Aberdeen’s slow-motion breakup with the minor league baseball team that its favorite son brought to town more than two decades ago appears imminent.
City officials say Attain Sports, which bought the Aberdeen IronBirds from Orioles Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. last year, has scheduled a Zoom call with them Thursday to discuss the future of the Orioles’ minor league affiliate.
Separately, Attain has scheduled an announcement for “something big” in Frederick for the following day.
Frederick has been rumored to be the destination for the High-A IronBirds as Aberdeen officials and IronBirds ownership butted heads over financial responsibilities for the city-owned Ripken Stadium.
The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.
“It would seem the writing is on the wall,” Aberdeen Mayor Patrick McGrady said Tuesday.
Attain and Frederick officials have not commented, but rather referred to the Friday event.
If affiliated baseball is on its way out of Aberdeen, it seems likely that another professional team owned by Attain would inhabit Ripken Stadium in what would effectively be a swap of squads.
The runway for the apparent new baseball era in both cities may have been cleared about three weeks ago when, McGrady said, Aberdeen renegotiated its deal with Attain to use the stadium, finally getting taxpayers off the hook for maintenance of the facility while requiring Attain to pay nothing beyond taxes on tickets sold.
The catch — or tell, as the mayor said — is that it’s only for the next season-and-a-half of baseball, and doesn’t specify what team will play there.
The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.
McGrady, who was first elected in 2015 and is critical of taxpayer-funded stadiums, said he was pleased with the city’s new position. He had long argued that the agreement with the team was a boondoggle and that, without it, the city would be in a better financial position.
“Aberdeen is not desperate to have baseball, and not desperate to have a not-empty stadium,” McGrady said. “We recognize this as an opportunity.”
McGrady said events at Ripken Stadium, already criticized as underutilized, will probably pause as the city seeks to limit wear and tear and explore options for its use and management.
The cause of strain in the relationship between the city and team was that the original deal signed more than 20 years ago called for Ripken’s entity, Tufton Professional Baseball, to collect stadium revenue, while the city was responsible for maintenance and capital upgrades.
Aberdeen officials have long argued that the deal was lopsided and a burden for the city of 18,000 people, while team officials said the city was not living up to the terms of the agreement.
The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.
“Previously, a water heater would fail and the city would get a bill for the replacement of it,” McGrady said. “The thermostats would need to be replaced and we’d get an emergency order for $27,000.”
Contention has built over the years. There was a 2018 lawsuit over who pays for what that eventually was settled. Then, although the Ripkens in 2022 exercised a contractual option to renew another 20-year stadium agreement, the two sides took the dispute to arbitration, with the possibility that the deal could be voided.
In October, as the arbitration process continued, Ripken and his brother, Billy, sold their majority stake in the team to Attain Sports, a Virginia-based company that owns other minor league and independent teams.
In the spring, the arbitrator voided the agreement, and in recent weeks the two sides struck the new deal.
McGrady said Attain committed to have baseball played at Ripken Stadium, but the new agreement didn’t specify which team or what level of play.
The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.
In addition to the IronBirds, Attain owns the Chesapeake Baysox, the Orioles Double-A affiliate formerly known as the Bowie Baysox, as well as an independent league team and a collegiate summer league team that both play in Frederick. The company also owns a United Soccer League Championship team that plays in Northern Virginia.
Speculation has centered on Attain, at least initially, moving one of the Frederick teams to Aberdeen.
After selling out every game for years, attendance at IronBirds games has plummeted recently. At the most recent home game Saturday evening, the team drew less than 2,600 fans. The stadium has a capacity of 6,300. But the team still offers the chance to see up-and-coming Orioles prospects or the occasional major league stars working their way back from injury.
“There’s going to be baseball here. But that could look like any number of things,” McGrady said.
Attain’s announcement in Frederick will take place around 1 p.m. at Harry Grove Stadium, which is in the midst of $40 million worth of state-funded upgrades. The IronBirds’ move would return affiliated baseball to a community that has coveted it since losing that status five years ago.
“Whether you’ve been with us from the beginning or are just getting to know us, we promise this is a moment you won’t want to miss,” the invitation reads.
Comments
Welcome to The Banner's subscriber-only commenting community. Please review our community guidelines.