Despite recent sale of two of his minor-league franchises, Tides president says team is staying in Norfolk
The recent sale of a pair of minor league franchises by Norfolk Tides president Ken Young is not a sign of existential danger for the Tides.
Last week, the news came out that Young had sold his clubs in Bowie and Frederick, Maryland, to a Virginia-based sports and entertainment group.
Young, who still owns Triple-A clubs in Norfolk and Albuquerque, New Mexico, as well as a Double-A team in Biloxi, Mississippi, said he’s not looking to move the Tides.
“My Triple-A’s aren’t for sale, and that includes, obviously, Norfolk and Albuquerque,” Young said.
Young, 71, described himself as “semi-retired” after selling his food service business a few years ago, though he continues to serve the business in an advisory capacity.
On a recent walk around his Tampa, Florida, neighborhood, Young said he’s taken to Hampton Roads since he put together a group of investors to purchase the Tides from the New York Mets in 1993.
“I have an allegiance to it,” Young said. “I really like the area. I have lots of friends in the area. I hate to put it this way because it really sounds old, but as I look at retirement years, I think, ‘Well, Norfolk and Albuquerque might both be fun and keep me involved with doing stuff.’ And I like being busy. That’s really where I am on the Norfolk club.”
The Tides, the Baltimore Orioles’ top affiliate, have been an Orioles farm team since 2007. In February, the club signed an agreement with Major League Baseball that keeps it affiliated with Baltimore for another 10 years.
The Frederick and Bowie clubs were sold to McLean-based Attain Sports and Entertainment, founded by former KPMG executive Greg Baroni, for an undisclosed amount.
Bowie plays at the Double-A level. Frederick, a former high Class A club, became a collegiate summer team in the MLB Draft League after MLB’s takeover of the minor leagues last year.
“Throughout my career, I’ve had a passion for building great teams, and this is a natural extension of that focus,” Baroni, a longtime Maryland resident, said in a statement. “The Baysox and Keys offer a pipeline opportunity to the major leagues and continue the tradition of providing quality entertainment to families and communities. It’s about building teams and serving the players and fans, and that resonates with me.”
Young, who visits Norfolk a few times each season, expects to operate the Tides for the foreseeable future while continuing to keep a toe or two in the food service industry.
“I’ve always looked at the baseball business as something that, most likely, I hang on to for quite a while unless something happens to my health or something like that,” Young said. “But overall, that’s how I look at that.”
David Hall, david.hall@pilotonline.com
