owings Mills Mall, when they when it was just done. And they’re trying to figure out this new Marriott and all the stuff they were doing when it’s just like, it can’t be a mall anymore. Saks Fifth Avenue is gone. It’s not a mall. It’s a giant piece of land. It’s at the end of a freeway, if you would consider that piece of land to be honest to God, where the Country Club is at would home next to 695. So if you Google Map Atlanta, and you see the northwest side and think it were Pikesville and Owings Mills would be and take the piece of land where the beltway meets. So we wouldn’t really be Owings Mills is that kind of land, but five miles closer in at the beltway, they literally have taken this giant White Marsh, literally White Marsh and made it the thing that the stadium is the mall and everything around it. Every restaurant, a community dual purpose living a condo what is essentially at the Harris Teeter at Fort McHenry row. That concept with a stadium around it and a lot more iron roosters and, you know, Sam most restaurants and Dunkin Donuts with a lot more of that in the community. And they have built it. You know what it is? It’s port Covington with a stadium. It’s port Covington with the baseball stadium in it. That’s what Atlanta is, but not in a city in Pikesville.
Mike Rosenfeld 14:16
But the Braves don’t own 100% of the businesses what
Nestor Aparicio 14:19
the Braves did was and they’re you know they’re corporately owned. It’s not Ted Turner anymore, right. They put together a plan to steal away the franchise from Brandon Scott. To Johnny. Oh, right. They went from the city to the county. They pitted Stuart Pittman Calvin Ball, Johnny Oh, against Brandon Scott right to move the team out of Atlanta because there were quite frankly black people in no no transportation and all the rich white people wanted the team out in suburbs. Facts it’s Atlanta look it up. And you follow their elections in their politics but They They literally got the county to say, Well, what the hell else are we going to do with Whitemarsh? Or Owings Mills? Well, you know what else we gonna build here? Let’s build a stadium. Let’s give it away. And let’s build that everybody want to live here. There’ll be competitive Delta, we’ll put his name on the stadium. And their MX Atlanta’s a real place now. I mean, it’s not Cincinnati, it’s not Baltimore, it’s I mean, we’re talking about a place with a lot of money and a lot of people a lot of spread and, and a lot of putting economic potential by moving it out to the county. And that’s what they did. And they built a I mean, if you go in and Google Map it and just see what’s around it, how many Buffalo Wild Wings and like, you know, where it’s, it’s done where you can get in the car and drive you and I go down there right now. We will go down there to see Billy Joel or, or Bruce Springsteen, the NATs Park, have you been down there lately? I have. That’s what John Angelos wants to make Camden Yards, a centerpiece of which is a whole bunch of new buildings and new things. But I would think John Angelo’s his real concern here has to be the gambling money. And how that I mean, that’s the cops. Right. Everything I saw at Chicago this weekend was, let’s see our new bedding parlor. Yeah, I mean, that’s, that’s where the money is. But where the the Sheikh is, is in the jobs, living housing, movie theater. There’ll be people here on a Tuesday night in February, not watching our games once from spring training on television, cuz we don’t put them on in the casino. But you can gamble on it. So maybe you’ll have more now. I’m being I’m being a jerk. But I’m not. I mean, like, I’ve been to all these places. I’ve seen all these things. You saw Chicago, you see DC. And then you come to Camden Yards, and they’re sort of pickles pub and some things that used to be available, right? I mean, like that. That’s literally we were a tailgating city, historically for football, but not for baseball.
Mike Rosenfeld 16:56
Right? Well, so I’m asking you questions like you know, you I think you’re definitely much more positioned or the answers to these if you don’t know me don’t know,
Nestor Aparicio 17:04
I don’t know, I’m I’m here to get them. But that’s what I told
Mike Rosenfeld 17:07
me about Atlanta. I didn’t know. So when, when the governor is going with Angelo’s to see what they’ve done in Atlanta, it’s not to move the stadium out to the suburbs. It’s to see what they’ve done around them with the goal of keeping Camden Yards where it is but building around it correct. Is that your understanding?
Nestor Aparicio 17:29
Oh, well, utilizing the space around there to make it more of a venue destination. But if you if you look, it’s called Cumberland, Georgia. It literally the perimeter is their beltway. It’s what that’s their belt was called the perimeter. It’s at the perimeter and interstate 75 flowing northwest to Marietta, which is a very well placed, you know, the money in Atlanta is to the north and to the west. And so they truest Park is the name of it. There’s an Omni Hotel there at the battery. There’s a yard house. There’s a super super Sirika TexMex l super pond, Latino kitchen bar wall burgers. There’s a Far East Asian there’s a Jenny spoon and she is splendid, Jenny splendid ice creams. There’s a Mac Mickey. There’s a burn by Rocky Patel. There’s an escape game Atlanta, there’s parking lots. There’s an antique pizza at the Battery Park. There’s a hamburger joint. And there’s living space. There’s an Indian restaurant, there’s a Dunkin Donuts. There’s tons of places you can live in this community and work and play in this community while you walk to the game. You know, Phil’s right not not in Camden Ville?
Mike Rosenfeld 18:44
Well, that’s what I’m doing. I just on my other screen, I pulled up Google Earth and I’m looking at Camden Yards. And I’m looking at the possible real estate that’s available to develop. I mean, you have a lot. There’s a parking lot. There’s also there’s, look, there’s eminent domain. There’s there’s, you know, South PACA Street and Iceland street and you know, between Washington Boulevard and and the highway. I mean, you have to take that over. I mean, whereas is there’s a hospital, you’re not going to remove that there’s a there’s a there’s a convention center, you’re not going to move that Where are you putting all this
Nestor Aparicio 19:18
stuff? Hey, man dreams a dream. You know,
Mike Rosenfeld 19:21
I mean, that’s where I’m
Nestor Aparicio 19:23
John Angelo’s. No, no offense, the John Angelo’s here and I’m not even being, you know, kerchief, I just, he’s gonna try to get it, whatever he can get. Whatever his idea is, he hasn’t pitched his idea to me. He hasn’t come on the air with me and sat here with me and you and said, Hey, so you won’t tax people’s money. Tell us what awesome thing. Give us your awesome idea. What is your awesome idea, dude? Like I’ve been to these places. I mean, he treated Dan Connolly like dirt. Like he’s gonna speak to me. Like I haven’t been to 30 stadiums in 30 days. Imagine that. Imagine that. Right? So like, I’ve been to all these places. I’ve seen the promise. Hey, Mike little I’ll share a little dirty secret with you i something I probably have never said on the air. I lost a lot of money on a real estate investment 15 years ago, right when the market crashed bad things happen the radio station is that right? My wife and I were looking to buy in another place by second home, right? We wound up buying some place that in Vegas and we shouldn’t have and it was bad, whatever. But we look to buy in San Diego. And the reason we looked at buying San Diego is we you’ve been there and where we look to buy was in the ballpark community because we thought rental be their city the things we like it was coming on. The Padres now invest the big time Machado these players right to make it. They don’t have a television network crazy enough. But if you’ve been to San Diego and seeing that, that that stadium was the anchor to get everything else done around it, right, like I mean, there are dozens of high rise buildings. They came because the Padres stayed in San Diego, and wound up at Petco Park, which was a corrupt operation, they had to shut the construction down. They had all sorts of sopranos ish going on. Google it, there was, I mean, it’s what led to the Chargers leaving, they lost all confidence in in all the politics for sports there. It’s how the Chargers left because the Padres mood was so filthy, and how it went down. But that being said, if you fly to San Diego right now, which I almost did a couple weeks ago, you’ll go to downtown San Diego, and you will see this very mature neighborhood with pretty girls and beachy boys and dogs walking through, you’re probably also going to see places where the condos that they wanted 600 grand for me, then are still worth 580 Because I don’t think with nine and a half percent tax in California and you know, I can go all Republican on you here and you know, piss on California and all that. But I don’t know that it was would have been a better or worse investment in any way than anything else. That was a bad investment in 2008 when the market crashed in nine, right and money went away. But that being said, they built that to be that and look, if I own the team, or if John Angelos employed me to say take Wes Moore around and show him what we could do here. When I could take him to these places, but to your point until we fix crime in the city, and that’s what John Angeles is gonna say if he threatens to move the team until we fix crime in the city, you know, nobody’s gonna come to my ballpark. And that was the issue in Atlanta. I mean, it wasn’t pitched as racist, but it was friggin way racist. In Atlanta. We’re 50 years later, they’re still getting over Hank Aaron’s color. You know, like, I, they move the team to where the white people were in Atlanta. That’s literally what they did. So I don’t think that’s an option here. I don’t need it. But nothing’s off the table. It’s yeah. And he sued. He sued his brother and open. I mean, he lied to the media the one time he came out of his turtle shell on Martin Luther King Day, and tried to use it as a deflection to answer legitimate questions, legitimate press conference. So we’re not dealing with a man of integrity here or a family of integrity here. You know, we’re dealing with what we’re dealing with. Now, that being said, he’s dealing with what he’s dealing with, which are these challenges you have on a Google map of now, what do you want? And how are we going to do and what is your vision? And how am I is Westmore going to sell this to the people of Baltimore other than with an oil jersey on and I kept the team here made a lousy deal with lousy people. But I kept the team here. And so that’s where we are now. Right, based on our this is part two of last week you would make right? Yeah, for
Mike Rosenfeld 23:31
sure. Well, look, we’ve had an offline discussion of following up our last week conversation. And I remember I was struggling for whatever reason thinking that I thought I heard that June July was the was a pretty significant date.
Nestor Aparicio 23:48
I’ve heard three people say that now because apparently was spoken out loud. When Angelo’s came out of the closet with with Locke and for on Sat Sat in at 1057 because he felt safe, that that he would get safe questions there. I mean, John angelos, somebody significant the community came to me and said he wanted to try to fix this. And I’m like, it’s fixed when John Angelo’s front faces and sits with me and Luke Johnson has answers questions about his baseball team, and does it once or twice a year once or twice every five years, or and people in the community know who he is. I had Rick Vaughn on this week, Mike, I love you, man. You love the Orioles? You love sports. Go. Go watch the Rick Vaughn piece. Rick Vaughn was the architect of the Field of Dreams last day in 91. He was the PR director for the Orioles from 1984 to 1995 when Angelus chased him off. He was all the all star game all of Camden Yards opening all Memorial Stadium closing all of 1988 or 1989 He was there when Harnish stepped on the nail, you know, like all of that stuff that happened. He was there for all of it and helped build all of this and then left and went to Tampa and then came back and sat in the press box in the stadium. He dreamed about seeing it with her for 20 years. While he’s trying to sell baseball to people in Tampa who don’t want it, and we talked at length about what made the Orioles, the Orioles it was people like him. It was people like Larry Lucchino who was from Pittsburgh, but came here and knew every executive in Baltimore new every season ticket holder behind home plate, made himself available made his executives available, because they were trying to keep the team here. Against all the rumors that the owner wanted to move the team to DC. And Larry was trying to get this friggin thing built after the Colts left and trying to get money, begging Annapolis to give us money to make this happen. Make it a reality. And to see what’s happened to that dream is gross. It’s gross that I lost a quarter million dollars investing in a downtown condo. Like for 20 years. In the middle of all of this right. There was two blocks in the ballpark with this view. It’s gross, and it’s gross that they’ve done nothing but print hundreds of millions of dollars every year off the TV deal. Apparently, in the middle of the night on Tuesday, they came to terms with the Nationals on $99 million from 12 to 16 of the TV money. I mean there’s the Nationals haven’t been paid for 2012 TV money. Neither of the Orioles because the mass and the Angelo’s family is massive and the Angelo’s family has restricted turn a kid money to their own baseball franchise to punish the Nationals. And that’s been going on for 15 years. That’s a fact. So like, it’s been so poorly run that for Westmore to be putting the Oriole shirt on and run around looking for votes and running down to Atlanta. That’s great. That’s great. But what’s the deal gonna be? And how how is that better or different than the red line or then then investing money and making the Inner Harbor better. We use that 365 days a year. Let’s make it let’s make it Disney World over there. Put $600 million into that. But the baseball team go pounce Santa run off to Nashville, we’ll go get another one that actually wants to come in here and build it charge PSLs like the Ravens did. You know, I mean, like literally, I don’t know what else there is to say but what can be public confidence in John Angeles? How can there be any, and he’s about to go take our money. And then maybe sell the team whatever he’s going to do to to make or maybe stick around that might be worse. Um, but we should be asking serious questions at the sports franchises, and especially from the guy who’s been thrown out by both of them. It’s sick. I’m not asking unfair questions. It’s my money, too.
Mike Rosenfeld 27:38
Yeah, well, look, we talked about that last week, as you know, the debate about what is the best use of public money is really to give the billionaire’s for the for the ballparks. But I
Nestor Aparicio 27:51
just found that for 30 years, by the way, Mike, pick up my books read my work. I was always about this is the greatest thing for Baltimore, that we have these teams. Yeah, it’s great when they’re not owned by guys on yachts, who act like decks and roll in and say they’re doing something and write a million dollars to you know, an African American charity and say that they’ve done something when they don’t live here, and they’re not a party here. And they roll out of Baltimore jersey with a Nike swoosh on it, where I’m thinking to myself, well, what are the underarmor people think two blocks away about that? I mean, there’s just things about being local and being community oriented. I mean, how many people have met TJ Brightman? How many people have met Mike lives? How many people have met Brandon Hyde? How many people are gonna meet Adley rutschman That don’t stand in line and pay $100 to do it? Like I am. We’re at a crossroads here. They’re getting a lot of money. And they’re doing less than they’ve ever done. I mean, and there’s less expectation on them. To your point. I’m the only guy bet you’d put to put any state put anything on. We’re just gonna do this. Wes Moore is just going to do this, because he has to do it.
Mike Rosenfeld 29:00
All right. Well, look, I sent you a link to look at the renderings of what’s going on. I think they’re calling it the Warner street district. It’s literally Warner street from the Maryland Live casino all the way up to m&t Bank Stadium,
Nestor Aparicio 29:20
whoever’s advocating this should be coming on my show and pimping it, I’ll be happy. I’ll be happy to let them say whatever they’re gonna say about this and that and the other, but I live here. And I mean, I would have some serious I live downtown. I invested in downtown, I lost my asset investing in downtown because of these people, and how poorly it’s been run and how poorly the politicians have run it. And that’s why I’m doing Baltimore positive is to say, how are we going to lift this? How is John Angelo’s gonna take civic money and make this better?
Mike Rosenfeld 29:48
Right? Well, let me ask you one, not one question other than stinking
Nestor Aparicio 29:52
and getting good ballplayers for a couple of years first thinking
Mike Rosenfeld 29:56
how the I think we would agree that the II attendance for the games despite how well the ORS are playing there, it’s not where I would expect it. And I’m wondering, in your opinion, what part of that is apathy towards either the owner or the piss these people off so long I won’t give
Nestor Aparicio 30:19
them money. Or, you know, I mean, I that’s just my sort of every time I reach for my credit card. I mean, I did it on opening day, friend brought me in, and I was even thirsty for a beer, but I’m just, it’s fundamental to me. It’s not. And I’m not saying you shouldn’t, I’m telling everybody to go. I’m telling everybody to go. I’m not. I’m abstaining, because they’re liars. They offered to open the books to the media, they thrown me out of the media, and pretend letting letting my white employee go in and having me stand out and saying, I’m not legitimate. I’m not legitimate because I asked real questions like, what, like, it’s insane. It’s insane, that should be tolerated.
Mike Rosenfeld 30:57
I think you may have answered the question. I was gonna contrast that to the people who were just want to go but don’t feel safe. What?
Nestor Aparicio 31:05
It cost a lot of money to go. Right, right. So I’ll give you an example. I had Neil Solons on this week. Okay. You can find this out of Baltimore positive. Under the rays logo. Neil has been a friend of mine. And by the way, Neil’s beautiful man, Neil saved his sister’s life with bone marrow. So she had a rare blood cancer like my wife. So I love Neil. Neil had been sort of the ROB long screen postgame guy and now he does games. He travels with a team. He’s at San Diego. He came on and he’s been with the rays for you know, a number of years and they’re they’re always trying to sell tickets down there. Right? And just they’re just are like, I mean, put the Tampa game on like, it’s not a thing and it shouldn’t be a thing and they’re good. And they’ve never had a booth bow. Right? They’ve never had a Cal Ripken. They had Joe Maddon and they’ve had winners, his face on Facebook friends with him. And he did the show. So he shows up on Facebook, because that’s how this works. Right? So he shows up, he has an offer on his Facebook for $5 tickets for Tuesday night’s game that because you’re friends with him on Facebook, there’s a link, and he’s team broadcaster and for people to follow him but if you wanted to go to the game tonight, your friend Neil, you click on the button and there’s a special thing, because it’s Tuesday night in the place frigate empty and we’re playing the Orioles and their loyal fans down there. They’re cheering on their feet in the ninth inning, and we’re 30 games over 500 for the 10th year in a row. And we’re you know what I mean? Like they’re trying, I don’t know, nobody’s offered me a chance to go to the Oregon nobody from the front office’s called me. Here’s the last time I dealt with the Orioles. I sent them a letter and said, Matt, Greg, my wife had cancer. She’s almost died. Guy Jeremy saved your life. We’re doing a baseball to the 30 ballparks in 30 days and I’m starting to tour Camden Yards. You want to make nice. Let us in? No, we had to do our swabbing at the sports legends museum that was about to be shuttered by Angela says greed and avarice. And then my wife and I somebody gave us two tickets. We sat behind home plate she ran into the first person she ran into that night was one of the primary nurses that saved her life. And he was wearing an oriental Hawaiian shirt and it took pictures crying. So my last endeavor with the Orioles was going to 30 ballparks in 30 days will you let me in. And they made sure they called the nationals to make sure I didn’t get into the national park to the woman the woman PR lady from the Nationals met me at the at the press gate and threw me out onto the street. And that’s parked in the middle of a charity tour where I was welcomed in to throw the first pitch in Tampa with my wife, we were honored on the field in Boston by the Wally the wall man and you know we swapped out. We probably swapped 500 People at Fenway Park that day, because my wife had family Dan, like I again, these. My experience has been, they’re not good people. Now until I see something different. My experience with TJ Brightman has been he has not been a very good person toward me. Now that being said, if they want me back call me I leave my immediate past at the will call and I’ll end the day that Luke has to cover practice in August. And we’re because Chad Steele’s treating me this way the day that we need coverage. I’ll cover the oral game, I’ll get on a cover game. I’ll work the locker room I did that all my life. I’m a professional. I built a radio station I built a business I built a life doing that so you know that that’s my spiel with the Orioles. But I’m watching them every night that they let me I couldn’t watch them Sunday. They gave me the bird peacock. Right. So but and my friend my dear friend Jeff amateur. Do you ever go to skipjack games?
34:42
No. Oh, you clippers.
Nestor Aparicio 34:48
Jeff might’ve done this at the Clippers games in the 70s to do you remember a guy with a fireman’s hat that would run up and down the stance? Paco go skippers gonna work pack Coco. It’s Jeff Jeff said Leifer Oriole fan life for sportsmen. He had a fall a couple of weeks ago. He’s been in the hospital. And I’ve and he’s cranky. And you know, they’re not letting them out. And he’s old and cranky. He’s old school teacher, he’s beautiful guy. And he can’t get the games, because they’re a mess and too. So he’s in the hospital wanting to watch the Orioles. And he can’t. Because Angeles is greedy enough to have three networks and putting nothing on any of I mean, it’s and not paying the Nationals even for what he did. I mean, like, the shits insane. I mean, like, and that we’re gonna give him more money. And West is wearing the Oriole shirt and like whatever we’re gonna give him we’re getting. It’s my understanding, they can’t really give him more than they gave the shotty in regard to the stadium authority, but it’s also my understanding he can do whatever he wants with a franchise do it’s his franchise, and there’s no lease and who knows what rights or obligations are perceived obligations there are all I know is you know, Westmore sending me pictures asking for Mad Love West, but sending me picture wearing Loreal shirt telling me I’m gonna have confidence in what you’re doing in regard to negotiating on behalf of the community in regard to the orals and their track record. I don’t have a lot of confidence. I don’t have any confidence in the shotty at this point, just for throwing me out, because he’s afraid of a couple of questions. I mean, that’s, and he hasn’t shown up in any capacity locally here in so long that it’s not even even show up in Annapolis that take the check. He said Sashi Brown and Jack’s deal down there. And Chad checks to waived off. Legitimate journalist like Pam would who were there to ask questions about the money. They didn’t want any questions about the money. They issued a one paragraph press release. And all of a sudden it’s Lamar, Lamar, Lamar, and how’s the defense looking? And that’s the way they want it. And that’s it’s unfortunate, because they both could be doing so much more in the community. They really could. They both could do more. They they both should do more, really was
Mike Rosenfeld 36:59
because of what you do for a living. You obviously have experiences that fans like me and never would. I’m just wondering, look, I don’t mind. I don’t mind an owner who realizes that it’s not about him or her. It’s about the team. And while I would like them to be available to answer questions, I would I would take a lack of that in exchange for someone who always talks like
Nestor Aparicio 37:33
they have competent people that run it. Whether did cast was competent not he had no integrity. In the end, I promise you that I don’t want to cast in the end did cast treating me with zero integrity in the end, after a lifetime a career of being front facing in his job. And there was a perception that there was a grown up out there running and I had that perception until I found that there wasn’t my perception was there was a grown up running it, which is why I at some point, my story will be told, and it’s lurid. What’s happened to me, is lurid. It’s terrible. And it will be made public. But there was a person there. Dick Cass was a person people in this town knew. They knew what he looked like he was out in the community. He stood with fans. I saw him do things. As as a media member just being out there. Greeting fans, talking to fans, always being open with his office to me to come in and ask him about the TV deal. The stadium deal, whether we were getting a World Cup here, whether we were getting a soccer game, whether Bruce Springsteen was really playing the stadium. I didn’t ask him about the deef and never talk football with Dick. I talked about what quartile in profit they were in, in the league and what the new TV revenue deal was going to be like and collective bargaining and what the union wanted and how it all worked. And he was always the smartest guy in the room. He could have been the commissioner. He could he he would have had a lot of support to be the commissioner if he wanted to be the commissioner. He didn’t want to be famous. For all the reasons that Goodell is a cartoon character, right? Dick did not want that gig. But it could have been Commissioner Dix forgotten more about the league than anybody, which was why it was nauseating. To have him sit there and say to me, do you want to be a fan? Or do you want to sit in the press box? I want you to go sit in the stands and not be a media member. That’s what he said to me. I’m like, Well, why don’t you not be a team president? You know, why don’t you go back to DC where you live the whole time anyway, you never lived here. But that being said he was feed on the street. He was here. He didn’t live here. But they got a sales guy that has a Wyoming driver’s license. I mean, like, they feed on the street. Rick Vaughn go listen to Rick Vaughn. Go listen to Charles Steinberg. Go listen to Marty Conway listen to the people who built the Orioles. Listen to me as one of the people who built the Ravens. I was important in building the Ravens. Kevin Byrne would tell you that Baker capam would tell you that David Modell would tell you that art modell would tell you that Brian Billick would tell you that people tell you that that’s selling tickets, selling tickets and being a part of feet on the street and bringing Tim goat out to the barn and bringing Ray Lewis out to the barn and bring in ED Sutter out to the barn and right, that that mattered. And that still matters. And the Orioles are going to have to get after that at some point. And you’re saying, hey, there aren’t as many people as you expect? Well, you know what you need to do, Mike, you need to lower your expectations, pal, you’re in Baltimore, okay, lower your expectations for what you expect from the Angelo’s family, or what you expect from the Ashanti family, lower your bar, that because that’s what I’ve had to do, right? Lower your bar,
Mike Rosenfeld 40:38
I’ve started to say you have experienced because of what you do for a living that I don’t, I am typically a half full guy. And what I was gonna say is I, my impression of Peter Angelos was not positive as it probably wasn’t with most people. I have limited experience with this son and being a half full guy. And we talked about this last
Nestor Aparicio 41:01
limited experience with his son because he wants to have limited experience with you. But that led
Mike Rosenfeld 41:05
here, that’s okay. As long as let me finish, somebody else is running it, as long as the people who know how to run it or running it like Mike Elias, and you know, he’s not making baseball decisions. And he’s not saying, hey, let’s let’s sign, you know, let’s not trade this player, because I like him, versus what he can bring back or let’s give Chris Davis everything he wants, because he just hit a lot of home runs, and put the baseball team in a bad situation. The only thing I know about the Son, and I’m sure this is wasn’t his desire is the ugliness with his mom and his brother, which is not good that the one press conference that I did see, he did promise to open the books and was and was shocked that How dare the press asked him a question when he’s finally available during a Martin Luther King Day negative impression. But with that said, with that said, I know I see what he’s done with Elias, I seen what he’s done with making an investment in the Caribbean and, and, and Central America and, and trying to improve the team, I see the team is improved because the blueprint has been followed, I see that it doesn’t appear that there’s a lot of meddling going on like us that like his dad did. So I’m going to remain half full until July and the all star break comes if I don’t hear anything. At that point, I’m gonna get even more nervous than I am.
Nestor Aparicio 42:31
Now, I don’t think the team’s moving. Right? I just think there’s this threat that’s going to cause him to get as much as as he can get to get what he wants. I don’t know what he wants. I mean, once we started, we started this conversation is he’s asking the people of Maryland and the people of Baltimore for something for nothing. And
Mike Rosenfeld 42:53
if I always I always do this, I think it’s disgusting. I think it’s disgusting what what these owners do to cities. However, if I was an owner of a team, would it be malpractice if I didn’t do what?
Nestor Aparicio 43:09
What there’s no question everything in his arsenal is a threat. And don’t think he’s not watching this Oakland thing, right? Because if you can pirate a team away, and legally get away, admits Al Davis be get everything that ever happened, right. Al Davis moving the raiders and putting a middle finger up for the NFL and standing up for 10 years with lawyers begat the Ravens even happening and the Colts ever leaving, right like the Colts left because the Raiders left and period. Eminent Domain my ass. Right I lived through all that I was a reporter during the real reporters was my brother Feld is here he is our chief digital officer. And, you know, for all of our intelligent conversations, our partners, our sponsors, the people we have on the air, a little bit of slower time of the year right now the Ravens going away. But taking a deep dive into the future, these franchises and who will own them and what they will be and what they were promised to be not just we’re gonna win games, what the civic responsibility is, we used to talk about these things as civic trust. Remember that? No more. I mean, Steve’s team, and it’s John’s team, and they can move it to Frankfurt, Germany if they want to, or if Steve wants to take the deal and stay put because he wants to sell the team and it makes it better for him. And it’s more quiet for him. Steve likes quiet. So you know, he’s much more quiet that just take Larry’s money and say I’m not going to be the prick coming in and saying I’m moving the team. Let John do that. Let’s let John deal with it with Wes, because John wants to build a city because that’s what Wrigleyville is. And that’s what Atlanta is, and that’s what San Diego is, and that’s what he needs to have his bedding Emporium to make his baseball team profitable. Especially. I mean, look, man, John Angelo’s when he was 15 years younger, thought his bed was made on that television deal. They thought that was forever. It’s dried up. Now. It’s 2020 years they’ve been stealing money. They haven’t even paid their part. or the the money that they’ve been taking from all of us from our cable bill, and that is dried up. So from streams of revenue for the team. First things first, did you talk about their investment in the Caribbean? And I mean, fundamentally, the old man never understood baseball. He just never understood baseball at all right? So fundamentally, the kid is at least understanding that like, you can serve hamburger and not steak, but you can’t serve dog food and serve and dog food out there for years has devalued the brand. And now seeing better baseball from their awfulness. I mean, you only get one ones, you only get Adley rutschman Because you stink, bad for long stretches of time. And I mean, that’s a fact if you only get all these guys because of that. Holidays common out here, all of that, but you got to you got to stink. Indianapolis Colts stunk to get all those number one picks. I remember that. And we don’t equate the Orioles with that. But the oral is worse. And they’re run by whomever. Right? So John now wants to take the reins and run the team and do all of this. With that comes the responsibility of answering questions from people like me whether you want it rhetorically or not. If you don’t sit here he can go over to 1057 run but you tail between your legs trying to find bunkies in the media who you know where the bird had for you, including the governor who’s willing to do that, that’s fine, but then you’re gonna get all this money and there’s gonna be all this promise which Camden Yards promised booths barbecue around the year Candy Club was going to be for you know, the place to have dinner, and it was going to be this and that. And then just blame it on crime 30 years later, because your old man screwed it up. And I crime did not destroy the Orioles. i Come on stop, stop. I live downtown. That’s the pier Angeles destroyed the Orioles? There’s, you know, literally, it wouldn’t really when I think back and I had Rick Vaughn on and all the work that was done a three and a half million people. And this was our Gateway Arch. Right. I mean, this was our, our thing. And I think that myself, no one else could have possibly screwed this up this badly, you know, over the course of time and open the door for the ravens to be the ravens and take all the money and have all the purple flamingos on the lawn and all that stuff. But now we’re at this point where, you know, the Ravens felt a little desperate and given Lamar the money and you know, that’s fine, and it’s good. And they’re gonna roll them out that next couple three years and see if they can win. And it’s in a tough, tough league right now. But the baseball team has all of this blue sky with the three or four years of all of these guys cheap and how they’re going to manage it all and how they’re going to position this deal to the public. And what the promise is going to be of Camden Ville. I love God you gave that to me. It’s such a gift. Got it.
Mike Rosenfeld 47:53
It’s memorialized now so if they use it I won my royalties.
Nestor Aparicio 47:56
Oh, you’re like the guy who invented the be on the helmet that suit David Modell.
Mike Rosenfeld 48:02
I didn’t hear that story. Oh, that one? Yeah, no. We’ll see what happens. Maybe I’ll lease it to them for a period of time. But any
Nestor Aparicio 48:10
game anytime soon. I mean, am I gonna
Mike Rosenfeld 48:12
go in a game? What are we doing? Which I’d love? I’d love to
Nestor Aparicio 48:15
we started asking me like, What are we going who? You know, like, alright, we’re home all summer. Don’t have any concerts on the calendar right now. It’s really quiet after this hearing tonight. Wayne this week?
Mike Rosenfeld 48:23
Well, we know that Tommy Conwell is coming to do to do it.
Nestor Aparicio 48:27
Anyway, Chris Day from Tommy combos ban. friended me on Facebook yesterday and asked when he’s coming on the show. So I’m gonna get Chris stay on the program. We’re going to talk about the Chris de ban at Tommy calm well, until we beach and that was good.
Mike Rosenfeld 48:39
stuff, man. All right.
Nestor Aparicio 48:41
Tell me what you do. You’re an outsourced Chief Digital Officer. Nobody knows what the hell that is.
Mike Rosenfeld 48:45
I know it took me months to explain it to you. And we were working together.
Nestor Aparicio 48:50
So now you got 30 seconds go.
Mike Rosenfeld 48:53
Look, just say it this way. If you’re a small to midsize business owner, you see your competitors showing up online. You see them coming on search engines, you see them on social media, you know that they’re growing and they’re killing it. And you’re not because you don’t have a visionary leader to come in learn your business and figure out which tool to use to grow your business. That’s what we do. I mean, I could talk about all the individual tactics that we do to do that. Everything’s custom based on what the clients businesses, but we do this on a fractional basis, designed to make it affordable to small to midsize businesses so they can compete. And that’s what we are we’re web connection outsource Chief Digital Officers.
Nestor Aparicio 49:37
Easy enough. Go to web connect. You can find him out on social media vines and always his beautiful face on the front of a Baltimore positive.com Luke is out on the front of Baltimore positive.com We got a lot of stuff up summertime. I do in the crabcake tour. I’m in spirits West this week over Wilkins Avenue. Everybody’s raved about the crabcake there I’m looking forward to it. Chris Pike is looking forward to wearing his Mount St. Joe Gail was gear out in his old homestead with me on Thursday. Chad wiesloch is gonna you’re gonna like this Mike Chad is a local NFL agent friend of mine. He’s a turbo heater back in the day cream back curp and he’s been a longtime agent in Canton. He’s the agent for Josh Jacobs the running back for the for the Raiders. And you know, all of the running backs are getting screwed Dennis and I’ve talked about Luke and I’ve talked about it. So Chad’s gonna join me talking about what it’s like to be an agent for the number one running back in the league and maybe give Jake take Dobbins a little bit of advice as well. I am Nestor we are wn st am 1570, Towson Baltimore. It’s summertime he took a watermelon. I have a promise peach cake for my 25th anniversary Costas on August 3. We’re gonna make that happen today was
