Vintage Fridays: Jackie Brandt, 1962 Topps #165

I don't have any other ideas on tap, so let's crank up our time machine for This Day in Orioles History. Hold your applause until the end of the blog post. On Friday, June 15, 1962 (that's 50 years ago, you know), the Birds traveled about 40 miles down the road and put a beating on the Washington Senators, winning by a final of 8-3. The visitors tallied 14 hits, including two apiece by each of the first six batters in the lineup.

The Orioles did most of their damage in the fourth inning (four runs) and the seventh (three runs). The big blows were a two-run homer by renowned flake Jackie Brandt (who also had a double and scored twice) and a solo shot by pitcher Milt Pappas, his career-high fourth of the season. Incidentally, Milt would not hit another home run during the 1962 campaign. Pappas also had one of the team's three sacrifice flies, and earned the victory with a complete-game eight-hitter. His defense helped him out by turning three double plays. He improved his record to 7-3, and would go to 8-3 on the year by blanking the White Sox on June 26. However, Milt went into a funk in the second half, finishing on a 4-7 slide with a 4.94 ERA in his final 19 games. The end result for the 23-year-old was a 12-10 record and a 4.03 ERA that was one of the highest of his career.