Orioles owner David Rubenstein, as unassuming as a billionaire can be, mingles with fans at his debut
As understated as a billionaire baseball team owner can be, David Rubenstein approached the Camden Yards gate Thursday and — like every other fan — held out his phone for the ticket attendant to scan.
“We’ll scan this next one,” the attendant said, reaching for Rubenstein’s phone.
Then … nothing.
“Mine doesn’t seem to be working,” Rubenstein said. “I think my technical skills aren’t as good as yours.”
“It might not be you,” at fault, the attendant replied, eager — like just about everyone else on opening day at Camden Yards — to give Rubenstein a pass and make him feel appreciated at his first game since Major League Baseball approved him as the Orioles’ controlling owner Wednesday.
Rubenstein was allowed into the stadium, of course, and soaked in the defending American League East champions’ 11-3 rout of the Los Angeles Angels. He has acknowledged being in a honeymoon period — the team hasn’t lost any games, and nobody is mad at him yet — and employees and fans welcomed him effusively.
“We love you, David!” one fan shouted as he strolled on Eutaw Street near Boog’s BBQ, wearing an Orioles cap, khaki pants and a blue blazer over a button-down shirt and tie. Others yelled “Welcome” and “Thank you.” Some asked him to sign baseballs.
Gov. Wes Moore welcomed Rubenstein at a news conference inside the B&O Warehouse earlier in the day.
“Every conversation that I’ve had with David has begun with a simple question: ‘How is Baltimore doing?'” Moore said. “David is a Baltimore guy, and to have him at the helm of this team means everything to the city and to the state. To David, thank you for believing in Baltimore.”
“Today is an easy day to say everything is great,” Rubenstein said during his introduction Thursday morning. “Hopefully we’ll win opening day. I don’t want this to be the high watermark. I want the high watermark to be in the fall when we go to the World Series.”
Rubenstein, 74, founded the Carlyle Group, a global investment firm, in 1987, and is worth $3.9 billion, according to Forbes. He is a City College graduate who has long had an eye on buying the club, valued at $1.725 billion. He is the team’s fifth owner and first since the late Peter Angelos, who bought the team in 1993.
A postal worker’s son, Rubenstein and his aides selected the child of a postal worker — Aubree Singletary, a Harlem Park Elementary/Middle School fourth grader — to throw out the ceremonial first pitch Thursday. Hall of Famer and Orioles icon Cal Ripken Jr., who is part of the new ownership team, was the pitch’s recipient.
Rubenstein looked and felt Thursday like a fan, a role he said was not pretend since he grew up rooting for the Orioles and playing shortstop in Little League in the city.
He spent some time mingling in the two-level owner’s box, which was well stocked with snacks and beverages and crowded with celebrities such as Ripken and various elected officials. Moore and U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin were among the officials who came to the warehouse before the game to welcome Rubenstein, who also joined the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network broadcast to chat and reminisce with play-by-play announcer Kevin Brown, Hall of Famer Jim Palmer and former Orioles pitcher Ben McDonald.
But Rubenstein said he wanted to spend as much time with fans as luminaries. His impromptu strolls repeatedly startled — and delighted — fans who did not anticipate meeting the team owner at the entry gates or in the stands or concourses.
“We just went to the bathroom,” said giddy Orioles fan Robbie Roca, who encountered Rubenstein as he stepped onto Eutaw Street to find the owner chatting with passersby.
“Amazing,” said Roca, who posed with the owner for a selfie.
Among the other fans meeting Rubenstein was Bruce Myers, but it was not a chance encounter.
Rubenstein and his aides had heard that Myers, 72, was marking 50 years of attending the Orioles’ home openers. The Maryland native began his streak of attending every fan-available opening day game in 1974 when he was fresh out of college.
The Orioles staff called Myers and invited him — and his friend, Jerry Martz, who has been to nearly as many home openers — to the owner’s box.
Rubenstein shook their hands and thanked them for their enthusiastic support.
“He’s doing everything right so far,” Martz said after the meeting.