The O's Double-A affiliate is now the Chesapeake Baysox

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Orioles current longest-running minor league affiliation is with their Double-A team since 1993, the Bowie Baysox. And as of this morning, the team has a new name, the Chesapeake Baysox.

The team found during the 2024 season, that it welcomed fans from 378 zip codes and all 23 counties across the state of Maryland and from 43 states nationwide.

To better reflect its regional drawing power, the Bowie-based team now becomes the Chesapeake Baysox. The club will remain at Prince George’s Stadium where it holds a long-term lease to continue as home base.

Today’s announcement, at The Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Annapolis, was made by Attain Sports CEO Greg Baroni. The announcement was attended by Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias and director of minor league operations Kent Qualls.

Attain Sports, which purchased the Baysox in January of 2022, also just recently bought a controlling interest in the O’s High-A Aberdeen IronBirds club with the Ripken family maintaining an ownership stake. Attain also owns the Frederick Keys of the MLB Draft League, the Spire City Ghost Hounds of the Atlantic League and Loudoun of the United Soccer League.

“We began to realize, through our digital analytics, that our fanbase was much more than just Bowie," said Baroni. "It reached into the region, deep into the region from all the different counties. And this is really the Chesapeake Bay region and that gave birth to the name.

“We are really excited for this new chapter. But I want to emphasize our commitment to both Bowie and Prince George’s Stadium and the county," Baroni said. "We remain steadfast and we are thrilled to have a long-term stadium lease and we are deeply dedicated to serving and being an active member of our community."

Added Baroni: “The goal is to reflect the fanbase, the broader community support and to make sure they feel ownership now as part of this journey.”

Baroni also noted that PG Stadium will also undergo some future changes. He believes the facility could use a “major facelift.”

“So we began work with the state and Major League Baseball along with the Baltimore Orioles and have charted a course that you will see in a rolling wave of improvements.

“Next year in 2025 you will see more of what I call the fanbase things and in 2026 you will see much more of a player investment that we are making. I am not allowed to say too much more. But the manifestation of our investments will start to unfold and become much more visible.”

Baroni said it was meaningful to the Baysox that Elias and Qualls attended today’s announcement.

“The partnership (with the Orioles) is real. The moment we took ownership, Mike was the first one to reach out and embrace me and said ‘Greg, as new owner, do you want to come to spring training?’ In spring of 2022, we were front and center at Ed Smith Stadium and he began to introduce and welcome me into the Orioles family.

“This is just the proof that that partnership is real,” he said.

And maybe I am burying the lede here but when I interviewed Baroni today I asked him if his Frederick Keys club and franchise could one day be back as an MLB affiliate. The Keys lost their affiliation with MLB and the Orioles when the minor leagues contracted in 2021. It has been playing in the MLB Draft League with a team of college prospects, since then. 

“Stay tuned. I would say we have a significant interest in making sure an affiliate returns to Frederick. Stay tuned,” he said smiling.

This new Baysox chapter comes with refreshed branding, highlighted by bold, Bay-inspired logos, including an audacious crab holding a baseball bat and the Maryland flag. Adding to the excitement, the team will debut an all-new uniform set as they kick off the 2025 season.

Join the Chesapeake Baysox to celebrate its new name and be the first to see the newly branded apparel and other merchandise tomorrow at its free Holiday Launch Open House which is open to the public. The event will take place tomorrow from 1-4 pm, at Prince George's Stadium in Bowie and will feature holiday festivities, craft vendors, and more. Learn more and register here.

Some tweets from today's event are here and here and for even more go to Baysox.com.