Bob Popik

By Zak Failla From Daily Voice

Longtime Baltimore Orioles and Ravens DJ Bob "Woody" Popik has passed away following a courageous fight with pancreatic cancer.

The 59-year-old, best known for setting the soundtracks for some of the city's most exciting sports moments, entered hospice last month and fought until the Orioles confirmed his death on Wednesday, Dec. 10. 

Popik was known across Baltimore by a lot of names — Bobby, Woody, Wheel. But the one constant was the way he made people feel. He had been battling cancer that had spread, and the road had become difficult.

When he went into hospice, Popik's loved ones wrote that the diagnosis brought “challenges that no one should face alone,” and that he continued to fight “with courage, humor, and grace.” 

Popik started his Wheel Entertainment DJ Services in 1993. He joined the Baltimore Orioles in March 2000 as music director and audio operations lead, a job he held for more than 20 years before leaving in May 2025.

In 2010, he took on DJ duties for the Baltimore Ravens. 

He ran the music at M&T Bank Stadium until he was hospitalized on Oct. 21. His last Ravens game was Sept. 22 against the Detroit Lions.

He also DJed for Navy football.

Those gigs made him part of the heartbeat of Baltimore sports. Fans might not have known his name. But they knew the moments he helped create.

Even as the diagnosis grew more serious, Popik stayed positive. In an interview with Parade, he shared how he’s been facing every day.

“You can tell it in my voice I’m not down; I’m not depressed, I’m not overwhelmed thinking about what I have,” Popik said, via Parade. 

“I’ve been given six to nine months to live, and I take it in stride, and I am going to fight until every breath is out of my body. I’m not giving up, and I’m remaining positive. I believe that you need to remain positive to beat this. And that’s what I continue to do.”

That determination — that steady, upbeat presence — is exactly what Baltimore will remember.