Mark Williamson, 1988 Fleer #574

I summon Mark Williamson from the Orioles' bullpen to be the ultimate slump buster. Sure, the Birds have lost six in a row to tumble below .500, that familiar and unwelcome status quo. But when Williamson took the mound on April 29, 1988, the O's were 0-21 and playing for their second manager of the young season. He was making only the fourth start of his career that day in Chicago. Mark and all of his teammates took out their frustrations over their own record-setting futility on the White Sox. The Baltimore righthander held the home team to three hits in six shutout innings in the longest scoreless appearance of his career. The Oriole batters provided seven runs of support, with Cal Ripken, Jr. and Eddie Murray each hitting a home run. Ripken went 4-for-5 and also had a double and scored three runs. Dave Schmidt earned a less traditional save with three one-hit innings of relief. The Birds saddled White Sox rookie Jack McDowell with the second loss of his career and season and gained a half-game on idle division leader Cleveland. At day's end, the Orioles were 15.5 games out of first place with less than a month of the season having passed.

So in that context, busting up a little six-game skid should be a piece of cake.