Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the outburst, deflection and lies of John Angelos and the mostly quiet Orioles offseason and winter of hope on the field.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
angelo, people, orioles, dan connolly, baseball, john, question, thought, baltimore, talking, years, point, lamar, selling, brady, dan, hear, long, fans, offseason
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
W N S t towson Baltimore and Baltimore positive or positively into the football offseason into the playoffs and Festivus season almost Super Bowl. But lo and behold, baseball is right around the corner. I got a guy here who has you can’t see it. It’s off camera but he has a whole Blackboard over there counting down the days and the minutes until that first grapefruit pitchers and catchers report. pitchers and catchers report is its own sort of baseball thing. Right. That’s that’s what we use that about 90 days out. Look, Joe is here. He has been stuck in the mud up the purple mud of Owings Mills the last six months chasing the Ravens around and Lamar Jackson. Oh, no, not that much longer. You have to chase him. I know he is fast. But it is baseball season. And Luke. I know it’s baseball season because John Angelos told me so Martin Luther King Day, how are you man?
Luke Jones 00:59
8
Doing well, and I hope you’re not waiting for signs from John Angelo’s. You don’t hear from them that often. So you would miss a few seasons most likely but yeah, right. Right. Well, it was the same as locker clean outdated for the Ravens. So I had to make a executive choice there. But you mentioned pitcher pitchers and catchers. And there’s reason to be excited about the Orioles in terms of the young guys in the finish to 2022 and Adley rutschman. And Gunnar Henderson and eight guys in baseball America’s top 100 or Orioles prospects, seven of them are at triple A or close are already in the majors and the case of Henderson there are things to be excited about. And then you look at this offseason. And it’s been very at best incremental improvement at a couple spots. And then lo and behold, John Angelo’s making an announcement for, in all seriousness, we’ll get to the ugliness and the embarrassing part of this in just a moment, because that’s the big headline, but a donation of a $5 million commitment to the college bound Foundation to help Baltimore kids and kids go into college. And I mean, it’s a great thing. It’s a good thing, something that does deserve some recognition. But when you call a press conference, to announce something like that, and you have spoken to the media, so very rarely, there is always an understanding, especially when it’s sent out to your reporters, your media who covered covered the team, there is always an expectation that there’s going to be some baseball, business related questions that are going to go with that. It’s kind of a, hey, we’ll come out and cover this. But we’re also gonna have some other questions. So that was not out of bounds. Dan Connolly asking what he did was hardly out of bounds if you understand how this stuff works. But certainly John Angelo’s reaction to that, I mean, at best, a bad look. I mean, that’s that’s the kindest way you could kind of portray what happened there. But not just embarrassing, and it really did soil, what was a good thing, and it would have been very easily for John Angelos to simply say, Hey, Dan, you’ve covered the Oreos a long time. I respect that I understand. You have questions and I haven’t been available a whole lot of late but out of respect for this forum, can we wait until after this is over and then I’ll talk to you guys on the side that would have been such a so much better way of handling this that wouldn’t have wouldn’t have gotten any attention it from a negative standpoint, right? You wouldn’t have seen a national outlets and national reporters picking up on this regardless of what he had said after the fact but when you go on to them lecture a reporter for what was it three, four minutes, whatever it was, I mean, we’ve all seen the video where it’s just flat out uncomfortable watching it. You completely soil what what should have been a good PR day for the Orioles and instead everyone’s talking about the lack of leadership from the point man for your organization.
Nestor Aparicio 04:08
I saw the window to his soul, right? I mean, literally sitting there like I’ve never had a conversation with that guy and I used to see him sit behind home plate. The one time I waved him to come over to do the show. He didn’t do the show. Sit thrift was the GM at the time, so I guess, maybe make it 90 789 Somewhere in there. This was after the two good looking boys comment to the evening son. I’m going to rerelease the Peter principles because I literally wrote the history. I live the history. I was on the radio every single day. I had to react in the newspaper to all the wacky stuff his father did, how he behaved the Cal Ripken night where he took a 14 minute speech he got booed so much that Frank Robinson had to grab him and they never show that when they show the mass and night so the behavior of this family all On the Record off the record behind closed doors, what Frank Wren would tell me about 1997 with Johnny Oates would tell me about looking beleaguered because he called down and said, you know, play Gomez or bench Gomez we want say Bo to play, you know, like, crazy stuff that happened through all the time. And even crazy stories about John Angelos that I know are true. And his youth and in the family out of the family running thing, selling the radio rights off to the FM and pissing off dad and then dad wants it back on the am because dad’s 100 years old and like all of the infighting with their family, the poor treatment they gave Mike Flanagan up all these people, right? All of this all you want. All the sick offense, like Moeller ever preached to me was, give him a chance. Give me Give him a chance, give him a chance. And I’m thinking to myself, I’ve been seeing a cat for 30 years. And I remember Sid said to me, Sid came over and did the show, right. John was on like a golf cart or like something like on the the backfields in Fort Lauderdale. It was 722 in the morning. The sprinklers were out. Nobody was around. Nobody. There’s no fan stadium not open. It’s 59 degrees. We’re wearing sweaters, drinking coffee. Sun’s coming up, Florida. We’re selling optimism for the baseball team. I got my ass out of bed with a crew at five in the morning to be down there broadcasting. And he waved me off. I said, John, you want to come over and you know, do some radio get to know us a little bit. I got the Papal wave in an empty stadium with like a groundskeeper somebody, you know, with a rake. And I said to sit, I’m like, What’s wrong with that? Dude, you know, this is the third 29 year old version of me. He’s my age. It’s not like, you know, he’s here and I’m here and it was very obvious the level of arrogance that was involved. And the Dundalk versus Gilman and like all of that, that would be in my mind at that time. And sit through says to me, NASA, he’s an introvert. He’s introverted. You know, he’s just himself. He’s, you know, he’s quiet and he’s trying to learn the game. But he’s an introvert. And I’m thinking to myself, Okay, that’s all the information I ever got from him. But then he ran Masson, lots of people around town. He was always talking about money and business dealings and all of that. Some people said really good things about him but bright with it knows things connected to the game. Could it be different than his father? I’ve had people pitch that to me. So I hear it and I don’t know him. Right. I don’t know him. I’ve made overtures. I saw Lou Angelos at a charity event couple, seven, eight years ago, my wife might have still been a blonde, it might have been 10 years ago, but I’m never where they are. They don’t live here. I was in John Angelo’s presence at the Preakness four years ago. He wasn’t talking to most anybody. I was talking to anybody that wanted to come by but was very social. I didn’t talk to him. He knew who I was. It was very clear. He looked at me and didn’t want any part of me. And then I asked him that question three and a half years ago, at the Tourism Tourism event, much different than Connolly, but not different because they they threw questions to the crowd. The question after mine was a lady who just said to him, literally her question was I look, I’m not even paraphrasing she, she said, What’s wrong with my Oreos? That was the question to her to him. After my question about are you moving the team and he got the rockets, red glare and Fort McHenry and as long as the flag is, so I’m the one that even asked the last question ever asked him about the franchise publicly. I think lock and forest sat down with him a couple years ago. But like, if he’s sitting down with you, you’re intimidated to sit down with him? Because there’s only so much you can ask or say or bring up history. As Dan Connolly found out, I would just say this, that display in front of the world with the camera on looking over at the mayor and staring the mayor down. It was just despicable disgraceful. Less than professional less than hospitable. Less than human less than decent less than community oriented. Less way less than honest, because I mean, he made promises he’s not gonna he’s made, you know, checks. He’s not gonna cash. And it just really, really speaks to he would have a long way to go to live it down. Right. Like he calls the press conference next week opens the books legitimately greets me and you and anybody else though. There were journalists at the door that people he thinks are journalists, people who think they’re journalists and turns to New Leaf you know, whatever, but finds, finds a new beginning gets sober finds Jesus, whatever the turning point, sees the light turns the page starts doing things differently whatever that that raise would be. If that were to happen, he’d have a long way to go to say that that’s not the guy he is. You know what I mean? Because that’s the guy he is now and forevermore until he changes it. And I had Tom Libero on in the aftermath, Luke. And Tom’s pretty convinced that they’re closer to the end in the beginning now, and Tom’s monitor, this is a journalist, the Baltimore Sun in the 80s. Right. So they Daniel Schneider looks like they’re finally getting rid of him, right? So imagine a Schneider Angelo’s both go out of here, and you’re a guy and buoy with stuff in both closets. But, but for me with the Angelus thing, like he’s not even the owner of the team, he’s a team representative. He’s the son, but he’s not even the owner of the team. And the weirdest part was what snapped in his brain at that moment, to think that he’s doing something that would not come without consequences. You know what I mean? Because there’s never a cost. I think that’s really the lesson to be learned here. Much like Chad Steele taking my credential, or Steve Ashati, doing whatever he wants, or Dan Schneider, who literally the consequences, he doesn’t go to jail, he’s made $2 billion more. By not selling the team in August, or by not getting chased out early. The laundry hangs in, he’s adding a billions of dollars you’ll get the walk with. So I don’t know that he’s even really a loser. But in the end, these really wealthy guys, I did not understand this. When I did free the birds in 2006. I did not understand I understood what I was up against institutionally, I did not really understand what I was up intellectually, intellectually, that that look from John Angelo’s would get anyone in any business fired. Like, you could not do that. If you ran a hospital. Pick any of our sponsors, a beer company, you couldn’t get away, but if you were politician, because you people wouldn’t vote for you. So I don’t know at what point in his life, this is an acceptable behavior. But clearly there he has no daddy now, and mommy’s on his side, just ask his brother and all the lawyers around them. It, it just, it’s gross. So there’s my monologue on it. It was just gross. And to think to my mind, that could have been you that could have been made. But if it was me, just because I’m a dick, and I’m an I’m a jerk, and I’m a bad guy. And the Ravens threw me out, like they seek to vilify media people, the vilification and the attack on Dan Connolly, because his bad said press on it was disgraceful. And and if Dan, and I don’t know, Dan, I mean, you know, Dan, I don’t really know Dan, I’ve spoken to Dan once, I was very kind to Dan in the press box when Major League Baseball credentialed me at the DC All Star game a couple years ago. And I saw him on workout day, and I had a nice chat with him. And I really mean, he works with Jack Gibbons, who is the reason you’re here. And the reason I’m here, Jack Gibbons is our Godfather, you know, and I love jack and jack work for Baltimore baseball. My position with the Orioles has made many people like Dan Connolly, and even Jeff street back in the early days, not necessarily friendly toward me, because nobody was allowed to be friendly toward me with the baseball team, because that guy was their boss. And I think the more that that happens, the more understanding I have about it, because like, I didn’t think he would ever do something like that, that Dan Connolly. You know, like, I thought he would do that to me. But I didn’t think he would do that to Dan Connolly. I thought that was just it was an insane move. Because I don’t Dan Connolly is gonna get support from I mean, I’ve heard from three PR directors in the last two days Luke, you know, people that worked in baseball, and they’re like, I can’t believe that happened to Dan Connolly. And I don’t And Dan’s reaction was, I read what he wrote at the athletic and but it worries me for reporters, you work for me, and I send you into that environment. How can I accept them treating my employee that way? How can how can we as fans accept them treating Dan this way? And the same way? 3006. I pleaded, how can you accept them throwing me out like this, this should not be acceptable. It shouldn’t be acceptable on either side. But but this is a full color picture as to why these cats don’t come in front of people because they’re really thin skinned. And they’re really egotistical, and they’re really out of touch.
Luke Jones 14:38
Yeah, no question about it. I mean, it really is a reflection of how they treat people beneath them. And that doesn’t mean that Dan Connolly or anyone you just mentioned is actually beneath them, but from their perception from their personal one has been why? Well, especially the reason why they feel that Well, the reason why they feel that way As they have no one to answer to, I mean, even even the the state government, I mean, getting ready to give both $600 million family and Steve Ashati $600 million. And look that’s not beaten up on the state of Maryland or you know that that happens everywhere. I mean, that that’s, that’s, that’s the cost of doing business of having professional sports in your city. I mean, that’s,
Nestor Aparicio 15:21
and the cost of adding. But like you and me, ask them, What are you going to do with the money? Short are you doing with our money? And they don’t even answer that. Sasha Chad Steele showed up in Annapolis. Steve didn’t even show up to take the check. You know, like so? Because he doesn’t want questions from Pam would. Why is it st giving you $600 million? They gave him a rebate on what he paid for the team. I mean, we’re at a different place when we’re treating these people like their gods. I mean, dude, you own the Orioles? If we can’t ask you what your plan is that maybe I shouldn’t be a fan of the Orioles? I mean, literally. I mean,
8Luke Jones 15:58
yeah. And that’s really, I mean, you just made the point. And I was talking to someone about this. And I’m pretty sure you’ve said this. I mean, it just so comes off as acting like you hit a triple when you were born on third base, you know, if you’re John Angelo, so and I’ve heard that from two different people over the course of the last few days, I want to go back to what you just said, look at the end of the day, and I’ve had this argument with you so many different times when we start diving into the business side, the ugliness you know about behind the scenes behind the curtain, when it comes to pro sports, how a large segment a large portion of fans, quite frankly, they don’t care about that. And I don’t mean that they’re not smart enough to understand it. That’s not what I’m implying at all. It means that they have their own lives. And this is leisure.
Nestor Aparicio 16:44
Or Dan Connolly, who said to John Angeles, I study, this is what I do for a living John, don’t insult me. I you know, like, Don’t treat me like I’m not one of those fans who doesn’t pay attention. I do pay attention, because the state just gave me $600 million. And you know, and then it’s these people. Look at this time, that bubble up on Twitter, I want to talk about Lamar, his contract situation, when they don’t even know what the salary cap number is, by the way, he did a really nice job on that salary cap piece for the offseason, you know, with the Ravens on Monday, but on Thursday, I should say but I like if you don’t know tune into people like us who do know once in a while and will tell you what’s really going on, which is why I’m re releasing the Peter principles for people that didn’t live it. But it is amazing to me I agree with you. 10% of the sports fans care about the business, but the 90% rattle off idiocy and inaccuracies in regard to the maths and money in the DC deal. Which is why I bring Marty Conway and Tom Libero and you, but you would say they know more than you do, because you focus on the field. But the demeanor he had with Connolly about asking visit, you know your toy department, you know asked me business question i who is qualified to ask about the business. That’s what I would ask. You know, it’s not you
Luke Jones 18:03
was it? And when there’s no transparency, it just makes it that much more difficult. But the point I was making was more so fans don’t a large segment of fans care about the product in the field, right? They don’t even care that much about who’s covering the team. Like it’s okay, well, that’s lousy that they treat it in that way. But think about this just if you are in la la land, just all about the team on the field don’t really care about anything behind the scenes. Yeah, you know, Mike Elias is the general manager but that’s kind of the extent of it, you know, the Angelo’s family has on the team because they have since 1993. But that’s kind of the extent of your interest in it because you have 25 Other things that are way more important going on in your life. But you like baseball, you’re a baseball fan, and you like when the season starts in April and you watch quite often until the end of September. Think about how few headlines the Orioles have made this offseason. And Adam Frazier signing a Kyle Gibson signing Michael Gibbons back. Great. Now you hear about baseball, America, more prospects great. They’re having a winter carnival and a couple of weeks are going to have a caravan and a few weeks Great. Good. However, this is one of those rare times when your point man, your CEO, not the owner, but part of the Angelo’s family who owns the team comes out from the woodwork to actually be a public figure and to speak. And that’s how he portrays himself. You are not regardless of the poor treatment of Dan Connolly or any other journalist and what that entails and what that means and talking about that from our perspective and from fans who do pay attention and consume more of that part of it. It’s just an awful message in terms of recruiting people. I mean, if you’re talking about I mean, here’s a perfect example. My high school friends and I have a text message chain with you know, we’re we’ve been talking about it for weeks and they’re razzball constantly asking me about Lamar, the Ravens. Well, last August into September, they were talking about baseball good bit. They’re talking about the Orioles a good bit. They were the first in your 20s or for the first No, not that long. But the first time since. So I’m sorry. Right. Right. So no, I appreciate that because I’m 39. But but the point is, there’s been nothing this winter that’s recruited people. I mean, nothing and look, Kyle Gibson, there’s a good chance I think he’ll be better than Jordan Lyles and Adam Frazier, do I think he’ll be better than Ruth Neto door? Sure. And do I think Michael Gibbons can help their bullpen? Sure. But Are any of those guys really moving the needle in the way that going out? And I’m just using this as an example not saying I would have done it and we’ve seen how it’s played out. But if the Orioles had signed Carlos Correia, for example, and he had passed the physical, which would have been a big
Nestor Aparicio 20:54
8F, would they assign the first time the second time or the third time? Right, exactly.
Luke Jones 20:57
Maybe he was maybe the Orioles or the cleanup hitter in that endeavor. But, but but the point is, you haven’t done anything to recruit people from a baseball standpoint this offseason, in terms of doing anything new now, you’re still selling Adley rutschman. And you’re still selling Gunnar Anderson and, and that’s great. And look, there’s still excitement. There’s still optimism, and there’s still hope and positive feelings about this team from a baseball standpoint.
Nestor Aparicio 21:23
Angelo’s his voice saying, Look, we have enough good ballplayers we have enough star but that’s
Luke Jones 21:28
the hope. Right? But my whole point is, you know, instead of striking while the iron is hot, they’re continuing this very incremental Oh, are we really, truly ready to be serious about contending in the AI lease? They’re still carrying out the five year plan. And look, I don’t think that’s Mike Elias, I think that’s ownership. I think that’s ownership not wanting to spend money. So with that understanding, with that thought, if you’re just a baseball fan, and not really diving deep into the lease, or the future of the team or ownership or the Angelo’s family legal battle that’s ongoing. Don’t forget to Massey John, because that was that. That’s a massive part of it. Of course, it is. What will continue to be until it’s not as you know, as
8Nestor Aparicio 22:09
as that has gone down, the Major League Baseball fund money has gotten bigger from from their media deals. So it is sort of offset but empty seats are empty seats, empty sky boxes are empty sky boxes, corporate sales being down as corporate sales being down in a depleted market, like all of that is real for their economics. So I’ll hear the economic thing of they, they don’t have a ton of money like daddy’s dying, law firms broke, the brothers are fine. I mean, the thing is a freaking mess, which is why we have so many questions, and we sit around here. And then who who can we ask to get real answers if we can’t ask him?
Luke Jones 22:47
Right, exactly. So you have that entire mess that even if you’re talking about a certain segment of your fan base, isn’t dwelling on that, because they just they don’t have enough time to really follow that. And they don’t care, because they’re not thinking about that in January, you still have John Angelo’s come out into a public forum on Martin Luther King Day, do this really cool thing that should be something that hey, that’s, that’s pretty cool. The Orioles are doing that $5 million investments, helping Baltimore city kids, you know, get education and go to college. That’s awesome. That should be something that should be really positive. And he completely by his own accord, because then it’s not as though kindly asked anything out of bounds. He asked about the ownership of the team and the future of the team. If you’re talking about your family and your organization and your franchise investing in Baltimore, it’s it’s a natural question to ask when it’s very, very public, that there is a legal battle going on within the family and to ask about their future. Owning the Orioles and to tie in the lease, which, until it’s resolved is still an issue no matter how many times they say the Orioles are set staying until when it’s signed and official. It’s still there. So these are all natural questions that are tied into that. And John Angeles, then on Martin Luther King Day mind, you, then chose to bully someone. Wow, that’s a great way to recognize the holiday. Right? I mean, it’s just, it’s, it’s an awful, awful look. It’s a sign of someone who quite frankly, doesn’t really get it in terms of what position he’s in and what that should mean. And as I’ll go back to the kind of the original point I was making, the Orioles have made so few headlines this winter to excite anyone to bring people back to the ballpark. And then your chairman makes this headline. Boy, let me reach for my credit card right now to go on the team website and buy tickets.
Nestor Aparicio 24:45
No doubt as to what kind of man he really is. You know what I mean? Like I’ve wondered I reason I told those stories is 31 years. I’ve been on the radio for the beginning before the family got in. I’ve been in a room with him five or six times. I know a lot of people that know him and And I, I’ve never had any particular animus I even thought at one point like when the old man’s gone, maybe I’ll be back and we’re the same age. Maybe he’s a decent guy. Maybe somebody will drive away. I never did anything to him or his brother or his mother, or really it was Father, quite frankly, there wasn’t done to be first which was they lied to people. They were serially dishonest. That’s the Peter principles. The Peter principles are, they are liars, Peter lie to everybody about everything, bullied everybody and everything. He hated everything he didn’t control. He abused everything. He did control. And this is his offspring. And we all thought maybe he’ll be a little bit different. You know, by the way, did you see the story about McDaniels wife, saying that shimmer say was in their house. And after? That’s the reason he didn’t take the Colts job was because the owner was in their house and she’s like, you can’t work for this man. There’s just like, No way. We’re going to work for this man. And the John Angelo’s videos out there no other than TJ Brightman and I guess Matt Dreyer. And you know, Marco genteel, and a handful of other people who work for him. I’m thinking to myself, who’s working for him, like that. All of the mass and people work for him rock all those people. And I’m thinking to myself, this is your guy that, you know, this is his coming out party, and everybody that told me things are going to be different and give the boys a chance. And all I hear is sit through this easiest an introvert he’s not as pleased as an introvert. And I’m thinking to myself, no, he’s he’s a pitbull. He’s born on third, all of this over. I mean, every negative version of thing you could possibly say about the rich kid, there it was on display, and in the worst possible way, because it was directed at you. And me, too. It was really directed at anybody would dare ask him a question. You know, I mean, that’s really where it’s at. I mean, and That’s disgraceful.
Luke Jones 26:57
8Well, and, and again, I’m stepping away from just talking about it as a media member, because fans aren’t media members. This is just your speaking, when you speak to the media that by extension is you’re speaking to your fan base. And when you have spoken so little, I mean, think about it. And this is where I go back to the fall 2018 When they hired Mike Elias, John and Lou Angelo sat up there with Mike Elias, and they took questions and I asked them a question. I think I asked them about Brady Anderson’s involvement in the organization at the time, and we found out Brady faded away and was no longer with them a few months later, but there was hope at that point in time that things are gonna be different. Not that it was gonna I don’t think anyone thought is gonna be perfect.
Nestor Aparicio 27:38
If you love Brady, Brady’s team Lou, right, right. Sure. is interesting. Because anybody that’s team John, pisses on Lou in my presence, like it is a thing that you have to pick aside at this point, right? Like, literally, everybody I know has a side on it. But Brady is interestingly Team Blue. And that just that, you know, Brady was a strong headed, you know, sane guy for the most part, I didn’t always agree with Brady. But Brady went the other direction.
Luke Jones 28:08
Right. Right. But I mean, the the point I was trying to make though is in November of 2018. When that happened, I mean, it’s the first time I asked a question the Orioles own part of the Angelo’s family and Peter Angelos spoke Oh, so briefly since I started covering the Orioles in 2010. In the postgame locker room at Yankee Stadium after game five of the Division Series in 2012. Peter did step foot in the locker room, answered,
Nestor Aparicio 28:37
I remember that. I was waiting. You came outside you like Peter Angelos spoke, I’m like, what? Yeah.
8Luke Jones 28:45
And for someone like me, and I was 29 years old at the time, and you know, grew up an Orioles fan. And Peter bought the team when I was 10 years old. There was this. I don’t want to say aura, because that usually, you know, that would imply a positive association. But it was very, for me, it was very odd seeing him in person up close like that. I mean, that. That’s how little visibility he had had, you know, at that point, that was only my third season covering the team. But I did not have another interaction with ownership until 2018. And at that point in time, I had John or Lou, I can’t remember which one it was. But one of the boys said at the time that, you know, they plan to be more accessible and more available. Well, we’ve seen how it’s worked out four plus years later, one of the rare times, you know, and there’s been there was a zoom last year. There. He did. He was part of a press conference when they announced I think the Billy Joel cop press conference or concert in 2019, the press conference for that. But it’s been MacArthur McCartney, or did he not? I don’t think he was there for that. And I was okay. I was not there for that press conference. So I don’t want to say that I was there and taking attendance but I don’t recall how it is.
Nestor Aparicio 29:52
You remember the Hilton McCartney jersey and it said 22 And I’m thinking, What is your poem? Right, right, exactly. It’s a receipt. It’s one Would
Luke Jones 30:00
you do with anything else on it? Well, that was like Lamar having a number eight, a few years back when he threw out the first pitch. But But no, it was. It’s one of those rare times where he had a chance to show his leadership. And instead, he showed his lack of leadership in that spot. Again, it would have been so simple to just say, Dan, I understand you have questions about the business side of the franchise, out of respect for this forum on Martin Luther King Day and the announcement. We’re making him with the mayor being right here. Can we wait until after after this is over? I’ll talk to you guys off to the side, that would have been perfectly fine, I would have had, that would have been a perfectly acceptable reasonable way to handle that out of respect for the announcement they were making with the $5 million investment, but to then, to not only take exception with it, but then to go on and lecture for a few minutes, which hilariously included asking Dan Kondo if he was from here, which, okay, Dan lives in New York now, and that’s like me, but he’s a Baltimore guy. Like he’s a local guy. He’s been here his whole life. Now he lives in New York,
Nestor Aparicio 31:04
8guessing the day economy, he’s never talked to John in his lifetime, right? Like, I mean, like, for him to act that I don’t know that, that there’s no relationship. I always thought that those guys and I’m like, yes,
Luke Jones 31:18
in terms of like, a one on one type of you know, where he’s ever had an exclusive or anything like that? I would guess not, then. I mean, you never know. And again, we were talking about someone who’s out of touch, you’re not getting to know people. So maybe he has, maybe he had forgotten or maybe he never asked because he didn’t care in previous interactions. I don’t know. But yeah, I mean, just hilarious to hear that from someone that, yes, has a residence in Baltimore, that is not the same as living here, as he would claimed living here every day of his life. And I mean, come on in. I mean, well,
Nestor Aparicio 31:50
back to what pissed me off and got me sideways and led the free the birds, they lied about everything for 15 years, and I couldn’t take it anymore, and the stadium empty down. And I did free the birds because they lied about me. They assaulted me and lied about me. And then they didn’t pay their bill to my company. So like, I that’s how I was truly 3004 and five and six, where I was helping them sell tickets. So like, Yeah, I mean, all that being said, I love baseball. My name is Aparicio, I want it to be better. I you know, I believe it can be better. I believe God did this thing where the the, the Washington football team is gonna get sold, and almost like, gives me a smidge of hope that there will be life after this here in some other way. But you know, in the meantime, in the meantime, we’ll just watch football all weekend long, like we usually do and get ready for a Super Bowl and get ready for and I can’t believe you when I said 30 minutes when I thought we didn’t. We said Lamar once and it had to do with Cal Ripken.
Luke Jones 32:51
I think did it. Yeah, exactly. I mean, hey, as I already said, and just my final thought, there’s there is a lot I like about the baseball side right now. But unfortunately, one of the rare opportunities all offseason that John Angeles and the Orioles had to recruit people. Well, you got that. Again, forget about the media treatment and all that all the other elements of that, that you and I take much greater exception to then Joe Average fan who you know, is a consumer and a fan as much as he wants to be because he’s got a million other things going on in his life. He came out of the woodwork. And that’s how he presented himself. That’s how he presented his organization. Boy, that’s not recruiting people to the ballpark. That’s for sure.
8Nestor Aparicio 33:34
Well, and then there’s the baseball side of Mike Elias and the questions about whether he’s getting out of contract at this point, which we’ll discuss later. But like, there is no transparency. You mean, there is no honor. There is no trust, we go back to big trust. And we go back to what’s broken Lamar up with the Ravens is they don’t trust each other. Right. So like, they’re, you know, you and I’ve had trust for 15 years together as as partners and doing this trust, you know, you lose trust one time. And there’s a problem. He sat there and lied to everyone. And they’re gonna roll the ball out on April 6, and people come and spend money. There came a point for me back in 2006, where I couldn’t take it anymore. And it was because of this. And it’s 17 years later, and it’s still this. And when people would say, is it getting better? I always say I hope but you know, I don’t I don’t have any confidence. And now like as it gets better, we’re now six months into the general manager saying which go time it’s go time he spent no money. I don’t think he can be real happy. He’s a competitive guy, Mike lies that I would say for all of this, I would have said to you and I would have been the jerk. Have you seen their leadership? They’ll eff it up. You know, in the end, their leadership will screw this up because they’re not leaders. Because at the heart, John Angelo’s not a good person, not a people person, not a leader of men. He’s never led anything he’s born on third thinks he had a triple and And this is what you get. And I don’t know how you put your brand next to it. I don’t know how you get a sponsorship, I don’t know how you buy an orange club VIP gold club. I mean, you love baseball, but you know, this is behind it. And I don’t know how if you’re sentient, you can have confidence. It’s a confidence issue. And that’s something that Steve and Eric and John are going to have to deal with, with everybody who loves Lamar. But you know, because Lamar is going to be gone and we’re gonna have Derek Carr or you know, what Tyler Hankey or we’re going to have something like that or CJ strange something right? There’s going to be something else and they’re gonna have to sell it to the fans. You know what I mean? And they’re, they’re gonna have to be nicer than they’ve been to me and everybody else I think, look, I appreciate you man. I know you’re watch football this weekend and we got a lot going on monitoring stuff. And I appreciate you it was a great conversation.
Luke Jones 35:48
Absolutely. And hey, pitchers and catchers do report in a few weeks and yes, I’m looking forward to it baseball and spring you know this cold weather as I get older. I’m not all
Nestor Aparicio 35:57
about it. You know, you could talk me into spring training right? I don’t know. I haven’t been on a plane in in like seven months like you could sell me on me and you Yoders Amish market down in Sarasota you could sell me on that you could you go to Jones he is a Baltimore looky is in Owings Mills and a little bit on respite wait for spring training and waiting for the shoe to drop out knowings Mills, Greg Roman and other things perhaps first. It’ll happen to the WASD tech service all brought to you by our friends at Coons, Baltimore, Florida where Macoun shirt right now Dennis is here from three until five on Thursdays and again on Sunday morning. And I was loquacious about Gianna Angelo’s with him as well. It’s baseball season. I’m Nestor. We are wn st am 1570, Towson Baltimore. We never stop talking Baltimore positive
