The Bowie Baysox, the Class AA affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, traces its lineage to a failed venture. In 1991, the Maryland Baseball Limited Partnership wished to add a Class AAA baseball team in central Maryland. The partners, owners of the AA Hagerstown Suns and Class A Frederick Keys, settled on land just south of Bowie for the location of this franchise. The town of Bowie put in a franchise bid to Major League Baseball, which was adding to the AAA ranks because of its expansion into Denver and Miami. Bowie did not win the bid, losing to Ottawa and Charlotte. That loss did not discourage the idea of bring baseball to the Central Maryland area.

Maryland Baseball proposed building a stadium just south of the US 50-US 301 inter-exchange. It wished to move the Hagerstown AA team, part of the Eastern League, to Bowie. After a few months of negotiations with various parties, and with fans submitting more than 3,500 names, a new minor league team was created: the name Baysox was selected for its regional tie (“Bay”) and its connotation of baseball tradition (“Sox”).

A Rough Beginning
With the new stadium scheduled for completion at the start of the 1994 season, the Baysox spent its 1993 season in Baltimore's once-grand Memorial Stadium, where the ghosts of past champions seemed to permeate the concrete walls. The Baltimore Colts had left the stadium for Indianapolis in 1984, while the Orioles departed after the 1991 season for Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Baysox’ arrival marked the first time since 1915 that a minor league franchise had shared a city with a major league team. The fledging operation drew better than a quarter of a million fans. Then-general manager Keith Lupton won the Eastern League’s Executive of the Year award.

September 23, 1993, marked the groundbreaking ceremonies for Prince George’s Stadium. Ensuing heavy rains and winter ice storms, however, created cost overruns, thus postponing the inaugural game. Finally on Thursday, June 16, 1994, a crowd of 7,142 came to watch a baseball game at the new stadium, overlooking the portable restrooms, vending carts and construction zone atmosphere. Many noticed that the stadium had the same dimensions as Memorial Stadium: 309 feet down the lines, 405 to center, and 375 in the power alleys. The home team did not disappoint the crowd, pulverizing the Binghamton Mets 14-6. An average of 7,500 fans attended games in the incomplete ballpark for the 39 remaining dates that season.

Photo caption

Maryland Historical Society

Accomplishments
In 1995, on the heels of an 84-58 record the previous year, the Baysox drew 463,976 fans, then an all-time Eastern League record. The Baysox won the Bob Freitas Award as the top AA franchise in 1997; General Manager Jon C. Danos was named Eastern League Executive of the Year. On May 4, 1998, the Baysox hosted the Orioles Spring Classic, an exhibition game between the parent Orioles and minor league prospects. It drew 14,716, a stadium record. Maryland Baseball sold the team to Comcast-Spectacor, LP, in January 2001. Through the 2004 season, 73 former Baysox players (excluding Orioles on rehabilitation assignments) had played in the major leagues.

With 3,000 box seats identical to Camden Yards, Prince George’s Stadium now has a seating capacity of 10,000. At the request of then-Governor William Donald Schaefer, the stadium was dedicated to the late Charles “Buzz” Ryan Jr., former chairman of the Maryland House of Delegates Appropriations Committee. Ryan played a significant role in putting together the financial package to fund the stadium, thereby making the Bowie Baysox a reality.