On this date in 1962, Dave McNally took the mound as a major leaguer for the first time, making a late-season start in the opener of a doubleheader for the seventh-place Orioles against the visiting ninth-place Athletics. In other words, the few fans in attendance at Memorial Stadium had no reason to expect that they were witnessing something special. The O's scratched out a pair of second-inning runs off of Kansas City starter Bill Fischer, but couldn't muster anything else against him in seven innings. Luckily, the rookie Baltimore pitcher didn't need much support from his offense. After a few bumps in the early innings, McNally found his groove. A fourth-inning single by Ed Charles gave the A's runners on first and second with one out. From that point onward, Dave retired the last 17 batters he faced. Jerry Adair tacked on a solo home run off of Johnny Wyatt in the eighth inning to provide the final margin. 3-0 Orioles, as Dave McNally announced his presence with a two-hit, three-walk shutout. It was the first of 181 wins and 33 shutouts that the Montana native collected in orange and black. He's still the winningest lefty in team history, and also ranks first among O's southpaws in strikeouts and shutouts.
Kevin Brotzman is god.
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