Van Halen Closing in on Orioles

Fri., Aug. 12, 2005 5:15 PM PDT by Joal Ryan

If Van Halen was a sports franchise, the argument could be made it'd be the dysfunctional, "Bronx Zoo" version of the New York Yankees. In which case the Baltimore Orioles might be in trouble.

More often than not, the Yankees of that era beat the Orioles.

A showdown between Van Halen, the hard-rock supergroup, and the Baltimore Orioles, the fourth-place baseball club, is on after a judge rejected the team's attempt to bench the band's lawsuit challenge, the Baltimore Sun reported Friday. The start of the trial, set for Los Angeles, is "imminent," a Van Halen lawyer told the Associated Press.

The rivalry dates back to last year, when Van Halen filed a federal lawsuit alleging the Orioles reneged on a deal to bring the then-touring band to the team's Camden Yards. The would-be Sept. 2, 2004 concert would have been a first for the baseball-only facility. Presumably more important to Van Halen, the concert would have brought it about $1.5 million, plus an 80 percent cut of ticket and merchandise sales, the band claimed in the suit.

Technically, the suit is being pursued by Van Halen's management company, the newspaper said. The firm seeks at least $2 million in payback from the Orioles.

Even without a stop in Baltimore, Van Halen hit 80 cities during its 2004 tour. Billed as a new beginning for the veteran band, with "Right Now" singer Sammy Hagar back on vocals, the road trip ended with Hagar and guitar god Eddie Van Halen coming close to a bench-clearing brawl, Hagar recently told Billboard.

"It was a horrible way to end the whole thing," Hagar said in the music-industry magazine. "So, I just say, 'Man, that's it for me. I'm not playing with people like this.'"

Van Halen, the band, has been on hiatus as a recording and touring act since the tour ended last November, leaving bassist Michael Anthony time to touting the pending release of his two new barbecue sauce varietals, Mad Anthony's Original and Extra Hot. ("Reinforce the asbestos underwear," Anthony wrote on his Website this month.)

Meanwhile, Hagar, out on the road again this summer as a solo act, occasionally backed by Anthony, told Billboard he held out hope that Van Halen, the rocker who used to be "a fun guy," might "change back, and then we can do it again."

After all, comebacks are part of baseball.