Vintage Fridays: Sam Bowens, 1965 Topps #188

On this date in 1964, Sam Bowens had a very memorable game. The Orioles were hosting the Twins on a Friday night, and what looked like a pitcher's duel on paper never materialized. Minnesota jumped all over Steve Barber with four first-inning runs on five hits, capped by a two-run double from catcher Earl Battey. The O's immediately cut that lead in half, as Jackie Brandt delivered a two-RBI single off of Jim Kaat in the bottom of the first. Bowens hit a solo homer the following inning, but Barber gave the run back in the top of the third when Harmon Killebrew drove in Vic Power with a single. Brandt scored on a wild pitch in the fifth, making it 5-4 Twins. The bullpens took command for a while, as Wes Stock and Dick Hall combined for five shutout innings of relief for Baltimore. Gerry Arrigo replaced Kaat to start the sixth, and was still on the mound as the Birds took their last swings in the home ninth. Brooks Robinson and Boog Powell each struck out, leaving it all up to Bowens. The rookie right fielder belted an Arrigo offering over the left field fence for the game-tying home run, his second of the game and third extra-base hit overall (he'd also doubled in the fourth inning). Bill Fischer relieved Arrigo for the Twins, but had a short and unsatisfying night of work: O's catcher John Orsino gave the Memorial Stadium crowd a thrill with a walkoff four-bagger, likewise to left field. Orioles win, 6-5, improving to 21-12 and maintaining their half-game lead atop the American League.

Vintage Fridays: Darold Knowles, 1965 Topps #577

This is an interesting oddity when it comes to Orioles cards. Darold Knowles pitched only five games for the Orioles, all in 1965. He didn't fare so well, coughing up 15 runs in 14.2 innings, but he had a strong enough minor league record (56-33, 2.77 ERA) that Topps featured him on their multi-player rookie cards for three consecutive years: 1964, 1965, and 1966.

Despite his inauspicious debut, Knowles went on to have a 16-season career for eight teams, chiefly the Athletics and Senators. He was a workhouse reliever, averaging 54 games pitched from 1966 through 1979. Overall, he had a record of 66-74 with a 3.12 ERA and 143 saves. He had an impressively bizarre stat line with Washington in 1970: 2-14, 2.07 ERA, and a career-high 27 saves. (Somehow he managed to lead the 70-92 Sens in losses.) In 1973, he set a World Series record by appearing in all seven games for the A's, allowing one unearned run in six and a third innings and picking up two saves. No other pitcher matched that feat until Dodgers reliever Brandon Morrow went seven-for-seven in last year's Fall Classic.

Also worth mentioning: he's the only "Darold" in MLB history.

Vintage Fridays: John Orsino, 1965 Topps #303

For three years, John Orsino wore #12 on the back of his jersey in Baltimore. Tomorrow I'm taking a quick overnight trip to Chestertown for my college reunion weekend. 12 years out of school, and I know that's not a big milestone, but I'll take any excuse to spend a bit of time in C-town, especially when I haven't been back in two years. That's gotta be my longest absence since graduating. As I've done in years past, I'll be performing in a drama alumni improv show tomorrow night. I'm not above humiliating myself for the entertainment of others now and then, and the cash bar in the lobby will hopefully make the audience more receptive. I'll drop back in on the blog in a day or two. Have a good weekend, and enjoy your (once again) first-place Orioles!

Vintage Fridays: Herm Starrette, 1965 Topps #539

Today is the 77th birthday of Mr. Herman Paul Starrette, a native of Statesville, NC. I've been through Statesville several times en route to Charlotte to visit my in-laws, which is neither here nor there. He did all right for himself in a brief big league career with the Orioles, pitching to a 2.54 ERA in 46 innings of relief from 1963 through 1965. He allowed just one home run as a major leaguer, a two-run shot to Elston Howard on August 4, 1963 at Yankee Stadium. Despite his moderate success, Herm hung up his spikes at age 27 in the midst of the 1966 season, his fourth spent primarily at AAA Rochester. But that wasn't the end of his life in baseball by a long shot. He worked as an MLB coach, minor league pitching coordinator and coach, and farm system director for a number of teams from 1967 through 2002. He coached in the O's system on two separate occasions (1967-1973 and 1988), and also worked with current Baltimore GM Dan Duquette in Milwaukee, Montreal, and Boston. I wonder if Herm might have any pointers for Duke's current pitching staff.

Vintage Fridays: Bob Johnson, 1965 Topps #363

Word salad.

At their best, baseball cards are art. The 1965 Topps set is absolutely a work of art.

Earlier tonight, the Braves pulled a double-switch to sub in a pair of former Orioles. Kelly Johnson replaced Chris Johnson at third base, and Jim Johnson came in from the bullpen to relieve Luis Avilan. It may have been the first triple-Johnson double-switch in major league history, but it was all for naught. Jim Johnson took the loss in a 1-0 walkoff job by the Phillies. Freddie Galvis singled, was bunted to second, took third on a passed ball, and scored on a Freddie Freeman error.

When temperatures are dropping into the thirties overnight in late April, I shouldn't still be having seasonal allergy attacks. That's just piling on.

Even though they're called baseball cards, there are fewer cards that prominently feature baseballs than you might think. I've done absolutely no research to back this up.

That baseball wishes it were as sparkling white as Bob Johnson's pearly chompers. Why didn't I just call them teeth?

I keep getting carded when I buy beer at Camden Yards, even though gray hairs are starting to creep into my beard. I wonder if the vendors will stop bothering as the season progresses.

I still have two types of anxiety dreams on a regular basis. It's either the first day of high school or college and I have no idea where and when my classes are. If it's not that, I'm performing in a play and I (and/or my costars) don't know the lines or the blocking (where to move and when), and maybe costumes are missing as well. I've been out of high school for 15 years, and out of college for 11. I haven't acted in a full-length play for five years.

Five straight losses for the Orioles, which never happened in 2014. April of 2015 has been one of my least favorite months in recent memory, on both a personal and a baseball-fan basis.

Vintage Fridays: Stu Miller, 1965 Topps #499

The Orioles lost a couple of old friends last Sunday. Former general manager Hank Peters passed away due to complications from a stroke. He was 90 years old. Peters helmed Baltimore's front office from 1975 to 1987, overseeing the 1979 American League Champions and the 1983 World Series winning team. On his watch, the Birds drafted Cal Ripken, Mike Boddicker, and Storm Davis, among others. He also traded for Rick Dempsey, Scott McGregor, Tippy Martinez...and that was all in the same deal!

Former reliever Stu Miller also died on January 4, just nine days after his 87th birthday. The righthander started his career with the Cardinals in 1952, but spent the bulk of his career with the O's and Giants. It was with San Francisco that he committed an infamous balk in the 1961 All-Star Game. Taking the mound in the ninth inning with the National League clinging to a one-run lead, he was thrown off balance by one of the famed gusts of wind that were typical for Candlestick Park. The umpire called the balk, and Al Kaline moved to third. Kaline would tie the game a batter later, scoring on Ken Boyer's error. Miller did earn the win in the tenth inning, though. He spent the last five full seasons of his career as an Oriole, anchoring the team's bullpen with a 2.37 ERA (145 ERA+), 38 wins, and an even 100 saves. Not bad for a guy who was 35 when he got to town.

Vintage Fridays: Charlie Lau, 1965 Topps #94

Another day, another woofer for the Orioles. They haven't topped ten hits in a game yet. Leaving aside the very hittable Baltimore pitching for a moment, I think the Birds could use some of Charlie Lau's famed batting instruction. Hey, it worked for George Brett and Harold Baines. Sure, there's the little matter of Lau having died 20 years ago, but surely they've got pills and creams for that sort of thing. We're living in the future, aren't we?

Vintage Fridays: Luis Aparicio, 1965 Topps #410

Today I posted the final card on my Great 1965 Topps Project blog. It's incredibly satisfying to officially close the book on my most ambitious undertaking to date as a collector. The 1965 Topps blog predated my Orioles card blog by a couple of months, and it took me a shade under five years to complete this classic 598-card set. It took another nine months to complete posting those cards to the blog, but that's neither here nor there. If you've never checked it out, or haven't been there for a while, go read up on all of the most prominent players of the 1960s, from Luis Aparicio (complete with Star-Spangled Banner Sesquicentennial sleeve patch) to Willie Mays, from Sandy Koufax to Warren Spahn, and then some. At the risk of repeating myself, I'm forever in awe of the kindness and generosity of my fellow collectors. Most of you have never met me face to face, and yet you reached out to me and went out of your way and helped me complete a vintage set that is nearly 50 years old and chock-full of Hall of Famers. My next task is a bit less grandiose: I'll be blogging the entire 1993 Topps set. I'm hoping to launch that project in the next week or so; stay tuned!

Vintage Fridays: Harvey Haddix, 1965 Topps #67

On this date in 1963, the Orioles acquired three-time All-Star Harvey Haddix from the Pirates in exchange for minor-league shortstop Dick Yencha and cash. The 38-year-old southpaw, who'd won 20 games with the Cardinals a decade earlier, was used strictly as a reliever by Baltimore manager Hank Bauer. Haddix excelled in the role, finishing second on the 1964 O's with 49 pitching appearances and clocking in with a 2.31 ERA. He went 5-5 and saved 10 games in support of Stu Miller, who paced the club with 23 saves. "The Kitten", so nicknamed for his resemblance to Harry "the Cat" Brecheen, struck out 90 batters in 89.2 innings and allowed only 23 walks and 4 home runs. He was less effective in 1965, which proved to be his last season in the big leagues; the lefty equaled his previous season's total of 23 walks in just 33.2 innings of work. He still fashioned a 3.48 ERA, but that was only by the grace of 9 unearned runs on his ledger. But Harvey's 1965 struggles don't change the fact that he contributed in a meaningful way to the 97-win Orioles of 1964.

Vintage Fridays: Jerry Adair, 1965 Topps #231

From August 24-26, 1962, the Orioles hosted the Yankees in a five-game series that included a pair of doubleheaders. Incredibly, the O's swept all five games from the defending World Champs by a combined score of 34-14. Jerry Adair started every game at shortstop in the series, going 13-for-23 with  a walk and a hit-by-pitch. His batting line was a stout .565/.600/.739, which included a 5-for-6 with 3 runs scored in the August 24 nightcap. The O's entered the weekend showdown at 61-64, 14.5 games behind the 76-50 New Yorkers. They were back on the positive side of .500 by the time the smoke cleared, and had drawn to within 9.5 games of the mighty Yanks. That was as close as the Birds got to first place; a rough September dropped them to 77-85 at year's end, a distant seventh place in the American League. But Adair proved his mettle as a Yankee killer, and his career numbers against New York (.282/.314/.413) were some of his best against any team.

Vintage Fridays: Wally Bunker, 1965 Topps #290

Wally Bunker truly earned his ornate 1964 All-Star Rookie trophy, by way of his excellent age-19 season: 19-5 (a league-best .792 winning percentage), a 2.69 ERA, and a 1.04 WHIP. He was the ace on an Orioles staff that made a surprising run at the American League pennant, finishing a couple games short with 97 wins overall.

I'm sure Wally felt a great sense of accomplishment for dominating major league competition as a teenager. Similarly, I'm going to take a victory lap because I just finished a project that took nearly five years. My good card-collecting friend Max (a.k.a. jacobmrley) obtained the final four cards that I needed for my 1965 Topps set, and the package arrived in the mail this afternoon. I'll be posting blog entries for those cards in the next week or two, but if you're curious, the previously-elusive quartet are: Mickey Mantle, the Clay Carroll/Phil Niekro Braves Rookies card, the Athletics Rookies featuring Catfish Hunter, and the Red Sox Rookies featuring Jim Lonborg. I launched The Great 1965 Topps Project in November 2007, taking a shot in the dark at completing a decades-old 598-card set entirely through trades and donations with fellow Internet-dwelling collectors. I was astounded time and again over the past several years by the generosity of the folks I connected with through my blog. Many of you asked for little to no return from the cards you sent, and I feel like I'll never be able to repay your largesse. But I do look forward to trying! For now, I'm just going to savor the completion of a vintage card set that was released 17 years before I was born. Thanks to Max, Ed, Bob, Dave, Don, Jamie, and anyone else I've overlooked - I'll compile a full list of my contributors when I wrap up the set on my other blog. You are all good people.

Vintage Fridays: Robin Roberts, 1965 Topps #15

I'm hopping into the Kevmobile tomorrow afternoon and driving up to Philadelphia for an overnight visit with my friends Ryan and Kerri. After all, I've only been out of Maryland twice in the last week - I wouldn't want to get in a rut or anything. In actuality, this will be my first experience at Citizen's Bank Park. I'm looking forward to watching Cliff Lee and the Phillies take on the fiesty Pirates on a hot Saturday night. I don't have a Robin Roberts half-and-half Orioles/Phillies jersey or anything, so I will probably just wear my maroon Washington College t-shirt and my Angry Oriole Bird cap. I've got to represent, you know.

Vintage Wednesdays: Brooks Robinson, 1965 Topps #5

Rules are made to be broken, so I bring you a vintage Orioles card a little early this week. Tonight I clamber up from my sickbed to wish a happy 74th birthday to Brooks Robinson, who by all accounts is an even better man than he was a ballplayer. Brooksie is about 11 months younger than Harmon Killebrew, a fellow kind-hearted Hall of Famer who passed away yesterday after losing his battle with esophageal cancer. Robinson overcame his own bout with prostate cancer; he's had a clean bill of health for the past two years. The loss of a great person like Killebrew is a reminder that we're fortunate to still have #5 in our lives. Now, if only the Orioles could give their legendary third baseman a birthday present in the form of an extra-inning win over the Yankees...

Vintage Fridays: Frank Bertaina, 1965 Topps #396

When I pull up the home page of Baseball Reference, one of the features that always catches my eye is the In Memoriam, a short list on the right side of the page featuring some of the former players who have passed away most recently. There are currently no less than three ex-Oriole pitchers on the list, and I'd like to pay my respects.

Southpaw Frank Bertaina never really caught on in Charm City, but he made a mark at AAA Rochester, where he was 44-20 over parts of five seasons in the 1960s. In 1965, he led the International League in strikeouts with 188. He is a member of the Rochester Red Wings Hall of Fame. He also spent portions of five seasons with the Orioles, seeing action in just 32 games (4-6, 3.07 ERA). The Senators and Cardinals also employed Frank, who only won 19 games in all.

Still, his first major league win was one for the ages. On September 12, 1964, the lefty held Kansas City to a single hit, a fifth-inning leadoff double by Doc Edwards. He scattered five walks and struck out seven men to blank the A’s, 1-0. Incredibly, the Birds managed only one hit themselves, a John Orsino double in the bottom of the eighth. Bertaina bunted him to third and Jackie Brandt delivered the winning run with a sacrifice fly to make K.C.’s Bob Meyer a hard-luck loser. The Orioles actually set a record that day for the fewest official at-bats in a nine-inning game. Because they were home, they did not bat in the ninth. They had just one hit and one walk, and the walk was erased on a double play. Taking into account three sac bunts and the sac fly, the O’s were credited with only 19 at-bats!

Frank may not have been able to top that first act, but he did hang around in the majors for seven years with a 3.84 ERA. He suffered a fatal heart attack on March 3, and was 65 at the time of his death.

Vintage Fridays: Milt Pappas, 1965 Topps #270

This fine Milt Pappas card just happens to be featured in my next post for my other blog, The Great 1965 Topps Project. It should be ready to go later this weekend. It may be hard to remember back this far, but I actually started that blog before this one, all the way back in November 2007. I wanted to build a vintage 598-card set, one that was over four decades old, completely from the ground up. I would not buy cards from eBay or hobby shops (aside from my set starter, Steve Barber, which was an eBay purchase); I would only supplement the set with trades and/or donations from my readers. Things started slow, and by last September I'd only acquired about fifty cards. I was struggling to find a good format, eventually deciding upon full biographies and separate posts for each card. But in the past few months, things have really taken off.

Currently, I've completed nearly 37% of the set: 219 cards. After sometimes going a month or more without a card to write up, I've now got a list a page long of cards that are backed up and need to be posted. Even though I've been steady enough to update the blog three or four times per week, I'm actually falling further behind (I have two more trades in the works right now). It's a great problem to have, and it's encouraging to know that more collectors/readers are finding my blog and enjoying the work I'm putting into it. Some contributors have even suggested that my writing is a major reason that they're sending the cards; they're curious to see what I have to say about that particular player. I'm glad that I started the Project; not only am I making great strides in what had been a fairly sparse vintage collection, but I'm learning a lot about the men that populated the baseball universe in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Now I can tell you who the previously-unknown-to-me Duke Carmel and Gary Geiger are, in addition to pretty good players that had also escaped my attention (Al Worthington, Tony Taylor, et. al.). I've also gotten some awesome cards of Hall of Famers that I thought I would be waiting on forever (Whitey Ford and Willie Mays are two of the biggest thrills, even if Whitey is a Yankee).

If you're a regular reader of my Orioles blog but you'd somehow missed out on The Great 1965 Topps Project, I hope you'll give it a look and that you might enjoy tracking my progress. As I've learned in the past year, the Internet is full of incredible and generous people, if you know where to look.

Vintage Fri- um...Vintage Saturdays: Boog Powell, 1965 Topps #560

Okay, I've never posted a vintage card except for Fridays, but this is a special occasion. This morning, I took a trip to Rosedale Federal. I don't usually spend my weekends hanging out at banks, but I'd gotten word from my eagle-eyed mother that Boog Powell, Tom Matte, and the Oriole Bird were schedule to appear from 11 am to 1 pm as part of an open house celebrating the organization's 100th anniversary. I was sure to arrive promptly at 11:00, and was relieved to see that the line was relatively short, stretching only to the door. The Bird was making his way down the line to mug for the crowd and sign autographs while we waited for our moments with the two retired athletes. I had him sign this hat, which I plan on raffling off this week on my website (details to come later). The mascot took one look at his own likeness on the hat, and kissed it several times while whistling appreciatively. (The Bird speaks only in a series of short whistles, but he's a very gifted communicator.)

Boog and Tom were sitting at the same table, so you could save time by getting autographs from each of them in turn. When I got to the front of the line, Matte was free for the moment, so I handed him my old Baltimore Colts pennant. He signed it, "Tom Matte, Baltimore Colts 41", with a blue Sharpie. We chatted a bit about the Ravens: He likes their chances vs. Cleveland tomorrow, but thinks the schedule will be tougher after that. Obviously, he says that injuries will be a big factor throughout the season. I talked about how impressed I was with the offensive playcalling in Week 1, and he agreed that new offensive coordinator Cam Cameron was a good guy for the job. He also suggested that ex-coach Brian Billick "wouldn't know offense if it bit him..." before trailing off. At that point, Boog piped up, wondering aloud why more football teams don't run the ball behind an unbalanced offensive line. Matte agreed: "Christ, I ran behind an unbalanced line in high school and averaged 11 yards a carry!".

Now I had my audience with Boog. I produced the 1965 Topps card above, since I'm trying to complete the set and I thought it would be neat to have at least one autograph included. As he made it out to me, I picked his brain about the photo. I wanted to know if he'd ever actually worn #8 in the regular season. "Never," he replied. He suggested that they'd handed it to him for about two hours on the first day of Spring Training, so probably just long enough for the photo shoot. In my research for the NumerOlogy site, he'd also been connected to #30, but he insisted that he'd only worn #16 and #26. He had started in #16 in 1962 (since he played just 4 games in 1961, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt), but the following season outfielder Al Smith joined the team from the White Sox. As Boog related to me, Smith had worn #16 for most of his ten-year career, and "who was I to say he couldn't have it?". So it was that Powell switched to the #26 that became his trademark. "Of course if it happened today, he'd have to give me $100,000", he chuckled.

Ever the enterprising webmaster, I offered a quick plug for my site, which actually elicited a request for the hulking former first baseman. "If you're one of those 'web freaks' (a term that I've never heard, but I'll have to adopt as a badge of honor), maybe you can look something up. See who's hit the most home runs by a left-handed hitter in Yankee Stadium." Apparently, several Yankee fans have approached Boog suggesting that he himself holds this honor (presumably for visiting players), but he's never heard it repeated by the local media. So I assured him that if it were so, I would spread the word. But based on my crack research, he's tied with Reggie Jackson for second. They each hit 22 longballs as visitors in The House That Ruth Built. The leader, as near as I can tell? Rafael Palmeiro, who passed Boog and Reggie with a three-run shot off of Javier Vazquez in September 2004. His 23rd Yankee Stadium home run would be his last.

So: sorry, Boog. But there's no shame in being Number Two, especially when you still top lefty Yankee Killers like Carl Yastrzemski and Ken Griffey, Jr.

P.S.: For what it's worth, Powell's 41 home runs total against the Yankees were the most he hit against any opponent.

Vintage Fridays: Steve Barber, 1965 Topps #113

Although Steve Barber was traded from the Angels to the Brewers in October of 1973, he was released the following March before ever appearing in a regular season game with the Brew Crew. Tonight the Orioles venture into Miller Park to fight for Steve's honor...or something. I suppose the current team has their own set of motivations, chief among them the continuation of a great stretch in which they've won five of their last six games and eleven of sixteen. But I've got something personal riding on this game.

Today I made a friendly wager with fellow card blogger, Milwaukee resident, and avid Brewers fan Bill (aka Thorzul). If the Orioles win at least two of the three games in the weekend series, Bill will make a guest appearance on this blog to talk about his five favorite O's cards. However, if Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and pals somehow manage to take the series, I will be reduced to talking up my choicest Brewer cards on his blog. I already have a few cards in mind, but I'm not too worried about having to type them up.

The tale of the tape shows the Orioles as clearly superior, with three World Series titles to Milwaukee's zero. Sure, they bested us in that thrilling down-to-the-wire pennant race in 1982, but I hear that Paul Molitor was on cocaine. So he probably had an unfair edge, with his drug of choice giving him a jolt of energy and plenty of extra awake time. I'm sure he used that time to study game tapes. Cheater.

Most importantly of all, the Orioles were the Brewers before the Brewers were the Brewers...do you follow? When the American League debuted in 1901, there was a Milwaukee franchise named the Brewers. They soon moved to St. Louis and became the Browns. Five decades later, the franchise located once more to Baltimore. Take that, you cheese-eating Favre-lovers!