I never like talking about recently-deceased Orioles, and I especially don't like it when the ex-player is two years older than me. Walter Young suffered a fatal heart attack last Saturday at age 35. His O's career consisted of a 14-game stint in September 2005, but he made a splashy debut in the Baltimore organization a year earlier with 33 homers and 98 RBI at AA Bowie after being claimed off waivers from the Pirates. According to the text on the back of this 2006 Topps Heritage card, big Walter (6'5", 320 pounds) hit the B&O Warehouse on the fly during a batting practice session at Camden Yards. It's a shame he didn't get to showcase that light-tower power in an extended trial in the bigs. His lone big league round-tripper was hit in Texas on
September 13, 2005, leading off the seventh inning against future Cy Young winner R. A. Dickey. Ten years later, he's gone. It's just too soon.
Wow, sad news. For some reason I got tons of his prospect/first-year cards last decade...always wondered why he wasn't playing on the Ravens O-Line.
ReplyDeleteGeez, that's him? I heard the name and I didn't recognize it. But now I know I have a couple of baseball cards of his. Funny how that makes it hit home.
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