Well, we’re at it again.
We here at WNST.net are continuing to expose all of the TRUTHS that the Orioles don’t want you to know.
It appears that they were NEVER going to announce Joe Foss’ departure from the club after almost 14 years of “running” the club (if somehow you believe somebody other than Peter Angelos makes every decision down to buying the paper clips).
Foss has been relatively silent and inactive for a while now, but has picked now for his escape. Or maybe next week if you read the Orioles’ propaganda.
I honestly believe the Orioles were in no hurry to make this announcement public, or why else would their “media partners” be left in the dark about what was the worst-kept secret in town: John Angelos is running the show there now for the team and for MASN.
Joe Foss, who has been identified in just about every reference as the No. 2 man in the Orioles organization (somehow I get a funny picture of Robert Wagner with an eye patch in the Austin Powers series), has gone the way of the Edsel at The Warehouse after many years of failure, abuse and ineptitude. (For the record, he is the third person listed in their media guide, behind Angelos and Tom Clancy.)
Here’s my deep thought for the day: how much of it was HIS fault and how much was entirely out of his control, the disgrace that the Orioles have become under his watch?
Let’s be honest: this franchise has been a complete shambles for at LEAST a decade. Joe Foss has been, as described in the Orioles media guide: overseeing ALL of the club’s day-to-day operations, including business, financial and adminsitrative operations, as well as working with the Baseball Operations Department on budgets and player contracts.
If this is TRUE (and again, with the Orioles, the truth depends upon who you believe and who is putting money in their pocket at any point), then Joe Foss was an absolutely LOUSY Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer.
Either that, or he was one helluva “yes” man for Peter Angelos.
But I wonder exactly WHY Joe Foss picked now to leave the Orioles?
Was he fed up with having his power usurped or by the losing?
Was he really ready for a “change” as he told The Sun?
Was this job with the Erickson Retirement folks too good to pass up? (By the way, I’ve heard amazing things about the Erickson family and what good folks they are!)
Did he want “out” of baseball or just away from Angelos and this seemingly endless mess at The Warehouse?
I’m just wondering as the guy who “ran” the team, how much of their sins will wind up sticking to Joe Foss.
My guess: almost none!
I’ve dealt with Foss many, many times over the years. He seemed like a nice enough man on most accounts, a quiet, reserved Midwesterner. But, again, he was “driving the train” into what has been the biggest sporting trainwreck this side of “Tiger” Bob Irsay and the 1970’s and 80’s Colts.
Under his “watch” the Orioles have lost more than 2 million fans per year at the gate. They’re en route to their 10th consecutive losing season. The public is outraged by most of their transactions and the aloof tone they’ve taken with answering their critics. (In my case, I don’t even get to ask questions any more!)
And, again, since he was in “charge” as of three weeks ago, I suppose he was in on my credential request denial, so he MUST be complicit in that.
The city is angry and/or indifferent. The sponsors are gone. The skyboxes are empty. The Nationals are building a palace 40 miles away.
But to read his quotes in The Sun today, you’d think these have been glorious years.
Oh, that’s RIGHT!
Foss helped lead the train into New York where Angelos bent over MLB for a TV deal so sweet that the ownership group’s stake in the franchise has raised the value of the property from $172 million to almost $850 million with the threat of one lawsuit against MLB and another successful one against Comcast.
All while effectively killing the franchise for the city and its fans.
So, in Foss’ case, the fans and the legacy and the city don’t really mean anything.
He helped make Angelos money while the franchise went to hell in a hand basket.
Good work, Joe!
Enjoy your retirement work.
You were a good soldier!
