Peter Angelos

Peter George Angelos

• School University of Baltimore
• High School Patterson Park High School

• Born July 4, 1929 in Pittsburgh, PA USA
• Died March 23, 2024 in Baltimore, MD USA

Biographical Information

Peter Angelos was the principal owner of the Baltimore Orioles from the time he bought them in a New York bankruptcy court in 1993 for $173 million until his passing in 2024 at age 94. He was one of the most active owners in the first two decades, publicly taking stands on many issues, until illness forced him to curtail his activities, beginning in 2017. Some saw this behavior as being extremely intrusive and arrogant. Angelos was famous for firing manager Davey Johnson, who led the Orioles to two playoff appearances in two years, and was named Manager of the Year before being fired. Also, Angelos fired successful General Manager Pat Gillick and alienated announcer Jon Miller. One of his most well-known stands was his refusal to have his team use replacement players in 1995 when it appeared the strike would not be resolved before the start of the season, when all the other teams were willing to utilize them. In 1999, he arranged for the Orioles to play the Cuban national team in a two-game series that made the Orioles the first major league team to visit Cuba since the Cuban Revolution. Finally, Angelos was strongly opposed to the moving of the Montreal Expos to Washington, DC, which he considered to be part of the team's traditional market. Angelos obtained a guaranteed $130 million in yearly revenue, and was assured of $360 million should he sell the Orioles, in an agreement to allow the Expos to move to Washington.

Angelos was the primary benefactor of the 2004 Greek Olympic baseball team. The son of Greek immigrants, he was born in Pittsburgh, PA but his family moved to Baltimore when he was still very young. He was a self-made man, rising up from a gritty working class neighborhood to run his own law firm in Baltimore. He made his fortune pleading in favor of workers incapacitated by exposure to asbestos and winning enormous settlements. He also served as a Baltimore city councilman form 1959 to 1963 and unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 1967. He had also run unsuccessfully for the Maryland State Senate in 1958.

His son, John Angelos, was the Orioles' executive vice-president and became acting team principal in November 2020 due to Peter's deteriorating health. In 2022, his second son, Lou, sued John over control of the team, alleging it was done against his father's wishes and by manipulating their mother. The move could have led to the team's forced sale, but the family quarrel was quashed. Still, a few months before Peter's death, John arranged to have the team sold to David Rubenstein, with the sale to be effective following his father's passing.

Further Reading

• Anthony Castrovince: "Peter Angelos, longtime Orioles owner, passes away at 94", mlb.com, March 23, 2024. [1]

Related Sites

• MLB Team Valuations