Vintage Fridays: Kiko Garcia, 1978 Topps #287

Here's a fun, meaningless tidbit that dawned on me last night: both Chico Garcia and Kiko Garcia played for the Orioles. Vinicio "Chico" Garcia was a star player and manager in his native Mexico, but his only big league experience came with the O's in 1954. The 29-year-old played sparingly at second base for Baltimore, batting .113 (7-for-62) with eight walks, two triples, and five RBI in 39 games. You might be more familiar with Alfonso "Kiko" Garcia, the California-born shortstop who plied his trade in Charm City from 1976 through 1980, batting .232/.278/.317 with nine homers and 78 RBI. His claim to fame was his performance in the 1979 World Series, when he collected eight hits in 20 at-bats for an even .400 average against the Pirates. He drove in six Oriole runs and scored four others, accounting for a sizable chunk of the team's total output of 26 runs.

In a nutshell, that's the story of Chico and Kiko.