Orioles Card "O" the Day

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

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Andy Van Slyke, 1995 Stadium Club #541

Yesterday, Matt Wieters had the honor of hitting the Orioles' first home run of the 2013 season, breaking the seal with a first-inning, two-run blast off of reigning American League Cy Young winner David Price. That got me wondering: who was first in each of the previous 59 seasons of O's baseball? Through the magic of Baseball Reference, here's your list.

Some notes of interest:
  • Clint Courtney's home run was the first in team history, in their third game. The 1954 Birds hit a whopping 52 home runs all season, led by Vern Stephens' total of eight.
  • As you can see, Gus Triandos hit the Orioles' first home run of the season in FOUR straight years, 1956-1959. What's more, all four were two-run homers.
  • Brooks Robinson had a three-year streak from 1966 through 1968, part of his team-high five "first homers". Cal Ripken Jr. tied his mark with his fifth in 1998.
  • How about Mike Devereaux's three-year run from 1992 through 1994?
  • Cal and Tony Batista have the only two grand slams.
  • Pity Joe Coleman of the Tigers, whose father (also named Joe) pitched for the Orioles. The younger Joe surrendered the first O's homer three times in a four-year span (1972, 1974, 1975). Three other opposing pitchers were touched up twice: Kevin Appier (1994 and 1997), Pedro Ramos (1959 and 1960), and Roger Clemens (1989 and 2002).
  • There are some unlikely names here. Les Moss hit two home runs as an Oriole; Andy Van Slyke and Cesar Izturis had three, Rick Schu four, and Courtney had five.
  • Marty Cordova's home run, besides being the club's only round-tripper ever in March, was the last of his career. It came in the infamous snow game.

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