BALTIMORE (AP) — David Rubenstein took over the Baltimore Orioles at a particularly optimistic moment for the franchise — and the new owner seems well aware of what this team could accomplish in the immediate future.
“Today is an easy day to say everything is great, and hopefully we’ll win opening day, but I don’t want this to be the high-water mark,” Rubenstein said Thursday, a day after Major League Baseball’s owners unanimously approved his purchase of the Orioles. “I want the high-water mark to be in the fall, when we go to the World Series and we show that we are a city that supports a great team.”
Rubenstein’s group closed on the sale later Wednesday and he took over as controlling owner, according to baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred.
Robinson held a news conference hours before Baltimore hosted the Los Angeles Angels in its opener, and the Carlyle Group co-founder listed several of the reasons the Orioles are in an envious position. After a 101-win season in 2023, they’re loaded with young talent and have an award-winning general manager and manager running things in the front office and dugout.
Rubenstein’ was joined by other members of the new ownership team, plus Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. It’s been a week marked by tragedy in Baltimore after a cargo ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Amid the excitement of opening day at Camden Yards, Moore also talked about the bridge’s collapse, and much of the brief question-and-answer period involved queries from reporters about that.
“Baltimore is being tested right now, but Baltimore’s been tested before,” Moore said before Rubenstein spoke. “And every time, we stand up on two feet, we dust ourselves off, and we keep moving forward.”
Also in the last week, the Orioles lost longtime owner Peter Angelos,…