Born
on September 12, 1963, Michael was two and a half months away from
his 44th birthday when he died on June 1, 2007.
Michael was born the youngest and smallest of the four
Fiorelli children when the family was living in Bethel Park, PA,
south of Pittsburgh. As a happy toddler, Michael kept his family
entertained on many occasions with his funny antics. But this
small and easy-going boy proved to be a strong-willed and determined
young man as he grew and followed his two older brothers into
football and baseball.
Michael’s love of baseball and football began when
he was just 6 years old and he played Little League baseball and
Midget football. He worked hard and never allowed his size to
deter him from achieving his goals, playing football through high
school and his freshman year at East Stroudsburg State College.
After much soul-searching, Michael identified what he really wanted
out of his education and graduated from Towson State University
with a degree in Physical Education and Sports Management. His
professional career began in 1989 with the Baltimore Orioles and
a job in ticket sales. He achieved the level of Assistant Director,
Marketing in 1993 and made significant contributions to the team
during a time of memorable baseball milestones: the move from
Memorial Park to Orioles Park at Camden Yards; the 1993 All-Star
Week Game; and “Streak Week” when Cal Ripken, Jr.
broke Lou Gehrig’s record of consecutive games played.
Three years later, in 1996, Michael left the Orioles
to work for another Baltimore favorite- the Ravens. With responsibility
for private suite sales, special events, advertising and promotions
in the new PSINet Stadium, Michael loved his job as Corporate
Sales Manager. In 2001 he experienced the thrill of his team playing
in and winning Super Bowl XXXV, when the Ravens trounced the New
York Giants and Michael earned his own Super Bowl ring.
In 2002, Michael’s success led him to Major League
Lacrosse where he was hired as Vice President & General Manager
of the fledgling Baltimore Bayhawks. Michael was instrumental
in getting Bayhawks home games played at M&T Bank Stadium,
(formerly Ravens Stadium), and leading the team to the MLL Championship
in the league’s second year of existence. The team finished
the regular season 10-4, then beat Boston and Long Island in the
playoffs. As successful as the 2002-2003 year had been, the greater
Baltimore area was slow in adopting the Bayhawks as a professional
sports team and the team’s owners decided to restructure
the organization. The impact on Michael was a transition to a
different type of team: the Pepsi-Lipton team. In late 2003, Michael
joined the Pepsi-Lipton Partnership as the Business & Industry
National Account Sales Manager, where he excelled until his death
in 2007.
Throughout his adult life, Michael enjoyed fitness and body building,
golf, skiing and cheering on his favorite college and professional
football teams. He was an avid Penn State fan, and when not cheering
for the Ravens, a loyal Steelers fan. He also gave of his time
to such worthy causes as Maryland Special Olympics, on whose board
he served for nine years, six of them on the Executive Committee;
and, the Preakness Celebration, on whose board he served for six
years. Michael loved being active in the Baltimore sports scene,
but he had an even greater love.
