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[BSLChrisStoner]

[Nigel Tufnel]

Baltimore Banner:

 

Lucchino served as the Orioles’ president from 1988 to 1993, and his presence atop the organization helped to steer Baltimore away from the concrete bowl stadiums that were fashionable at the time. He hired Janet Marie Smith to be the Orioles’ vice president of planning and development, and together they led a collaborative effort with the Maryland Stadium Authority, contractors and state to create a gem of a ballpark in downtown.

 

After a meeting with then-Major League Baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth in the late 1980s — during which Ueberroth painted an image that baseball stadiums should have a standardized shape and size — Lucchino walked into a meeting with Orioles and MSA officials carrying a brochure advertising the Yugo, a one-size-fits-all economy car.

 

He tossed the brochure into the table.

 

“We don’t drive Yugos,” Lucchino said. “We’re not looking to play in one.”

 

Instead, he oversaw the construction of a game-changing stadium that ushered in a new era of ballparks that each have their own unique quirks.

 

“Baltimore would literally not be the same without him,” Smith said. “That’s not an exaggeration.”

 

Larry Lucchino, visionary behind Camden Yards construction, dies at 78 - The Baltimore Banner