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 1980âÂÂ81 season. The team won the league's championship in the 1983âÂÂ84 season. The team folded when the MISL ceased operation in the summer of 1992.
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. WFBR would broadcast nearly all of the Blast's matches until the last few seasons, when they switched to WCBM. They would appear on television with WMAR, WJZ-TV, Home Team Sports and WBFF respectively.
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 1983âÂÂ84 playoffs, Baltimore advanced to the championship series by defeating the New York Arrows 3âÂÂ1 in the quarterfinal best-of-five series, then beating the Cleveland Force 3âÂÂ0 in the semifinal series. In the best-of-seven championship series, Baltimore defeated the St. Louis Steamers 4âÂÂ1 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.