Our old hockey pal and longtime Capitals insider Ed Frankovic catches up with Nestor after far too long to take a walk down Maryland memory lane with Baltimore sports and watching the Orioles try to regroup after 30 years of Angelos misery.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
years, game, people, orioles, hockey, team, night, franchise, baltimore, sat, baseball, rubinstein, rubenstein, remember, coming, day, money, stadium, paid, told
SPEAKERS
Nestor J. Aparicio, Ed Frankovic
Nestor J. Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home we are W and S T A and 1570 TAS of Baltimore and Baltimore positive we hope you’re setting a dial and lots of new folks out on YouTube and new vo Oriole fans and young uns coming in here to yell at the old fart who’s feels like he’s seen it all now that he’s seen ownership change here in Baltimore. We’re gonna be taking the Maryland crab cakes are back out on the road. Oh, my guest that’s about to come on the program would be a great, great person to join me at fade Lee’s on the 12th or at Costas on the ninth. We’re gonna be over Costas on Tuesday talking about the bridge tragedy on the peninsula and the place where I’m from. And that’s going to be on Tuesday morning. And we’re going to do that right up until the game starts or let’s put the Red Sox at two o’clock on the night. Come on over to Costas. I’ll have some 10 times the cash. I think by the time we get the faders on Fridays, I will have the Pac Man giveaways from the Maryland lottery. We’ll be there live from two until five. Actually doing live radio because I’m out of my mind and I don’t like pee in the afternoons. During live radio, as I get older, it gets a little more difficult. We are celebrating 25 years of wn St. We’re celebrating 40 years of my media career and I met this guy 39 and a half years ago, at least one of the stories that I wrote for the Baltimore news American so we’re going way back is when I met this guy at a flyers caps game after the loss of Pelle Lindbergh. We’re going back for two years now. And I’m doing a documentary along with Greg Landry at Blue Rock productions. This guy is part of it because he was a long part of our wn St. Heritage and covering ice hockey on frozen pond with the Washington Capitals who one time said they were Baltimore’s franchise and then won the Stanley Cup and ignored us. The owners trying to move the team even further into Virginia and that’s not gone well. And Frank Vica was not in Las Vegas the night that the Stanley Cup was hoisted, my wife sat in for him. He regrets it but still had a long illustrious career as a journalist in the days of Michael book doll and Luke horror Leto and blue ice at the Capitol Center parking in the eagle lot or was it the freedom lot? I’m not sure Ed Frank avec joins us now from parts unknown in Howard County. He has a real life and a real job that we don’t talk about and a family that we love to talk hockey with. And, dude, I’m reaching to every last soul I have people like you that we probably had built a wit on the baseball team the last 30 years, you probably would have been the alternate baseball reporter through time I met you through the media space your father was Reporter You were a reporter. And boy, how times have changed in the Orioles are sold and I thought I’m gonna check in with Edie and see how many hockey games he’s watching lately. Yeah,
8
Ed Frankovic 02:50
watching a lot of hockey and got a little Orioles magic on Monday night. So it when I got the text from wn St. dotnet. And gotta be on that text service because you get the news first everybody. When you sent the text that the ownership had changed. I was like, wow, finally. I mean, it’s been, what, 19 or 18 years. Yeah, my daughter was two months old. She’s gonna be 18 in July when we did the free the birds at the stadium. We marched out of five oh, wait, I still have my T shirt. And I was to be honest with you Nast coming into the season. I was like, I didn’t. I wasn’t excited about it. Because I’m like, you know, they may be good. They got a really good young team, but he’s just going to sell it off. He’s not going to invest in the team. He’s not going to do what needs to do to build a winner like we used to have when I was growing up in the days of MERV Redman and Don Buford and Paul Blair and all these great Orioles from way back and but you know, when the text came in, and it was official, and then you know, you said that Cal Ripken was part of the group. Suddenly I was back I was back interested in Baltimore baseball big time. Yeah,
Nestor J. Aparicio 03:56
I’m trying to gauge it for everyone because man, I don’t know anybody that loves sports more than you and me. And when I go back, and I do this 40 year, sort of anniversary being in media and in Baltimore, and I go back to wearing my orange jersey and running down the street, my underwear because we got a football team and now I see the creep that runs the PR for the Ravens who stands up in front of the reporters and tries to intimidate them and I had the owner of the football team literally run from me with the general manager. He literally ran from me on a veranda at the Ritz Carlton at 1130 last Monday night, while people like Jim Harbaugh were stopping and hugging me and Joe Ortiz were stopping and Mike komlin and John fought it’s it’s just unbelievable how full circle all of this has come. I have yet to meet David Rubenstein. I did meet Michael are a Getty. On opening day I have reached to a representative people can be asking my getting my media credentials back and I’m like, if these people are legitimate people I’ll be welcomed with open arms. I’m just a media member, if they have something to hide, and they want to operate the way the other people operate, if that’s the way they choose to operate, I mean, the other guy bought the team for 170 million, which is a fake number, and sold it for 1.7 billion, which is not a fake number. And they’re getting $600 million from our government. That’s not a fake number. And you’re paying for that now, Howard County, I’m paying for that. And Baltimore County, everybody everywhere is paying for the stadia and these teams. We’ve really changed the level of obligation from a media standpoint on what we expect from the people who just are so filthy, wealthy, that they drink off of this and run from reporters that they know full well are there to ask legitimate questions, because they can.
Ed Frankovic 05:48
It’s disappointing journalism is not what it was when you and I got started in it. It’s a dirty business. It’s a money business now. You’re basically paid to support the team. We’ve known this for years with you know, we saw it with the Orioles. And unfortunately, with art modell, we thought you know, and it was it was legit. And it started that way with Steve. And it’s just gone downhill. I saw it with the capitals. Ted leonsis tried to build his his brand and he did a good job of it. And he won the Stanley Cup and then his media became a little bit of an over the top controlling what you wanted to say. And that was it for me, right? If I can’t say what I want to say, I’m a full believer in the First Amendment if you can’t have freedom of speech, what’s the point? Right, I’m not gonna waste my time promoting your product.
Nestor J. Aparicio 06:37
8Well, you don’t go to the games anymore. And you know, hockey specifically, and I don’t want to get the Get off my lawn. But there’s a level to whom much is given much as expected. And I don’t know that we we’ve lowered the bar dramatically. And Rubenstein’s coming in at a point where for this franchise, having people like you and me back, giving them money and being in the club, and being a part of it and telling everyone else to get in the club and recruiting people to go back to the games. You know, I told Mr. Rubinstein’s representative this on the club level on opening day I said, look around, it’s full. It’ll be empty here on Saturday. It’ll be empty on Sunday. It’ll be empty on Monday. The kids are in school, you’re starting games at 630 People can’t get there from Bel Air or Ellicott City at 630. And people don’t like coming into the city. That’s not me. I don’t mind I don’t feel like I’m gonna get shot or killed, or all the crap that fox 40 fives peddling and now the Baltimore Sun is going to be peddling. And the future of the franchise and the future of the city are interlocked. They’re interwoven. Because you saw the stadium come online 32 years ago, like I did, and it changed the city. It changed the way we felt about the city. And the baseball team could be a real catalyst in that in a way that John Angelos in the Angelus family had no ability. They had no ability to communicate. They had no ability to be kind. They had no ability to be accountable. They had no integrity, they were liars, all of them. They were awful people. And it can be called that one way or another but the remnants of that are you hired Mike Elias, the team’s really good, the team’s worth going to see. Right? But somehow Westbrook does has a walk off on a 55 degree night and, you know, it looked like there were 7000 people there and you know, tent that whatever, whatever there were, there’s plenty of room for Edie Frank Vic’s family and Nestor Aparicio his family and my neighbors and my friends. But none of us had been invited as a matter of fact, smart people, educated people, journalists, people connected the journalists understood what was going on there long before raka Bako took a job there and Masson was made and they started Tom Davis became sitting in the owners but like all the people that used to be journalists, became employees. Rob long Jason lock if we go down the line people I gave in careers too, and usurping media, and not having any questions. And if Rubinstein wants to go on with that the road is laid for that. And but I don’t know that they can be the franchise that they want to be. And this is where when I talked grown up ish about this ad, and I bring grownups on like you about it. The real story here for them, is affording the best players and whether they’re going to be a Tampa Bay market, beat be be a be a poverty franchise and say, We don’t have a bridge. We don’t have fans. You know, African Americans don’t want to call them Hispanics don’t want to call them after they thrown the only Hispanic in the history in the history of Baltimore sports media and the only Hispanic to ever do anything. And I’ve been thrown out for 18 years and they’re now there. Owling as to whether I should be welcome back in asking people like TJ Brightman and Greg Bader, whether I’m worthy or not like it’s insane. But that being said, they need to get everybody back. They need they and in order to sign Adley rutschman. And in order to sign Gunnar Henderson, they need money from me and you and everybody else to buy their app to whatever the club’s gonna be. I keep calling it the club, because that’s really what it’s going to be. It’s going to be an infinity club. And I said to my wife, even watching the Westberg walk off the other night, because she has Verizon friends that are like they’re not watching the games, because they’re not paying the premium and cable television. And they’re all white folks don’t like streaming, I’m one of them. I don’t have any Netflix, I don’t have any Spotify. I don’t have any Apple TV. I don’t have any of that. I don’t pay for any of that. My wife buys cable TV. So I, I the games are on right. And I don’t care what I pay, I guess. But if I knew what I paid, I probably care a whole lot more. But the Oreos are going to need to be a different kind of business. And you’ve been a hockey guy your whole life. Hockey has always been the Fight Club, that only hockey people are in non hockey people and we all have them don’t get it. They love wrestling. They love baseball, they love football, but they don’t get hockey, Luke Jones could care less about hockey, he’s been my friend 15 Then I’ll pop from a truck, don’t care to know and we’ll never know it doesn’t get the channel and isn’t tuned in and doesn’t follow hockey things and hockey people. The baseball team needs to hit the nerve center of our community again. And in order to do that. They need to be so much better than they were and I hope they are. And that’s my my wish and my prayer for David Rubenstein. And I’m going to write to him and just say you have no idea how traumatized and terrorized, thinking people have been here in regard to giving the baseball team their money. Right?
Ed Frankovic 11:45
I mean, when the football team left and you and I remember that well. I was a freshman at Maryland. And the Mayflower trucks took him to Indianapolis. This beloved, this
Nestor J. Aparicio 11:56
by the way, I still this is my ballpark. I still have it.
Ed Frankovic 11:59
Yeah, I love it. The beloved Baltimore Colts and they made a movie about it Diner for those of you who, you know, old movie, great movie. I know you love that one too. And the city rallied around the baseball team, the baseball team became the focus. I remember clearly me and my buddies going down to Jamaica. And when I was 26 years old 1991 These guys were from Chicago, Chicago, big baseball town. Cubs White Sox. These guys said to us, you guys got the baseball, right? Because this whole city rallied around that baseball team when the football team left. And Cal Ripken was you know, in his pro 91 was his MVP year, and the team would go they’d have big years and what 9697 In the playoffs, I mean, but the
8Nestor J. Aparicio 12:42
Renaissance was really around the stadium, not around the team, because he wasn’t very good at nine they were they had a chip punch, but there are no wild cards, any of that stuff. I mean, the Orioles were really good and 7980 8183 then 89 and then not again till 96. So like in that period of time where we all love the Oreos. They weren’t great. I mean, it really worked. I mean,
Ed Frankovic 13:05
no, they weren’t. And you know, the farm team had rotted, right? I mean, that was one of the big problems. When you and I were growing up in the 70s they always had guys to bring up they were coming up from Rochester they invested in the farm team. And it was clear they started writing that I don’t know when that happened. I off burger sold them to what the Bennett Williams and then Bennett Williams is a big free agency guy. And then you had another owner in there I forget the name and then it went to Eli Jacobson. Yeah. Jacob says write books about
Nestor J. Aparicio 13:32
this stuff. I tried to tell the Rubenstein guy that you Yeah, little bit. A little bit. Yeah.
Ed Frankovic 13:39
8And then you know, you’re right. It was the stadium but there was also Cal right the street, the street. We had the street to get us through those years. Right. 9495 and
Nestor J. Aparicio 13:49
what the stadium was, was designed for the city, not to enrich the ownership. I mean, the fact that that the Angelo’s family that he’s on a beach on Instagram, with $1.7 billion after wrecking the franchise. You know, like literally when I told the robots like he wrecked the franchise, what you see here is a shell. It was burned to the ground. And the team was so bad and he hired Elias and this thing’s been good for 15 minutes. This thing’s been in the oven for a year and a half being decent again, after being more open, more open. So you literally are starting from scratch again. And how you engage this is I mean, let me ask you and how old are your kids now because I lose track you you get you have so many of them and they’re all on ice skates and you’re freezing your ass off at a hockey rink like Tom kept there with his kid, Jason theater, everybody else’s kid who loved hockey but give me a recap on your family because I know your dad had some health issues but you and your father are corridor buoy, people who would have been Washington Senators, people you shared Capitol’s bullets. Georgetown, Maryland but you love Baltimore. Your father loved the Orioles and the Colts. But you’re unique in that way because your family read The Washington Post when you were a kid. Yeah,
Ed Frankovic 15:12
we grew up in Laurel and all my buddies were Redskin fans. We were all loyal fans because I was the only baseball team and we would truck up to Memorial Stadium Drive up there to 33rd Street when we got our licenses. And actually as kids we would go up. But my dad, my dad’s from New York, New Jersey area, right he grew up a Yankees fan huge baseball. I forgot that. Yeah. And he was a Rangers fan you know, and that’s how he was the hockey was big in New York up there. So he moved down here the capital is income two of his nine when I was growing, it was the Orioles baseball first love obviously, the Orioles were great. I still remember being in kindergarten five years old coming home. Because it was half day kindergarten and watching the Royals beat the reds and the World Series when I was five years old. I love I don’t
Nestor J. Aparicio 15:52
have those memories. You’re a couple of years older than me. I was born in 68 So my first memories are 73 My dad took me out to the A’s Orioles. ALCS I you know, I was there when Palmer pitched against Vita blue or honored excuse me honor. I you know have still had the scorecard. My dad kept score that day. So you know, I was at 7374 Felix Mian rusty Stob you know Pete rose bud Harrelson that those are my first baseball man and literally the Rangers being in Texas but not I never knew the Washington Senators because that it 73 It was kind of when I came on board, you know?
8Ed Frankovic 16:28
Yeah, they were gone. They moved I remember they moved. I don’t have a Super Bowl
Nestor J. Aparicio 16:31
five memory I don’t or three memory or any Mets reds pirates Clemente had died. One of my first memories was Clemente dying, and Hank Aaron hitting the home run in 74. I was watching that Live me. I have vivid vivid memories of those baseball moments. And 7374 Fisk and 75. But I don’t I don’t have any. I don’t have what you have. I don’t have the reds. I have all of that on major league baseball films. Yeah,
Ed Frankovic 16:57
it was Brooks Robinson was unbelievable, right? And I was I was young right? I just remember the games were during the day back then. They didn’t do night World Series games. But the origins were always what I remember is the order was always good. When I was growing up every
Nestor J. Aparicio 17:11
8year they had to change and your dad could put you in the family roadster bring you up to a game to Yeah, we
Ed Frankovic 17:15
would do a lot of games when I was growing. And the other reason we’re colts fans, my dad had season tickets to the Colts. And I was in the stands. There’s another one I’m gonna pull out for you. I was at the 4434 Joe Namath Johnny Unitas game. It was the first football game I really remember. And it seemed like every time Nemeth bat dropped back to pass, it was a bomb to Don Maynard for a touchdown. We were sitting in the upper deck on the third base side of the baseball field. And I still remember that game vividly. It was one of the best football games ever. And that
Nestor J. Aparicio 17:42
was 72. Right? My first game was when Donruss replaced Johnny you. I told Joe Ortiz, this as we talked at the Ritz Carlton last week. And by the way, Jorah T’s is welcoming me wants me to become a chargers fan now that the Ravens have thrown me out me and my family. He said they have plenty of room in San Diego. And I told him I said you know what? My dad took me to my first football game in September 1973. Stan Boyd sack Joe name is separate his shoulder. But the Colts lost 34 to seven or 3040. That was they got their ass kicked. And I have the ticket stub. Every time I see Stan white, you know I’ve told that story. It’s going to be in the 40th anniversary documentary that Blue Rock productions and Greg Landry is doing on my career and what we’ve done but it’s you never forget, I sat in the endzone in the temporary seats out centerfield and grass where the band was and, and the band and all that stuff. Like and I remember the uniforms. You know, I remember Rickey Bell catching a touchdown pass in front of me. You know, like I just John Riggins ran for like 120 yards in that game for the for the Jets. So and every time I pointed out standpoint says we threw seven interceptions in that game. Wow. And I looked it up and I’m like, Damn, if you did and he said you never forget when you’re playing a football game where your team was Marty DOM res and a very young bird Jones he just been so like, nonetheless. I remember my first game was colts jets to all it was 50 years ago. It’s amazing all these years later how much we love sports. We mark our lives with sports but ask you about your children. Because you raised hockey kids, right? Like, I don’t know if you’ve taken your kids to a baseball game or whatever. I know you had season tickets below me I was in Section 513 for years. I’d see your jersey you’d say Frank avec across your back above the band. You were like in Section 113 Like below me right? And I clearly checks the old you can go read up on all the awfulness that the Ravens have partaking in trying to put me out of business. But I like I don’t see you a games anymore. We went to a billion hockey games together. What’s your allegiance to the Orioles and your family? They’re like, well, your kids want to go to a game once or twice a year or is that just not what they do for baseball? Yeah, they
Ed Frankovic 20:05
would. My wife actually worked for one of the Orioles team doctors, when we first started dating back in the late 90s. But yeah, they my my wife’s grandmother would watch every Orioles game up until she died a few years ago during COVID. And then she didn’t die from COVID. But she was just old 93 But yeah, we would go I mean, we my company has done a couple games. We did Oriole games. They didn’t world game last September, unfortunate. I was traveling for hockey, I didn’t get to go. But we we would go we would go for several games.
8Nestor J. Aparicio 20:36
If we want it. See, this will be a fun thing for me to do with you. Right. So I keep thinking to myself now that Angeles doesn’t own the team reason I’m reached people like you, like Chris Pike, and I left the stadium together. On opening day I wrote him home. He hadn’t seen the upper deck. He offered me a seat. I had a club level thing. And I like Keith so to see his wife was sick. So we didn’t go to the game. But I went up in the eighth inning and sat with him. We ended the game, we left the stadium together. Like I actually was with friends on opening day. And that was if you look at any my picture people like you’re really smiling. I’m like, Well, I’m happy. I’m seeing people I love and one of the things that I told Howard share and I know you know, Howard, I was my DJ partner 30 years ago, and Howard comes on once or twice a year comes in as a crabcake. He he he’s he’s a duck soccer. He’s in the duck sucking business duct doctors. And Howard has been one of my best friends since we read skipjack games together in the 80s. And even said to me, I can’t believe Barry sat on my lap when he was like this big. And now he’s 39 years old, you know. So my son. So Howard, now we’re together and we’re in a club level. And you know, he had a couple of beers, and we’re there and were people watching in the fourth inning and watching the game on TV and the club level. And I said to him, you know you dirty sob if I tried to put in like together with wives to go to dinner, you’d have an excuse. If I had an event and say calm you’d have an excuse. If I said hey, you want to go to an Oreo game on a random Tuesday night the weather’s nice egg got my daughter did him. God did the you know, whatever. I can’t get people together to do anything. And I said so on opening day everybody gathers it’s kind of like being in the beer garden and heritage hair that is show up. So all you got to just walk around and you’ll see everybody that you want to see. But you can’t make it like you. People like you. Because if I hit you and I’m like, hey, we want to go to the game on the 19th and see the Tigers. You’d be like I got things to do. I got hockey that night. So opening days, like this day we’re Baltimore people come together and I got to see people but the Orioles had been a thing in my life the last 20 years and I I told Rubenstein’s guy, nobody’s ever been nice to me there ever, ever. It’s never been a place I felt welcome. It’s never been a place I want to leave my money. I really from the time Angelo’s bought and I saw the deterioration from Johnny Oates forward because I was immediate member and I was there every night and I took the phone calls every day and people call me to complain I was their complaint department. And but I want to go back and I want to be part of it. And part of going back isn’t me and my wife getting the family roadster and going down there and sitting in the cold and doing the seven thing dance and doing the shell game. Part of it’s like going people we care about love and wanted to spend time with Right? Like that’s the baseball thing is going. You said me my friends we would get together. Right? I mean, that’s the patient what was me and my friends we get on the Boston we go to the games, right? Yep.
Ed Frankovic 23:23
And you know, I just think we remember you and I were doing a TV show down in PG County with our buddy Bill McCaffrey God rest his soul. And you had just gotten that day I remember it. You had gotten a call from the Orioles. They were gonna give you money to do some stuff. You remember this? And it
Nestor J. Aparicio 23:39
was Christmas time it was Matt Trier. Yes, I remember it. Well. They actually paid that bill the next bill they didn’t pay. Right.
Ed Frankovic 23:45
8I remember then they pulled the rug out from under you. And I do remember you did a WNS T night against the Phillies. And my wife and I came we all sat up in the left field and that’s when the bird sprayed you with water that night. I was there that night.
Nestor J. Aparicio 23:59
Actually, that wasn’t the night. The Phillies night was conflating we had a lot of successful events for them. And that shows up in the documentary as well because there’s a lot of evidence of Wild Bill in the upper deck in 2000 wn St. Fans, the the incident happened and like before the Preakness it happened against the angels. It was about Vladimir Guerrero. We had sold about 14 or two tickets out in the bleacher seats on that night because Guerrero didn’t sign with the Orioles. So this was a giving him a hard time for not coming to Baltimore. That’s how provincial we were at this point. That’s how pro oriels pro Baltimore my company always was on behalf of the Orioles on behalf of the town in regard to you know, people like Chad Steele, who didn’t even grew up around. You’re coming here and you serve brands and start telling me what’s good for Baltimore. It’s hilarious while they take $600 million of our money and they’re a billionaire guy who pretends to be a nice guy goes running off. I mean, it’s really it’s incredible. It’s incredible. How much money eat, and how much history and all and how much love we all have for these brands. And this new owner needs to feel that and know that and know how many people like you and me are out there that have been dusted by the brand in one way or another. Not everybody was assaulted by the team mascot on a night when a $30,000 bill wasn’t paid, and then lie to and I mean, Flanagan, Flanagan died almost sideways with me because of what happened that night. And he was appalled. And he was the one who promised me quite frankly, shit like that wasn’t going to happen anymore. But he wasn’t in control of it. He was embarrassed by it. He was mortified. He called me mortified about what happened in 2004 and 2005. And the whole thing came unraveled because they couldn’t communicate because they have communicate. I told their communications guy Mr. Rubinstein’s communications person, I told him, you have an organization here that is just horrific at communicating. Like they with everyone, with everyone, with sponsors with friends with media with they had no communication skills. John Angeles’s communication skills were on display. Last Martin Luther King day they were on display when he banned Kevin Brown and thought, and in the end, no one talked about it. You know, no one had Kevin Brown’s back inside the organization. Not none of them. None of them came out loud. I mean, Palmer McDonnell, all those guys could have said, This is bullshit. Ah, yeah, any of them could have said that. They didn’t. Nobody. The only one that ever said it was bullshit was me. Yeah.
Ed Frankovic 26:41
And it was bad. And it’s just they’re all it’s hush money, right. They’re all paid. They’re afraid of losing their jobs. Again, it goes back to journalism is
Nestor J. Aparicio 26:48
tyranny, characterization and trauma. That’s what I said that that was that defines 30 years. That’s the way I’ll always remember it. And that’s not to, you know, God rest Mr. Angelo, solely, young on his kids got wealthy. I mean, at the end of this story, there needs to be something good for my town, beyond the next billionaire coming in, and spending billionaire money and coming in, at the end of this, there needs to be it needs to be more than a casino. It needs to be more than an empty stadium. It needs to be more than an empty parking lot that people may or may not want to come to right. Like all of the things that Peter screwed up sports legends Museum, he destroyed it. Right. Literally, Peter destroyed it. So I mean, Peter destroyed the night we were supposed to celebrate the Super Bowl victory. So like Peter was destructive. And I don’t mind portraying it in that way. Because that’s the fact. It’s a fact and and these are the things that Rubenstein needs to clean up.
8Ed Frankovic 27:51
So How involved is Ripken going to be? Here’s a guy who grew up in this area, right? A local guy, I would say does he have how much does cow want this to get back to where it was?
Nestor J. Aparicio 28:04
I don’t know. I haven’t talked to Cal in a long time. You know, I was not at the press conference last week where he and Rubenstein and Westmore. I was not allowed to ask questions. And apparently it was because of the Key Bridge and and the governor being there. It was a different kind of press conference in that. Listen, if David Rubenstein is going to I know one thing, I’m not going anywhere. I’m gonna be here, right? And if if anybody wants to sit, I’m like Mr. Angel. Anybody wants to sit and talk to me. I’m a very available individual out. Okay, crabcake tours, I’m here. I want to educate the public. I want to be educated. I want to I want to feel the integrity. I want to feel the reach. I want to feel the sincerity. I want to feel the community. I feel the business and the need. I respect that they need to fill the place up to afford Adley rutschman and gunner Anderson, if you want those kinds of players, if you want Corbin burns here the next five years and $160 million. If you if you want that kind of baseball, we have to do better than 12,000 Down there in a 50 degree night at $9 tickets and I’m afraid of the city it cost too much money like all of that there needs to be a real level of investment from our community. Otherwise there Tampa. And I mean that sincerely. I mean, absolutely.
Ed Frankovic 29:26
Because the Yankees, the Dodgers, the Red Sox, they print money, they’re always going to sell out. They’ve got their big cable deals. And they always sell out their stadiums, right because they want to win. The Orioles model is not that they want to win. It’s the Angelus model was we’re gonna make money at the expense of the city. And they
Nestor J. Aparicio 29:45
8it’s all they did. I mean they made money and made money and stashed maths and money and hid maths and money from that from the learners and from Major League Baseball like all along that’s what they did. You can do the math on all of it for what they invested now I will say this and all respect to Mr. Angeles and I wrote this in the Peter principles. He was really upside down when he resigned and Jeff cone on and David Siggy and Sydney Ponsoldt he was 20 30 million out of his own pockets into the franchise in the same way that Rubenstein and these guys come in to build 1,000,000,007 If they go giving Gunnar Henderson and these people money, and they roll this payroll at 240 million or 100 50 million, I don’t know that the revenue supports that right now. Right? They just doesn’t like I mean, I look at the stadium I look at their like Masson printed a lot of money that they hid from themselves. And they had a contract that was just unbelievable that the more they kept away from the Nationals, the more they had to keep away from the Orioles. It was just it was a poison pill that was destructive. And I think at the heart of it, that’s the dirtiest thing they did. And that’s the thing I would bring up the Rubinstein if I had an ear to msa, you know, for 20 years since this network started. Every year they turn a kid how much TV money they would take for themselves. They always took as little as possible, because they had to pay the Nationals as little as possible. And that kept more for the Angelo’s family to just take that money, just take that cable television money and never have any it never had anything to do with baseball. So they I don’t know what happened all the money you have to ask John but there’s, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars that were you served in a profit side of this over the course of the last 20 years in addition to the billion seven in addition to that.
Ed Frankovic 31:33
So the Rubinstein this group get the mass into in the deal. Oh yeah, yeah, yes, they have it all No,
Nestor J. Aparicio 31:39
John Angelos is out of is out of the deal.
Ed Frankovic 31:44
Right so Yeah, cuz I like you. I don’t have streaming I do have I do get Comcast XFINITY and I watched the real games there. Now I can stream Netflix and stuff like that. But I don’t watch hockey games streaming. I watch them whatever they put on TV. I’ll watch them. I’ll watch baseball if it’s i I’m watching the Orioles again, just because the the ownership change, right. I didn’t watch many games last year. They were good last year. I didn’t watch a lot because I just I was so ruined on baseball by the ownership. But now that there’s a new ownership, there’s new hope, if you will. I’m gonna watch.
8Nestor J. Aparicio 32:16
Like you and me want to come back. We never wanted to leave. We never wanted to be lied to. We never wanted to be subjected to 115 losses a year. I like especially guys like you and me who were 15 1618 years old is journalist covering professional hockey, interviewing Dr. Jay after games, and like, like 40 years later, I cannot be lobotomized into being an idiot to to peddle sit there in Oriole bird outfit and tell lies to my community. I’m not doing that. Right. I never was gonna do that.
Ed Frankovic 32:58
Yeah, I mean, you look, you’re the most pro Oriole pro raving guy there is. But you weren’t gonna sit there and just tell him everything was great all the time. Right? I mean, that’s what that’s what we do. You and I follow the sports for forever. We would point out the good and we wanted them to win. But we would have to point out the bad. That’s your job as a journalist, and to ask the questions to find out what their strategies are, what they’re trying to do where the organization is headed. That’s what you do as a journalist, right? But journalism is is not what it was when you and I were growing up in the 80s and doing it and you know, I love journalism to go work for the team. And you brought me back in with your website in 2007. But I worked for the capitals, and we saw the capitals disintegrate. They moved downtown, I mean, same type of thing. They were begging people to go to games. It wasn’t until you know leonsis came in he tried to do Yaga. And that failed. But that ultimately led to Alex Ovechkin. And ultimately, our good buddy Barry trots came in in 2014. And was he’s a GM now he was part GM when he came in there with Brian McClellan. And they built a team and they won playoff series after playoff series for four years and they won the Stanley Cup. And he filled his building with Alex Ovechkin and that winning culture. And they haven’t won a playoff series since Barry trots left and I know you know that and I know that. And they’re going to be in trouble when Alex Ovechkin wins. And when he breaks Gretzky’s record, it didn’t look like he was going to do it, but he’s hot now. And he’s probably going to do it if he can keep himself in shape. And what’s gonna happen after a basket, the Oreos lived off Ripken for years in the streak, right, what’s going to happen afterwards? That’s where you have to have an organization in place. And you know, that’s what the Orioles didn’t have. And we all knew it was Angelo’s just making money for years. So we tuned it out. I didn’t follow it. I mean, I did not follow the Orioles for years. And now I want to come back right now. They have new ownership. You got your orange shirt on. Look
Nestor J. Aparicio 34:56
at you Eddie.
Ed Frankovic 34:57
8I got my WNS T golf shirt from circumstance wasn’t done here and
Nestor J. Aparicio 35:00
look at that. I don’t even know I’m one of those. I don’t at Frank avec is here. He was our longtime hockey Insider. He has been my media friend for 40 years. He does really important jobs and keeping Americans safe, and also is always at a hockey rink. And after all the years of hockey and sort of cold turkey and I reached the trots, I almost went to Nashville today. The Black Crowes are open in their tour tonight at the grand old Opry. So I literally had a flight today to Nashville didn’t go I still never been to the Grand Ole Opry. Oh, it’s gorgeous. You gotta go you got Yeah, don’t tell me that today. Uh, you know, I just I’m not feeling it because of where I am work flow and where my Mojo is. And I just got back from Florida last week and the Orioles just got sold. But there’s quite a story to tell about this community and our love of sports. And now we’ve had the bridge disaster in the port. All of these things that are concocting and maneuvering, we have the best football team in the sport last year and last championship game. Best Baseball Team 101 wins. You know, now there’s been an ownership change. There’s just a lot for me to process at this point in my career, right like, and taking it all in and seeing real change and knowing how long I’ve waited for this change. And I told Rubinstein’s guy I’m like, you know, long I’ve waited for you people to come in here and make this thing better. You think you think I want to be a part of effing it up? You think I want to be anti you after what I’ve dealt with here? I’m 55 years old. It’s Baltimore positive, bro. We’re all trying to do the same thing here. Yeah, that guy was a creep. And I always call him a creep. And I don’t live dead, whatever. He It was awful. It was awful. And I’ll never portray it as anything other than what it was. It was awful. Yeah,
Ed Frankovic 36:43
I mean, this guy has a great chance. And let’s be honest, I mean, there are so many more people in this area, Nestor, I mean, the population has grown a ton, it would be very easy for them to do this, right and fill that stadium again, they could do it. They just have to put the effort in, they have to make the connections, communication, it comes back to what you were saying earlier in our talk. You have to communicate, you have to be out there. You have to reach the people. And you can bring it back. If it’s done. Right, they could do it.
Nestor J. Aparicio 37:11
Well, I hope they find some way to do it with some authenticity, and which is what I feel like I would bring to the table if they let me back in. Listen, I’m begging for press pass. And Lucas even said, if they let you win, How often will you go? And like, you know what I said? I’m 55 years old Ed? It depends on how I’m treated. Right? Like literally, you know, like, literally, if I’m gonna go down there and have TJ Brightman and Greg Bader. restrict my access. I’m stricken out of a different water cooler. I’m treated like the you know, that the guy who skins a different color who they brought in and I glow green in the corner like a margin. And it I deserve better than that. I’ve always deserved better than that. I’ve demanded better than that. And therefore I haven’t subjected myself to that. And I won’t I won’t.
8Ed Frankovic 38:05
You a lot of these media outlets like the capitals, they invest in the posts, they invest in these places and, and the coverage of the for the capitals, for example, where the Washington Post is compared to back in the day, you and I knew the BB cache, right and they haven’t had a really good reporter covering the Capitol since Tariq Al Bashir left and his kid plays hockey, right. His kids playing for the Maryland black bears down there in piney orchard. And he’s going to play for Alaska next year. His kid grew up playing hockey, right, like my kids. And it, it’s just not the same the way it was. They do give preference. These sports franchises give preferential treatment to the companies that they’re paying to publicize for them. And it’s just it’s not like it was back when you and I started out in the 80s. And going to capital’s games, going to bullet games. Oriole games, it’s totally different than it was. It’s big money. It’s a big business right now. But the Orioles have a chance to expand their business if they do this. Right. I mean, it’s easier for the Ravens because they’re eight games a year right at home. You can fill the stadium, and they have a good team. Like you said they had the best of your tickets for the Ravens. You don’t go the Ravens. I don’t go anymore. My kids. I’m too busy with my kid, my three kids, and it was just too much to spend a whole Sunday down there. And it’s now I don’t see many games because usually in a hockey rink on Sundays in the fall, but I did go to the Bengals game the Thursday night game. I did have
Nestor J. Aparicio 39:30
you still remain a avid rabid supporter. Yeah. And
Ed Frankovic 39:33
it was. Yeah, they did have the best team. They just choked in the championship. I mean, they pick their bad game. And that’s the way it is. We both remember 2012 The game in New England where Lee Evans didn’t hold on to the ball and then kind of hit the upright and we went out we got Justin Tucker and the next year we win the Super Bowl. So maybe this loss in the championship this year spurs them to next year right but they have have to figure out a way like they did to beat Tom Brady back then. And they could have Brady’s number pretty good for franchise. They have to figure out a way to be Patrick mahomes Next year, as
Nestor J. Aparicio 40:09
8well as Joe burrow and some other teams that are coming on as well. So, and I Love You, Man, I miss you a bad ball game. I mean, we watched a million hockey games let’s let’s get to Hershey Bears game recital. No, we got to figure something out. Right? They want a cup last year.
Ed Frankovic 40:23
Yeah, they’re gonna be in the playoffs. They have a great team down there. Yeah, Hershey bears. All my kids are all about going to Hershey, especially my youngest loves roller coasters. So Hershey is one of his favorite spots.
Nestor J. Aparicio 40:33
All right, well, we’re gonna have to work something out for something out there other than Hootie and the Blowfish. Before the summer’s over at Frank avec has been my friend for 40 years. He will be featured in the documentary that’s coming out. I’m releasing the name of the documentary right now. Do you want to know the name of the documentary? Absolutely. No one listens. Everyone. Here’s the story my life right. Oh, yeah, we
Ed Frankovic 40:58
have one listener, right for how many
8Nestor J. Aparicio 40:59
no one listens? Yeah, no one listens. So that’s coming out and add and I met at the Capitol center in 1984. I was 15 years old. 16 years old. 16 I just turned 16 It was actually my birthday. And the you can see the byline and the birthday and see it was all my my 17th birthday. Pelle Lindbergh died. But I have been covering the skip Jackson. So all that stuff’s going to be in the movie, all the stuff that you remember over 40 years, but had covered the capitals here for the better part of a decade and a half and about winning a Stanley Cup. He and I were together in Las Vegas. We were together in all sorts of hockey rinks for years and years and years with Barry trots, who’s now down in Nashville trying to win their first Stanley Cup. That would be apropos. I do remember you know trots left came to Washington, Jen beat cancer and 15. And then the predators were in the finals. And all I could think about was Porb Trotz. Had to watch the franchise that he was at for 20 years, like kind of like Earl Weaver having to broadcast the 83 World Series after he wants it in it. It was so weird. So I hope Trump gets his cup down in Nashville. They have a chance, right? Oh,
Ed Frankovic 42:03
yeah, they absolutely they had a streak recently when 16 wins and two losses in overtime. They’re in a nice spot. I think they’re gonna play Vancouver in the first round. I think they can definitely beat them that well, someone whoever wins the cup this year is going to come out of the Western Conference. Now stir. And there are six or seven teams that can win.
Nestor J. Aparicio 42:19
All right, well, I’ll talk hockey with you next time. I haven’t been to a hockey game since last time I went to a hockey game with you. So that’s how long it’s been. It’s been
Ed Frankovic 42:27
8Yeah, it’s been a long time. And like, like I told you, I don’t go down to DC anymore. I watch them on TV. The
Nestor J. Aparicio 42:33
good old hockey game, it’s the best game you can name and Frank avec is still my friend. Even after I sing to him. We’re gonna be out on the road to an American crabcake tour on ninth. We’re going to be Costas all morning. Right up till two o’clock. We’re gonna be talking about the Key Bridge in the peninsula. And we’ll say I’m an expert on all things east side. I’m certainly not an expert on bridges. But I’m an expert on the history of things on the east side. And I do remember life before the bridge and now we have life after the bridge, and the dredging and all that stuff. We’ll be talking about that a Costas on the knife on the top will be a fade, please. I’m wearing my favorite t shirt, established in 1887 but moved into the new Lexington market as of opening day. Last week, I had my first fade Lee’s crabcake in the new location. And I’m telling you, it’s all new equipment. All new fryers are telling me about this drainage system they have. And I will say this, it was the best fadeless crabcake I’ve ever had. I told Amy after my second bite, I’m like, oh my god, your food tastes better here. She’s like, it’s all new equipment. And it’s all timed and it’s all perfect. And I’m like, let’s get down to fade me so Luke and I’ll be there from two until three live. I’ll be there two to five live on the 12th and then every Friday and at Frank avec you’re invited every friday from two until five we’ll be there giveaway Maryland lottery tickets and Evans with fun. I am Nestor we are wn st am 1570, Towson Baltimore. We never stop talking Baltimore. Positive
