Baltimore Metros

Continental Basketball Association (1978-1979)

Tombstone

Born: 1978 – The Washington Metros relocate to Baltimore, MD
Moved: January 1979 (Mohawk Valley Thunderbirds)

First Game: October 27, 1978 (W 125-122 vs. Rochester Zeniths)
Last Game:

CBA Championships: None

Arena

UMBC Fieldhouse (4,042)¹

Marketing

Team Colors: Orange, Black & White²

Ownership

Owner: Fred Keller

Background

Doomed, totally forgotten minor league basketball effort that flamed out in Baltimore after a couple of months in early 1979. The Baltimore Metros formed a year earlier in Washington, D.C. in the Eastern Basketball Association. The Metros were terrible in the EBA (5 wins against 26 losses) and team owner Fred Keller moved the club to the University of Maryland Baltimore County Fieldhouse for the 1978-79 season. The EBA also re-branded itself as the Continental Basketball Association that year.

Keller hired ABA and NBA veteran Larry Cannon to coach the team. Cannon, the #5 overall pick in the 1969 NBA draft, got the team off to a 9-5 start. But that wasn’t good enough for Keller, who fired him in December and took the coaching reigns himself.

Move To Utica

By January, the club was out of money and Keller was looking to unload it. The CBA threatened to revoke the franchise for unpaid bills. In late January, the Metros abruptly left town and set up shop in Utica, New York, changing their name to the “Mohawk Valley Thunderbirds” in midseason. That didn’t work out either and the Metros/Thunderbirds eventually went out of business without finishing the 1978-79 regular season.

The CBA later returned to Charm City with the Baltimore Lightning franchise in 1985. But like the Metros before them, the Lightning would also leave town after less than a year.