Remembering Keith Lupton and his distinguished career in minor league baseball

Longtime Baltimore baseball fans may remember the 1993 season. Baltimore was home for a season to two baseball teams. The Orioles played at shiny, new Camden Yards, while the Double-A Bowie Baysox played at old Memorial Stadium.

It was the first year for the Baysox franchise and, despite horrendous weather on the eve of the season and a big league team taking attention away from them, the Baysox made a nice go of it.

They faced more challenges the next season. Their first 30 or some home games were played on the road at four different venues while Prince George's Stadium was being completed.

That is one challenging year and a half for any franchise, but for the Baysoxm it was their first year and a half. But they got off to a good start back then and they continue humming along today. The man that was there at the beginning to make sure those 1993-94 seasons went well is no longer with us.

Then-Bowie general manager Keith Lupton died on Sunday April 12 in Dover, Del. He was 73.

Keith was a big part of Orioles minor league history and was known as a businessman who could be there for a successful start-up of a franchise. He did it many times. Three times alone for Orioles affiliates.

He was there at the beginning with the Single-A Frederick Keys in 1989, Bowie in 1993 and with the Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds in 1996. He won General Manager of the Year awards four times and did it all three stops in three different leagues.

Before he even got to Frederick, he had a long run with the Hagerstown Suns in the 1980s when they were an Orioles affiliate, and he worked in radio before that.

Many current fans may have never met or even heard of Lupton, but he won't be forgotten by those that knew him. He always had a warm smile and friendly handshake, and was helpful to anyone that needed it, any time they needed it.

In recent years, he was involved with the Lancaster Barnstormers and the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the independent Atlantic League. He worked many years for Peter Kirk, whose group once owned the Frederick, Bowie and Delmarva teams. He worked for Kirk also in the Atlantic League.

Tripp Norton is now the Orioles director of baseball operations and works with Dan Duquette in the front office. But when he started with the club in 1998 and for many years after that, he worked prominently in the O's minors and player development operation.

"Keith always had the Orioles' best interest in mind, in terms of our players and staff at each of the affiliates. It was a real good working relationship," Norton said. "Those are three of our affiliates still today. He sure helped to lay the groundwork for a long and great relationship with the Orioles."

And he sure impacted those around him.

"He really did," Norton said. "Was always very generous with his time with anyone, whether it was a job seeker at the Winter Meetings or a seasoned baseball person. He just loved being around and talking about the game and doing anything he could to make the game better."

Now about those crazy first two years with Bowie. Dave Collins was the Baysox broadcaster then and for many years and worked closely with Lupton. He had a long career with Lupton, with two O's affiliates and later in the Atlantic League.

"He was a tremendous leader," Collins said. "You can't argue with the model he created in Frederick that he took with him to Bowie and Salisbury. He loved the game and loved the business. People gravitated toward him. He had a tremendous personality and charisma. People believed in him and he could get a community to rally around a project, whether it was sky boxes or season tickets.

"People loved working for him. He really cared about those that worked for him. What a character also. He was a lot of fun. There was a time to work and make budget goals, but there was also a time to play. Keith was the kind of boss that was in the middle of both."

Collins fondly remembers those first few days and months when the Baysox played at Memorial Stadium and then were road warriors to start the '94 season.

"He was named the Eastern League Executive of the Year in 1993 because he pulled off something nobody thought could be done. That was get Memorial Stadium up and running and market a minor league baseball team in a major league city with a major league team a few miles away. And we had a great year at Memorial Stadium," Collins remembered.

"We didn't get the (Memorial Stadium) lease until February. Right in the middle of our trying to get it up and running, the super storm of '93 came through. We had 10 weeks to get everything going. Then there was a blizzard in the middle of that. We could not even get into work.

"Then in '94, we ended up wandering around for a while. When I think back on it, it was a tremendous experience. But you need somebody like Keith leading that. Someone that could be serious about the business part but also taking a lighthearted approach and we had fun with it. But those were crazy times."

Collins said Lupton was great on the business side, but that he was also pretty special with Lancaster when he held the role of vice president of baseball operations. He acquired and signed the players, and in his second season there, in 2006, Lancaster won the league championship.

"We had a lot of fun here in Lancaster and people remember him here as a great guy who enjoyed the teams he put together," Collins said.

"The number of people on Facebook that paid tribute to him - it kind of blew my mind. That man had an impact on a lot of people."