Orioles Card "O" the Day

An intersection of two of my passions: baseball cards and the Baltimore Orioles. Updated daily?

Friday, July 4, 2008

Vintage Fridays: Al Bumbry, 1975 Topps #358

This Day in Orioles History: July 4, 1974

Orioles 10, Red Sox 6 at Fenway Park

The Orioles pounded out twelve hits off of Boston pitcher Luis Tiant to draw within one and a half games of the first-place Red Sox. Second baseman Bobby Grich provided the extra-base power with a home run, a triple, and three runs batted in. Boog Powell knocked in two runs, one on a third-inning triple! The hefty first baseman hit just eleven three-baggers in seventeen seasons. Another hitter who starred for the Birds on this Fourth of July was Al Bumbry, who had previously received a Bronze Star for his service as a platoon leader in Vietnam. On this day, "Bee" singled twice, stole two bases, scored twice, and drove in a run.

The winning pitcher was righty Jesse Jefferson, who allowed ten baserunners in five and one-third innings but was only scored upon twice. His performance seemed downright dominant next to reliever Bob Reynolds, who allowed four runs (three earned) on ten hits in three and one-third innings. At the end of the day, all that mattered was that the O's had swept the front-running Sawx in Boston.

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