Baseball season is back in the D.C. region with the Baltimore Orioles beating back the Kansas City Royals on Monday night 6-4 under the new ownership group led by David Rubenstein.
The day before the season opener, Major League Baseball owners unanimously finalized the deal for Rubenstein to buy the O’s from the Angelos family, who had owned the team since 1993. The deal was reported to be worth more than $1.7 billion.
Among those included in the new ownership group is the “Ironman,” Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr.
Ripken joined WTOP’s Anne Kramer and Shawn Anderson.
The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity.
Shawn Anderson: Cal, welcome back. We appreciate you being with us.
Cal Ripken: You’re quite welcome. Thanks for having me.
Shawn Anderson: Congratulations, first in order, for being one of the new owners of the O’s. And of course, you’ve accomplished so much in your Hall of Fame career and beyond. Was this the next step, to own your favorite team, part of the plan here? How excited are you about this?
Cal Ripken: Very excited. It almost seems too good to be true. And in many cases, I’ve learned, I’ll be 64 coming up this year, and many things in life, it’s about timing, and maybe when you’re ready for it. I think the first 20 years of my life, I dreamed about being a big league baseball player and the next 21 or so, I was a big league player. And then for the next 20 years, I went off and owned my minor league team, built a business and learned a little bit about business. So when this opportunity came along, and David Rubenstein asked me to join the ownership group. I thought it was the perfect time.
I didn’t think it would feel as good as it does. I went to the first three games, I missed last night. But just being back in the ballpark with a formal relationship with the Orioles, it feels really good. I’m happy about it. And this is a good, good group of baseball players that we look forward to, hopefully helping get that feeling like I had in 1983 when the Orioles last won the World Series
Anne Kramer: Cal, how do you see your role? Is it going to be from the business side? Are you planning to mentor and guide the guys on the team?
Cal Ripken: In whatever way I can. I mean, the baseball piece doesn’t need to be fixed or messed with at all. Mike Elias has done a fantastic job. The system is stocked with talent. They got a good group of guys that are coming together at the big league level. They won 101 games last year. So you know, my role certainly is not there. Although, I could be with my experience that can be a sounding board for Mike. I have experience in the business side, the marketing side, whatever the Orioles need from me. I’d like to help in any way. But I see it more as an advisory role and maybe consulting, which gives me the freedom to come watch games.
Shawn Anderson: I think you have a free ticket anytime you want. Talk about the energy surrounding this team. I mean, we saw it last year, of course with the big playoff run. But it seems even different this year, just seems more intense.
Cal Ripken: It seems like there’s a, there’s a maturing process, even from last year. You had a lot of young guys that found out how good they were and then they pushed the envelope all year long and won 101 games. This year, they seemed like they already know that they can, and their confidence level is up. And it’s interesting to me, you can build a team with talent and nothing replaces talent, you got to start with that. But then there are a lot of teams that don’t have a good culture through the minor leagues, or they don’t have chemistry at the big league level. But this team seems to really like each other and they play for each other and they’ve come together. It’s a unique atmosphere and I’m enjoying being around it.
Anne Kramer: Cal, the fans in Baltimore for years have had a hot and cold relationship with the Angelos family. Then we see new owner David Rubenstein last week hanging out and taking selfies with fans. Are we going to see more of that from him, do you think? Or how do you think he’s going to guide this team, his ownership style?
Cal Ripken: Well, David is an interesting person all around. I’ve known him, I guess in excess of 15 years now. And if you want to know anything about David, just ask him. He’s very transparent. He’ll answer the questions. And he has this community sort of sense about him. I mean, he has a history in Baltimore, and the ownership group. He doesn’t really want to think ‘OK, I’ll be up in the sky box’ or ‘I’ll be up in the box away from the fans.’ I think his idea was to get out and be within the fans.
Michael Arougheti, I was coming underneath the stadium on the way out and he was coming back from the patio area above the center field fence. And he had a big smile on his face and he enjoyed that time out there, especially when Cedric hit the three run homer in his direction. So this is a group of owners that feel like not necessarily that they’re the sole owner of the Orioles. But they’re the guardian of the franchise for the city of Baltimore. And that’s the philosophy that rings really true to me.
Shawn Anderson: Cal, before we go, maybe a slightly more serious note here. Your final year, your final month of your career was in 2001, right after 911. Some very dark days for Americans, a time though when you and baseball meant so much to people after the big tragedy. How can the connection of baseball help Baltimore and the region come together and support one another during this time after the Key Bridge disaster?
Cal Ripken: Baseball and sports in general, and I would think particularly baseball and in this area, has a magical healing effect. Whether it maybe is to take your mind off of something, give you an escape or just immerse yourself into a game that we all love. And I think that can play a role. The Orioles have always been a really important part of the community. The Orioles and the Ravens have reached out into the community in a big way. So in this time of really tough times, maybe you can escape for a couple hours and watch a baseball game and allow you to create a little balance and forget about how things are and then it helps you heal. So we’re all different in that regard. But I do believe in the magic of sports and baseball.
Anne Kramer: Cal, we so appreciate your time today. Such a pleasure to speak with you, this Orioles fan here is gonna be watching all those games and hoping for the best of this young team. Thank you for your time today.
Cal Ripken: Oh, you’re quite welcome.
Anne Kramer: That is Cal Ripken Jr. “Ironman” and Hall of Famer for the Baltimore Orioles. Now he is the part owner of the Baltimore Orioles.
Editor’s note: This story was updated from a prior version to correct the spelling of Michael Arougheti’s name.
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