Baltimore Blast (1980–1992)

This article is about the original Baltimore Blast team. For the team formed in 1992 as the Baltimore Spirit, see Baltimore Blast.

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Football club

Baltimore Blast

Full name	Baltimore Blast
Founded	1980
Dissolved	1992
Ground	Baltimore Arena Baltimore, Maryland
Capacity	11,271
Manager	Kenny Cooper
League	Major Indoor Soccer League

The Baltimore Blast were a longtime member of the Major Indoor Soccer League. From 1978 to 1980, the team played as the Houston Summit, but moved prior to the 1980–81 season. The team won the league's championship in the 1983–84 season. The team folded when the MISL ceased operation in the summer of 1992.

History

The aggressive promotion of the team by radio partner WFBR (then 1300 AM) was instrumental in the Blast's popularity. Art Sinclair and Charley Eckman handled the play-by-play.

The team was owned by Bernie Rodin, who also owned the Rochester Lancers and the New York Arrows. Mike Zolotorow was the long-time Equipment Manager for 20 years.

In the 1983–84 playoffs, Baltimore advanced to the championship series by defeating the New York Arrows 3–1 in the quarterfinal best-of-five series, then beating the Cleveland Force 3–0 in the semifinal series. In the best-of-seven championship series, Baltimore defeated the St. Louis Steamers 4–1 to claim the 1984 MISL championship.

In 1991, the Blast contested the Trans-Atlantic challenge, a one-off indoor soccer game at the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, England. They beat English First Division team Sheffield Wednesday to win the trophy. Wednesday had American international John Harkes in their ranks. The game was the one and only occasion that Eric Cantona played for Sheffield Wednesday during his infamous trial.

Year-by-year

Year	League	Reg. season	Playoffs	Attendance average
1980–81	MISL	2nd, Atlantic	Semifinals	6,540
1981–82	MISL	3rd, Eastern	Semifinals	9,557
1982–83	MISL	1st, Eastern	Finals	10,729
1983–84	MISL	1st, Eastern	Champions	11,189
1984–85	MISL	1st, Eastern	Finals	11,051
1985–86	MISL	4th, Eastern	Quarterfinals	10,189
1986–87	MISL	2nd, Eastern	Division Semifinals	9,936
1987–88	MISL	4th, Eastern	Division Semifinals	8,221
1988–89	MISL	1st	Finals	8,170
1989–90	MISL	1st, Eastern	Finals	8,530
1990–91	MSL	3rd, Eastern	out of playoffs	7,432
1991–92	MSL	4th	Semifinals	8,206