April 16, 2016
Sun Staff
A Baltimore man has $680 million reasons to smile, and Monty Brewster World Baseball Association fans have reason to ponder what the future might hold for one of the league’s most storied franchises.
Cole Hayden, a 32-year-old Baltimore man made history on the weekend when he claimed a Mega Millions lottery jackpot for $680 million. It’s the largest recorded single lottery jackpot in U.S. history, eclipsing a $656 million jackpot that was won in March 2012.
“Unbelievable, it still hasn’t sunk in yet,” Hayden said as he picked up his cheque in a presentation at the Maryland Lottery Corporation office today. “But then again, I don’t think anyone can ever come to grips with the fact that they are now a multi-millionaire.”
Hayden is a University of Baltimore graduate with a business administration degree and he currently owns his own landscaping business.
“I don’t think I’ll be going in to work on Monday,” he said with a grin. “My life is definitely going to change a lot from here on in.”
When asked what he’ll do with the money, Hayden’s answers were typical – he had he plans to buy a new house, a new car, pay down his debts, help out his family and donate money to charity.
However, one particular item might be of interest to baseball fans. Hayden has been a Baltimore Monarchs season ticket holder for the past 15 years and his family has had season tickets for his whole life.
“Hey, maybe I’ll buy the Monarchs,” quipped Hayden, drawing laughs from the assembled media in attendance. “The team had a really bizarre offseason and I didn’t agree with a lot of the moves the front office was making. I think every fan kind of acts as an arm-chair GM or owner and thinks they could do better. I want to see my team get back to respectability.”
Current Monarchs owner Dale Dobeck did not return a request for comment, but there has been no indication that the Baltimore club was up for sale.
However, money talks and if Hayden is in fact serious about his intentions, he’d certainly have a good basis for getting a deal done.
When asked if his comment about the Monarchs was simply a joke, or a real intention, Hayden was coy.
“You win all this money and you start dreaming big. There’s really tons of stuff I could do with the money and I haven’t really figured it all out yet,” he said.
