It was all because of the letter, right? Ask and ye shall receive? Give back. Tell a good story, speak to the heart and then, magic.
I can certainly imagine it happened this way. Orioles owner Peter Angelos heard about my blog post, titled, Dear Mr. Angelos (https://markbrodinsky.com/2014/02/08/dear-mr-angelos-its-just-about-life/), and the next thing you know pitchers Suk-Min Yoon and Ubaldo Jimenez are signed.
A week later I physically send the letter to Angelos’ office and the next thing you know Nelson Cruz is added to the team. Suddenly the Orioles are a contender. They say words have power, right? My words are like Chris Davis’ forearms and smooth swing. We are going deep!!
Hey, a boy can dream right?
I did post the blog, my story to Peter Angelos, just like I promised the crowd at Babe’s Birthday Bash at the Sports Legends Museum in Baltimore in early February. I did send the letter to his office and to two other lawyers in the hopes it would make it into the Orioles owner’s hands. Now did he really catch wind of the blog, or ever hear about it, or see it? I have no idea. Apparently a lot of other people did, so I will take comfort in the karma for which I was a part.
In the span of two weeks in February the Orioles went from pretenders to contenders. Ownership and the front office took action and gave real hope of continuing what we started in the season of 2012, when after a 15 year drought, Orioles magic returned. All of it happening much to my delight and that of my wife, who at the time was beginning the long journey of battling breast cancer and embraced the welcome distraction only winning baseball can bring. Because it’s there… every day. Just as importantly it was a baseball, more so an Orioles awakening for my young daughters, who were not of this earth the last time the Birds went to the postseason. I shared this story in my letter to Mr. Angelos and all I was asking for was a reason to believe. A reason to keep believing that he and the powers that be cared enough to truly compete, not with smoke and mirrors, but to build on the short-term nucleus of an exciting, determined, at times heart-stopping team.
However it happened I am grateful.
As I waited for the latest “storm of the century” to hit Maryland this weekend, I didn’t even care. The new and improved Orioles were playing a winning weekend of baseball down south, taking 2-of-3 games against their AL East opponents. It’s only spring training, I get it, it doesn’t matter…and yet it does.
Because in the long run everything counts. Everything you and I do every day shows up. Every champion does one thing very, very, very well…they practice, they put in the hard work, the daily disciplines that no one else wants to do and that don’t make headlines, until it’s show time.
In less than a month, on March 31st, it’s show time for the next 162 games and we hope, well beyond.
So Thank You Mr. Angelos. I don’t know who made the decisions, who made the call, who might be on the line for the choices, but I do know you hold the purse strings. Someone has to cut the checks. The last time I checked, that was you.
This year marks the 60th anniversary for the Orioles in Charm City. What a milestone it would be to bring the World Series back to Baltimore.
I asked you to dig deep and think about leaving a legacy. Maybe, just maybe we’ve got a shot.
Hey, a boy can dream, right?
Thanks again,
Mark Brodinsky
Until next time, thanks for taking the time.
Mark
Mark Brodinsky
Author, It Takes 2. Surviving Breast Cancer: A Spouse’s Story
#1 Amazon Best-Seller
www.spouses-story.com
markbrodinsky@gmail.com