Saturday, March 17, 2012

Gene Green, 1991 Crown/Coca-Cola All-Time Orioles #163

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Even here at Orioles Card "O" the Day, we partake in the Wearing of the Green. In this case, it's Gene Green, a veteran of seven big league seasons whose O's career lasted all of one game in 1960. He'd been with the Cardinals for the first three years of his career, peaking with a .281 average, 13 home runs, and 55 RBI in 137 games in 1958. The Birds traded outfielder Bob Nieman to acquire Gene, but stashed him at AAA Miami all year long. He got a September callup, starting in right field against the Senators on the 23rd and scratching out one single in four at-bats. The following offseason, the Senators moved to Minnesota and an expansion team was placed in Washington. That club drafted Green from the Orioles, and he had a career year with a line of .280/.341/.489, 18 homers, and 62 RBI. He was traded twice more in the next two years, ending his major league tenure with bench roles in Cleveland and Cincinnati. He was only 47 when he died in 1981; I couldn't find any information online concerning the cause of death.

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