The Orioles are getting fans hyped for Thursday’s home opener with a new video series called “The Next Chapter,” set to release the day before the season begins.
It’s not entirely clear what it’s about. The only hint we have is a 10-second clip of center fielder Cedric Mullins sitting down in a white chair, exhaling and casually asking someone off camera, “What’s going on?”
But the title of the series has a certain ring to David Rubenstein, the billionaire investor who is rounding third and heading for home on a purchase of a controlling stake in the ballclub.
“The next chapter...I like how that sounds,” Rubenstein posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Thursday night. “Go @Orioles.”
“The Next Chapter” starts March 27. Ohhhh, I see. Blink twice if that’s when the deal will close, Mr. Rubenstein.
The sale to the group led by Rubenstein — whose members include billionaire Michael Bloomberg, Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr., former Mayor Kurt Schmoke and NBA Hall of Famer Grant Hill — still needs the approval of the other owners in Major League Baseball. We don’t know when the vote will be held.
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A committee of owners approved the deal this month, and on Wednesday the Maryland Stadium Authority signed off on the sale, an administrative step in the transfer from the Angelos family, which has owned the team since 1993, to the investment group doing business as Inner Harbor Sports LLC.
Rubenstein and the authority will have much to discuss once everything is finalized. Under the terms of the long-term lease signed in December, the Orioles can use up to $600 million from state-backed bonds to make improvements to Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Additionally, the team has until 2027 to negotiate a plan to develop areas around the ballpark, including the B&O Warehouse, the vacant Camden Station building and a parking area between the warehouse and light rail tracks.
All of Baltimore is asking, in earnest, the same question as Mullins: “What’s going on?” Or, more specifically, “When?”
