The city of Baltimore has an incredibly rich sports history. The greatest moments, as well as the heartbreaking disappointments are well chronicled here. Additionally, there were several sports teams that used to call Baltimore home and are now gone. Some long gone. None of course were as painful as losing the Colts to Indianapolis. This section features teams had mostly short lived existence. Some may not even be remembered.
The vintage teams weren’t always failures. The bygone franchises brought us a Grey Cup championship, a USFL championship, tennis great Jimmy Conners, hockey hall of famer Jacques Plante, future NFL stars Bart Oates, Kelvin Bryant, Irv Eatman, Sam Mills and Sean Landeta, star goaltender Olaf Kolzig, soccer star Peter Silvester and Gary Gait (the most heralded lacrosse player ever).
There were also many regrettable teams. The Baltimore Bays, the city’s first fray into the world of outdoor soccer, drew sparse crowds at cavernous Memorial Stadium in the mid-sixties and lasted just three seasons. That was still better than the Baltimore Comets, who only lasted two seasons and drew even more meager crowds than the Bays; ironic since the NASL was heading into their best years.
Rivals leagues, like the American Basketball Association competing with the NBA, The World Hockey Association competing with the NHL and the United States Football League going against the NFL all found Baltimore initially to be an attractive destination. But in the end, the leagues and/or the Charm City franchises experienced various financial woes that ended their existence. The WHA lasted just half a season in Baltimore as the Blades when the Michigan franchise was moved mid-season and folded at season’s end. But the feeblest Baltimore franchise of all time has to be the Claws of the ABA. In spite of having the Civic Center all to themselves and an aggressive marketing campaign, the Claws only sold 900 season tickets and folded after just three road exhibition games; leaving behind a trail of unpaid rent payments and bounced player’s checks.
The Philadelphia Stars, defending champions of the USFL, were forced to move when the league switched from a spring to a fall schedule and Veterans Stadium was already housing baseball and football. The Stars changed their name to Baltimore, although the team had to play their home games at the University of Maryland’s Byrd Stadium because Memorial Stadium had the same issue as Veterans Stadium. Although their Baltimore roots are certainly questionable, the Stars did manage to win another USFL championship in their one and only season in Maryland.
