Peter Angelos, the wealthy trial lawyer and Orioles owner, has never been shy about his politics. For instance, he’s given about $5.5 million to politicians and parties, mostly to Democrats.
Also, in 2000, Angelos made a remarkable decision and announcement: He wouldn’t hire Cuban defectors on the Orioles because, as his VP put it, “we — Mr. Angelos in particular — feel it best to not do anything that could be interpreted as being disrespectful or … encouraging players to defect.”
The Washington Times reported this at the time. Here’s a highlight from the article:
Despite their need of good arms, the Orioles declined to pursue a pair of top pitchers who defected from Cuba in the past year, even though both drew the interest of most major league teams.
In January, Adrian Hernandez no relation to Livan and Orlando used forged documents to leave Havana on a commercial airliner. Hernandez signed with the Yankees this season and has been strong in his two appearances in the team’s extended spring training. He was on the roster of the Cuban national team that came to Camden Yards but was not allowed to make the trip because officials feared he would defect.
Danys Baez, who walked away from the Cuban national team at the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg last summer, signed with the Orioles’ American League rival, the Cleveland Indians.
That’s a man of principle: he’ll sacrifice a chance for more wins in order not to offend a Communist dictator by encouraging people to flee the dictatorship!
