Peter George Angelos (born George Angelos;
July 4, 1929 – March 23, 2024) was an American
trial lawyer
A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters.
The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as wel ...
and
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
executive from
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...
. Angelos was the majority owner of the
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...
, a team in the
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...
of
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
, from 1993 until his death in 2024.
Early life and education
George Angelos was born in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
on July 4, 1929,
the son of John and Frances Angelos, who immigrated to the United States from Menetes,
Karpathos
Karpathos (, ), also Carpathos, is the second largest of the Greek Dodecanese islands, in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Together with the neighboring smaller Saria Island it forms the municipality of Karpathos, which is part of the regional unit ...
,
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
. His first name was changed to Peter shortly after his birth.
Angelos' family settled in the working-class neighborhood of
Highlandtown, Baltimore
Highlandtown is a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
Description and history
The area currently known as Highlandtown was established in 1866 when the area known as "Snake Hill" was established as a village outside the Baltimo ...
, and lived in a
row house
A terrace, terraced house (British English, UK), or townhouse (American English, US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses party wall, sharing side walls. In the United States ...
. Angelos' father, who spoke mostly Greek at home, owned a local tavern.
After graduating from
Patterson Park High School, Angelos attended the
University of Baltimore
The University of Baltimore (UBalt, UB) is a public university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is part of the University System of Maryland. UBalt consists of four colleges in applied arts and sciences, Robert G. Merrick School of Bu ...
, where he earned a bachelor's degree. He then attended law school at the
University of Baltimore School of Law, taking night classes while he worked in his family's tavern. He graduated from law school in 1960 and was named class
valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States.
The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...
.
Career
Law practice
Angelos passed the bar in 1961 and opened an office specializing in handling product-liability cases for employees, almost always on a contingency basis. In one of his cases, he represented some 8,700 steelworkers, shipyard workers, and manufacturers' employees in a consolidated-action
asbestos poisoning suit that was partially settled in 1992. Angelos' take from that litigation alone has been estimated at $330 million.
He served a brief stint on the
Baltimore City Council from 1959 to 1963 and ran for mayor on the city's first interracial ticket in
1967
Events January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...
, but lost to
Thomas D'Alesandro III.
In the mid-1980s, Angelos was investigated by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
into whether Angelos was running a sham medical service company and fraudulently billing insurers. The investigation went as far as executing a
search warrant
A search warrant is a court order that a magistrate or judge issues to authorize Police, law enforcement officers to conduct a Search and seizure, search of a person, location, or vehicle for evidence of a crime and to Confiscation, confiscate an ...
at one of his offices and federal prosecutors obtaining grand jury subpoenas, but Angelos was not charged with any related crimes.
In March 1996,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
hired Angelos to represent the state in its suit against tobacco companies with a 25% contingency fee. After Angelos filed suit on behalf of the state the trial court ruled that the state's recovery would be limited to
subrogation of losses through programs such as Medicaid; this would have effectively ended the state's case. Angelos successfully lobbied the state legislature to change the law to allow the state's suit to proceed. The
Maryland state legislature also cut Angelos' fee to 12.5%. Eventually he settled for $150 million paid over five years.
Angelos also represented the state of Maryland in a suit against
Philip Morris and suing
Wyeth
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc. was a pharmaceutical company until it was purchased by Pfizer in 2009. The company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1860 as John Wyeth and Brother. Its headquarters moved to Collegeville, Pennsylvania, a ...
, the makers of part of the diet pill combination
fen-phen. As of 2019, Angelos' law firm had offices in
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
,
Towson, and
Cumberland
Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...
, Maryland;
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...
, and
Harrisburg
Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...
, Pennsylvania; and
Knoxville
Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
, Tennessee. The firm is headquartered in the historic
One Charles Center building in downtown Baltimore which was purchased by Angelos for $6 million in 1996.
Politics
A lifelong Democrat, Angelos began his political career with an unsuccessful run for
Maryland Senate
The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single ...
in 1958.
He went on to hold a seat on the
Baltimore City Council from 1959 to 1963. He was the first
Greek-American
Greek Americans ( ''Ellinoamerikanoí'' ''Ellinoamerikánoi'' ) are Americans of full or partial Greek ancestry. There is an estimate of 1.2 million Americans of full or partial Greek ancestry. According to the US census, 264,066 people o ...
to be elected to the council. Though Angelos became known for demanding governmental oversight and fiscal responsibility, few of his calls for investigations into city agencies and spending led to lasting change.
In 1963, he ran unsuccessfully for city council president, but lost to
Thomas D'Alesandro III, who was both the son of a popular former Mayor of Baltimore and would later be Mayor of Baltimore himself.
Angelos ran for the Democratic nomination in the
1967 Baltimore mayoral election, on the city's first racially integrated ticket, with
Clarence Mitchell III was running for City Council President,
but he lost the nomination to D'Alesandro,
who received nearly 75% of the vote and went on to beat Republican Arthur W. Sherwood in the general election.
In the late 1990s, Angelos was investigated by the FBI on allegations that he had bribed a Maryland state senator. Angelos was not charged with any related crimes.
Angelos donated $272,000 to the independent expenditure-only committee (
Super PAC
Independent expenditure-only political action committees, better known as super PACs, are a type of political action committee (PAC) in the United States. Unlike traditional PACs, super PACs are legally allowed to fundraise unlimited amounts of m ...
)
Draft Biden which sought to induce
Vice President
A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...
Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
to enter the
2016 Democratic Primary for
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
.
Baltimore Orioles
In 1993, Angelos assembled a group of investors to purchase the
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...
of
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
(MLB) from New York venture capitalist
Eli Jacobs. While Angelos was the principal investor, contributing $40 million, his fellow Oriole group owners included novelist
Tom Clancy
Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science, military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of ...
, filmmaker
Barry Levinson
Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Levinson won the Academy Award for Best Director for '' Rain Man'' (1988). His other best-known works are ''Diner'' (1982), '' The Natural'' (1984 ...
, and tennis player
Pam Shriver
Pamela Howard Shriver (born July 4, 1962) is an American former professional tennis player and current tennis broadcaster, pundit, and coach. She was ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and List of W ...
. On October 4, 1993, Jacobs sold the Orioles to Angelos' group for $173 million, the highest price paid for a
sports franchise at that time. Angelos took over as managing partner and principal owner of the team.
Angelos became a hands-on owner willing to pay high salaries to talented
free agents. Under Angelos' direction, the Orioles signed four high-priced free agents in 1994:
Rafael Palmeiro,
Sid Fernandez,
Chris Sabo, and
Lee Smith. As one of the newest baseball owners, Angelos was expected to abide by the owners' decisions quietly without offering any alternatives or using his experience with labor law to negotiate with the players' union. Angelos did not like that arrangement and he did not particularly care if the world found out.
During the
1994–95 MLB strike, when the other owners signed a document canceling the rest of the
1994 MLB season, including the
1994 World Series, Angelos refused to sign it because it blamed the players for the impasse. When the owners formed a committee to negotiate the lockout, they did not include Angelos, despite his experience as a labor-management negotiator. When talks between the players and the owners stalled in December 1994 and the owners voted to impose a
salary cap
In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Seve ...
, Angelos was one of three dissenters to the arrangement. He also refused to field
replacement players should the strike last into the
1995 MLB season.
Angelos announced his decision about replacement players early in 1995 and was hailed as a champion of the worker. As his fellow owners mulled what action to take against Angelos — everything from a $250,000 fine for each game missed to forcing the sale of the Orioles — the lockout was finally settled in time for regular season play with major leaguers.
Angelos arranged for a
two-game exhibition series to be played between the Orioles and the
Cuban national baseball team in 1999. The Orioles won the first game, played in
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.[Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Oriole Park at Camden Yards, commonly known as Camden Yards, is a ballpark in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home of Major League Baseball (MLB)'s Baltimore Orioles, and the first of the "retro" major league ballparks constructed during the ...](_bl ...<br></span></div>, while the Cuban team won the second game, held at <div class=)
. In 2000, the team's general manager,
Syd Thrift, told ''
The Washington Times
''The Washington Times'' is an American Conservatism, conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on Politics of the United States, national politics. Its broadsheet daily edit ...
'' that the team had a practice of not signing players who had defected from Cuba, which he attributed to Angelos' desire to avoid doing "anything that could be interpreted as being disrespectful" by the Cuban government. Angelos denied the existence of such a policy. Subsequent investigations by MLB and the
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...
did not find evidence that the absence of Cuban players on the Orioles' roster or in its minor league system was due to discrimination.
After becoming owner of the Orioles, Angelos became a controversial figure. In the early years of his ownership, Angelos was repeatedly criticized by ''
The Baltimore Sun
''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news.
Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...
'' for the team's performance, but was praised by his associates for his work ethic and dedication. His stance during the 1994 baseball strike was extremely popular with fans.
Critics accused Angelos of rapidly hiring and firing baseball managers, and reportedly overruling their decisions. However, Angelos' decision to hire
Andy MacPhail as the team's general manager and president of baseball operations in 2007 was met with general approval.
In May 2009, a ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
'' article reviewing MLB owners rated Angelos as the worst owner in the major leagues. The article notes that the methodology "was not scientific" and "weighing heavily in the decision was the team's success or failure on the field." Two weeks later,
Brady Anderson, a member of the
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...
Hall of Fame, responded in an op-ed to ''The Baltimore Sun'', writing that Angelos deserves to be on a list of the "best owners in baseball."
As Angelos' health began to fail, his sons Louis and John took on more leadership roles in the Orioles as he focused more on his health. In February 2019, MLB instructed the Orioles that they had until June to inform the league on who was controlling the team. In November 2020, the league approved
John P. Angelos, vice president of the Orioles and Peter's son, as the team's new control person. In October 2019, John Angelos stated that neither he nor his father Peter had any plans to relocate the Orioles outside Baltimore, contrary to rumors.
On January 30, 2024, Angelos agreed to sell the team to a group led by
David Rubenstein that includes New York investor Michael Arougheti and
Cal Ripken Jr. for $1.725 billion. If approved by the league's owners, the group would acquire 40% of the team and the remainder after Angelos' death. Angelos died on March 23, 2024, three days before the sale of the team had been expected to be finalized.
Horse racing
Angelos bred and raced
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...
horses and in 1998 purchased the Ross Valley Farm in
Baltimore County. He named one of his horses Showalter in honor of Orioles manager
Buck Showalter. As a 2-year-old gelding, Showalter won his maiden race at
Laurel Park in 2015.
Charity
Angelos was known for various acts of charity and philanthropy, having contributed millions to civic and community institutions around Maryland. He donated millions of dollars to the
Democratic Party and its candidates, and was a major supporter of the
Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation in Baltimore. He was the largest individual donor to the
University of Baltimore
The University of Baltimore (UBalt, UB) is a public university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is part of the University System of Maryland. UBalt consists of four colleges in applied arts and sciences, Robert G. Merrick School of Bu ...
and pledged $5 million to the school in 2008. In 2010, ''The Baltimore Sun'' reported that Angelos had recently donated $10 million to the university.
The same report notes that during the particularly hot summer of 2010, Angelos anonymously donated $300,000 to keep Baltimore city pools open.
In 2013, Angelos donated $15 million toward the construction of the
John and Frances Angelos Law Center.
Awards
Angelos was named "Marylander of the Year" by ''The Baltimore Sun'' in 1998, with a citation that read: "Measured by professional accomplishments and contributions to his city and region, he is the Marylander of this decade." In 1995, Angelos received the Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement
The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...
presented by Awards Council member
Tom Clancy
Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science, military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of ...
and was Host of the 1997 Achievement Summit in Baltimore. Angelos was awarded the
Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 1996. In 2016, Angelos was inducted into ''The Baltimore Suns Business and Civic Hall of Fame for his lifetime of philanthropy.
Personal life
Angelos married Georgia Kousouris in 1966, and they had two children together,
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
and Louis. John had served as an executive vice president of the Baltimore Orioles since 1999.
Angelos died at the
Greater Baltimore Medical Center
Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) is a U.S. hospital located in the Baltimore suburb of Towson, Maryland. It was opened in 1965. GBMC serves more than 20,455 inpatient cases and approximately 52,000 emergency department visits annually. G ...
on March 23, 2024, at age 94.
References
External links
Law Offices of Peter G. Angelos – official website.Waldman, Ed. "Sold! Angelos scored with '93 home run," ''The Baltimore Sun'', August 1, 2004.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Angelos, Peter
1929 births
2024 deaths
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American lawyers
20th-century American legislators
21st-century American businesspeople
American people of Greek descent
American racehorse owners and breeders
Baltimore City Council members
Baltimore Orioles owners
Businesspeople from Baltimore
Lawyers from Baltimore
Major League Baseball executives
Maryland Democrats
University of Baltimore alumni
University of Baltimore School of Law alumni