Tippy Martinez, 1982 Fleer #171

Today is the birthday of one of my favorite people in the whole world. She also happens to be the woman that I'm going to marry in...53 days?! Can it really be that soon? Yes it can, as the increasingly urgent items on my to-do list remind me on a daily basis.

I wasn't able to find any Orioles past or present who were born on July 23, which just proves that Janet is one-of-a-kind. But I can tell you what the O's were doing on her birthday, at the risk of divulging a lady's age. It was the summer of 1980, and Baltimore was looking for a four-game series win at Minnesota. They squeaked out an 8-7 victory in a back-and-forth contest. Ken Singleton was 4-for-5 with a pair of RBI, and Dan Graham drove in three runs on a pair of sacrifice flies and a single. Scott McGregor gutted it out into the seventh inning without his best stuff, as he yielded six runs (five earned) on nine hits and two walks. However, the Birds gave him enough run support that he exited with a 7-5 lead. Sammy Stewart yielded the sixth run, but stranded the tying run at first base. Singleton delivered an insurance run in the top of the eighth, and it proved necessary. Stewart allowed a single and a walk in the ninth, and Earl Weaver called upon Tippy Martinez to put out the fire. The lefty did just that, giving up a sacrifice fly to Roy Smalley but ending the game with a ground ball to second base off the bat of Ken Landreaux.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some wedding invitations to address.