Vintage Fridays: Don Buford, 1970 Topps #305

There you have it: photographic proof that the Orioles briefly led the 1969 World Series, coming out on top in the opener in Baltimore. Don Buford homered off of Tom Seaver in his first ever Fall Classic at-bat, and Mike Cuellar went the distance in a 4-1 victory over the Mets. This picture is of course the aftermath of Buford's trip around the bases, as the left fielder is greeted by a grinning bat boy and a dugout full of jubilant teammates and coaches. Brooks Robinson stands to the left, shouting for joy and holding his arms open to receive the hero of the moment.

Vintage Fridays: Davey Johnson, 1970 Topps #45

Orioles Magic (Magic Magic Magic Magic) Number: 15.

It would be 14, but our old pal Koji Uehara seems to be running on fumes these days. I was scoreboard watching all night on Thursday from my perch in Section 340 of Camden Yards, and I looked on in horror as a 4-3 ninth-inning lead for the Red Sox turned into a 5-4 walkoff loss. I overheard the gory details from a similarly aggravated fan sitting behind me; his smartphone delivered the bad news of a game-tying home run by the declining Mark Teixeira followed by a game-winning blast by Padres castoff Chase Headley. It just served as a reminder that the Orioles will have to do it themselves.

Last night's win over Cincinnati provided more white-knuckle moments than I expected following the home team's two-out, six-run outburst in the first inning. The heavy lifting done by Nelson Cruz (career-high 37th home run and counting), our own Padres castoff Nick Hundley (Earl Weaver Special), and Jonathan Schoop (fourth-inning solo homer, his third in as many games) was cancelled out by a four-run Reds rally against Brad Brach and Tommy Hunter in the top of the seventh. I sat in the humidity and stewed as home plate umpire Sean Barber's strike zone seemed to shrink to the size of a postage stamp. I tried not to revert to past bad behaviors like vocally venting my frustrations at the Oriole players and personnel, but I may have said a few things in the heat of the moment. Still, I saved my true vitriol for Barber, who got his own subtle shout-out from Buck Showalter in the latter's postgame remarks. But all was forgotten just a half-inning later, as J. J. Hardy sliced a bases-loaded single to left field with two outs to put the Birds back on top, 9-7. Hunter pitched around a leadoff double in the eighth, and Britton shrugged off a two-strike, two-out single from the irritatingly good Devin Mesoraco (4-for-4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI) to notch his 33rd save and a sweep of Cincy. That's a 9-2 homestand for the Orioles and an 82-57 record. As Andy of High Heat Stats tweeted last night, the O's now officially have three straight full winning seasons for the first time since 1983-1985. They were also above .500 from 1992-1994, but the last of those three years was cut off at 112 games thanks to the players' strike. Now it's off to Tampa, and three more cracks at a Rays team that the Birds have handled pretty well this season.

It was nice visiting with you, Davey, but I hope the Orioles can zero in on Steve Barber tonight.

Vintage Fridays: Jim Palmer, 1970 Topps #449

In the storied career of Jim Palmer, the dates of May 16 and 17 represent beginnings and endings.

On Sunday afternoon, May 16, 1965, the Orioles hosted the Yankees at Memorial Stadium. A Curt Blefary homer off of New York starter Jim Bouton staked Dave McNally to a 1-0 lead, but the O's lefty was chased from the game in just the third inning after allowing five straight hitters to reach base with one out. With Mickey Mantle on first base following a two-run single, a 19-year-old Jim Palmer was called in from the bullpen to make his seventh career big league appearance and hopefully to stop the bleeding at 4-1. He did just that, inducing a double-play grounder from Hector Lopez to end the inning. Meanwhile, "Bulldog" Bouton gave up a couple more home runs, and with them, the lead. First baseman Norm Siebern took him deep with the bases empty in the bottom of the third, and an inning later Palmer himself delivered the equalizer, a two-run shot for his first major league home run. Jim blanked the Yanks in innings four and five, but dug himself a hole with a pair of walks and a Tony Kubek RBI single in the sixth, putting New York on top 5-4. Palmer was removed for pinch hitter Russ Snyder in the bottom of the sixth; Snyder struck out against reliever Pete Mikkelsen, but Paul Blair walked ahead of a Luis Aparicio two-run homer to put Baltimore's rookie pitcher in line for the win. A Blefary run-scoring double provided an eighth-inning insurance tally, and Don Larsen and Stu Miller kept the Bronx Bombers from crossing the plate in the late frames. On the same day, Jim Palmer had his first career home run (of three) and his first career win (of 268).

A less auspicious day in mid-May - May 17 - reared its ugly head 19 years later. It was early in the 1984 season, and the defending champion Orioles were already 10.5 games behind a red-hot Tigers club. One culprit was the 38-year-old Palmer, who had been demoted from the starting rotation to the bullpen after three brief and unsightly April appearances. Things had not gotten better from there; in his most recent outing, Jim coughed up four runs in a two-inning mop-up detail in Oakland on May 12. For the season, he had allowed 19 runs (18 earned) on 22 hits and 17 walks in 17.2 innings, while striking out only four batters. His ERA was 9.17, and the league was batting .319/.443/.507 against the future Hall of Famer. When the end came for Jim Palmer, it came quick. The Orioles could not convince him to retire, so they found themselves in the unenviable position of releasing the greatest pitcher in team history. The ax fell on Thursday, May 17, 1984. He refused to take an off-field job with the team, hoping to continue pitching elsewhere in the major leagues. No other team picked Palmer up, and that was all she wrote. Thankfully he eventually returned to the team as a TV analyst, a position he maintains to this day.

Vintage Fridays: Tom Phoebus, 1970 Topps #717

I've got a bit of show and tell for you today. My parents recently found a nifty piece of memorabilia at home, commemmorating the 1970 World Champion Baltimore Orioles (click to embiggen):

As you can see, this plastic ruler has been well-used, but it's still hanging in there after 43 years. The front side of the ruler features manager Earl Weaver and the Orioles' starting position players, as well as their top three starting pitchers. The back features the coaching staff, reserve position players, and the rest of the pitchers. Unfortunately, Andy Etchebarren, Dick Hall, and Tommy Phoebus got the brunt of the wear and tear, but you can still faintly see their likenesses.

So now I'm curious: what's the most unusual item in your Orioles collection? Reply in the comments if you like.

Vintage Fridays: Earl Weaver, 1970 Topps #148

What's better than a classic "Earl Weaver being a confrontational crank" story? How about a classic "Earl Weaver being a confrontational crank" story that features the great manager butting heads with former O's GM Lee MacPhail?

I owe a debt of gratitude to Camden Chat's j.q. higgins (if that IS his real name...) for unearthing this gem, which unfolded on this date back in 1981. The O's had been scheduled to play an exhibition game against the Royals a few days prior, and Earl had gone and gotten himself into an argument with the umpires over the lineup card. As he was wont to do, the Orioles skipper got so incensed that he pulled his team off of the field and forfeited the game. In stepped MacPhail, the American League President at the time, to levy a three-game suspension from Grapefruit League contests.

Yes, Earl even managed to get himself into hot water when the games didn't count.

There's a Sarasota Herald-Tribune article posted on the Google News Archive. I would recommend reading it just for the quotes. MacPhail is as even-handed as you would expect a league authority to be, but Weaver can't resist needling a higher authority. He threatens to treat his suspension as a "sit-out", a peaceful means of protesting the shabby work done by the A. L. prez and his staff. The money quote from Earl:

"[My sit-out] is in support more or less of President Reagan's program. He wants more productivity and wants us to eliminate stupidity, waste, bureaucratic uselessness, and red tape."

We miss you already, Earl.

Vintage Fridays: Boog Powell, 1970 Topps #410

As I was leafing through my 1970 Topps Orioles cards this evening, it struck me that several of them have other O's players clearly visible in the background. I've already featured Dick Hall's card, with cameos by Gene Brabender and Russ Snyder. Now I'm showing you Boog Powell posing for the camera at Yankee Stadium, but he's not the only one getting photographed. To his left, our right, you can see Mark Belanger standing with bat on shoulder and wearing his trademark #7. It's a shame that Topps went with such a dull design in 1970, because they really had some unique snapshots.

Vintage Fridays: Dave Leonhard, 1970 Topps #674

I'm tapping into my weekend warrior vein for the next couple of weeks, so you'll probably see a few more posts of the quick'n dirty variety throughout October. If you try to keep tabs on as many blogs as I do, this news might even come as a relief. Anyhow, I'm spending this Saturday and Sunday in Williamsburg, VA with my girlfriend and a few friends, checking out the Halloween-themed attractions at Busch Gardens. Along that line of thinking, I give you a complete 19-man roster of Orioles born in Virginia. Their seasons spent with the Birds are noted in parentheses after each player name. See you next week!

There were a handful of backup-type catchers from Virginia who wore the orange and black. Onetime Pirate All-Star and Richmond native Hank Foiles (1961) batted .274 and slugged .468 in 43 games in his lone season with the O's. Larry Haney was born in Charlottesville, and spent the first three of his dozen big-league seasons backing up Andy Etchebarren in Baltimore. Then there's Norfolk's Jim Hutto (1975) and Clarksville's Willie Royster (1981), who combined to bat 0-for-9 in their very brief tenures with the Birds. I'll also lump utility player and Fairfax kid Tommy Shields (1992) into this paragraph, since his Oriole career consisted of a pair of pinch running appearances. Just call him Sam Horn's Legs.

The outfielders on our Virginia O's team are more recognizable. Joe Durham (1954, 1957) hailed from Newport News and was the first black Orioles player. Al Bumbry (1972-1984)  is the star of the team, as the Fredericksburg-born center fielder can boast of a Rookie of the Year Award, an All-Star appearance, and a World Series ring. Larry Sheets (1984-1989) came from Staunton, and hit 84 of his 94 career home runs in Charm City. He retired as the seventh-most prolific slugger from Virginia, but has been bumped to 14th by the likes of the Upton brothers, Todd Hundley, David Wright, Michael Cuddyer, and...Brandon Inge? (Willie Horton's 325 still put him in the lead, with Wright a distant #2 at 204 and counting.) If you remember Jon Knott (2007), the Manassas native and former Padres farmhand who hit 166 minor league home runs but clubbed his only major league roundtripper in a 7-game cameo in Birdland, I feel your pain.

This leaves us with 10 pitchers from the Old Dominion state, though you peg them as your pitching staff at your own risk. First out of the bullpen is Danville's Bob Mabe (1960), who coughed up six runs in two-thirds of an inning. On the plus side, only two were earned. Though Dave Leonhard (1967-1972) was originally from Arlington, he graduated from Johns Hopkins before posting a 3.15 ERA in 117 games with the O's. Midlothian native Jesse Jefferson (1973-1975) was a fourth-round draft pick of the Birds who pitched for four other teams in his nine-year career. Ken Dixon (1984-1987) was born in Monroe, and went 26-28 during the team's slide into the basement of the American League East. There's a quartet of forgettable relievers: Fort Belvoir's John Wasdin (2001), Richmond submariner Cla Meredith (2009-2010), and Portsmouth's righty Josh Rupe (2011) and lefty Clay Rapada (2011) combo. In the midst of that group was young prospect John Maine (2004-2005), a son of Fredericksburg who was a 15-game winner for the Mets in 2007 before his arm went boom. We close our baseball tour of Virginia with Falls Church southpaw "Bazooka Joe" Saunders, an unassuming veteran who was picked up by his childhood favorite team for the 2012 pennant race and improbably beat the Rangers in the first-ever one-game playoff between Wild Card winners. Will his great October earn him an extended stay in Baltimore? That's a question for another day.

Vintage Fridays: Elrod Hendricks, 1970 Topps #528

I hope nobody minds another Vintage Friday post on Elrod Hendricks just two weeks after the last one. I have an excellent excuse: I went searching for interesting box scores from today's date, and found one from Monday, July 20, 1970. The Orioles wrapped up a three-game series in Chicago in grand fashion, trouncing the White Sox 14-5 in the rubber match. The visitors got a big boost from catcher Hendricks, who doubled, homered, and walked twice to drive in a career-high six runs. Not bad for a seventh-place hitter.

Elrod gave the O's the lead with a two-run double in the second inning, and they never trailed after that. It was just one of three two-RBI hits in the frame, with Paul Blair and Boog Powell also doing the honors. Powell's double chased overmatched ChiSox starter Gary Janeski, who surrendered four hits and a walk and hit two batters in the six-run outburst. The damage may have been worse if Baltimore pitcher Mike Cuellar hadn't popped up a bunt attempt for the second out.

Cuellar wasn't exactly on his game in the field, either. Because he earned the complete-game win (making him 13-5 for the year), I'm legally obligated to say that he "scattered" 11 hits and a pair of walks, allowing 5 runs total. That's why Hendricks' seventh-inning grand slam off of Barry Moore was crucial, turning a 7-4 seesaw battle into a rout. The Pale Hose were once again undone by a pitcher's wildness, as Moore had followed a Frank Robinson double by issuing walks to Brooks Robinson and Davey Johnson to load the bases for Elrod. Overall, Chicago hurlers issued nine walks and two wild pitches and plunked three batters. As a result, the Orioles totaled 14 runs with only 11 hits.

Looking a little deeper into Elrod Hendricks' big performance, the grand slam was the first of two in his career. He wouldn't hit another one until July 18, 1975, when he took Dave Goltz deep to give the O's a 5-1 fourth-inning lead en route to an eventual 9-6 victory over the Twins. The 1970 salami was also his second homer off of Barry Moore in as many days, though the previous day's longball was just a solo shot for a bit of insurance in an 8-2 Birds triumph.

With their series win in the Windy City, the Orioles boosted their record to 57-36 and maintained a 4-game lead over the second-place Tigers.

Vintage Fridays: Mike Cuellar, 1970 Topps #199

I'm going to acknowledge up front that I'm gaming the time on this one a bit. It's not being posted until 12:30 AM on Saturday, but it's going to count for Friday. This card commemorates Mike Cuellar's strong performance in the first-ever American League Championship Series game on October 4, 1969. He pitched eight innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits and a walk while striking out seven. However, he left trailing 3-2, as his counterpart Jim Perry had been up to the task for the Twins. Perry began the ninth inning looking for a complete game victory, with the only blemishes on his slate being solo home runs by Frank Robinson and Mark Belanger. (Yes, Mark Belanger.) But the longball proved Perry's undoing, as Boog Powell tied the game with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the ninth. A Brooks Robinson single chased the Minnesota starter, but Ron Perranoski held the line and the game went into extra innings. In the twelfth, Perranoski's fourth inning of work, he finally cracked. Belanger eked out an infield hit, Andy Etchebarren bunted him over, Don Buford moved him to third with a grounder, and Paul Blair dropped a bunt single to plate the winner. It was indeed a squeaker...that's e-a, not e-e. You'll have to indulge the English major in me.

Vintage Fridays: Boog Powell, 1970 Topps #200

Two Boogs for the price of one this week! This is a fantastic photo, and I'd never seen it up until a few weeks ago. While Ed and I were driving to a card show, I flipped through his 1985 copy of Topps Baseball Cards: A Complete Picture Collection. It was then that I came across this classic. I was surprised that I didn't have it already, since I owned all but four Orioles cards from the 1970 set. Sure enough, Ed tracked down a copy of it at the show and I was able to mark it off my checklist.

As the heading indicates, this action took place in Game Two of the first-ever American League Championship Series, on Sunday, October 5, 1969 in Baltimore. The 109-win Eastern Division Champion Orioles had squeaked by the 97-win Western Champ Twins in twelve innings in Game One, 4-3. The second game was a tense pitchers' duel between the Orioles' Dave McNally and Minnesota's Dave Boswell. The O's squandered an early opportunity, failing to score after loading the bases with nobody out in the second inning. The bottom third of the O's order went 1-2-3, popout, shallow fly to left, strikeout. The following inning, Frank Robinson popped out with runners on the corners. But there were no other serious threats by either team, and the game moved to extra innings with no score.

In the top of the tenth, McNally struck out the side to give him 11 K's on the day. Boswell showed no signs of fatigue either, setting the Birds down in order in the home half. On to the eleventh, and both starters hung in. McNally retired the first two batters before issuing back-to-back walks to Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva, but manager Earl Weaver stuck with the 20-game winner and he rewarded him by coaxing Bob Allison to line out to Don Buford. Boswell was not so lucky. Boog Powell led off with a walk, and Brooks Robinson bunted him to second base. Davey Johnson was intentionally walked to get to Mark Belanger, who popped out for the second out. Twins manager Billy Martin flinched, calling lefty fireman Ron Perranoski in from the bullpen to face Elrod Hendricks. The chess game continued with Weaver sending righthanded batter Curt Motton in to pinch hit. Motton delivered a single to right, and Boog rumbled home ahead of Tony Oliva's throw. As you can see above, Minny catcher George Mitterwald made a futile lunge as the burly Baltimore first baseman scored the only run of the game to give the O's a walkoff win in a crisp 3 hours, 17 minutes. The Birds would close out the three-game sweep with an 11-2 romp the following day.

Vintage Fridays: Frank Robinson, 1970 Topps #463

As an update to yesterday's post, Frank Robinson was released from the hospital yesterday and returned to the meetings he had been attending with MLB owners and general managers. Even though the Paradise Valley, AZ doctors gave him the all-clear and said that he was "not dehydrated, but a little dry", he wisely said that he would follow up with his doctors at home in Los Angeles. He suggested that heart health wasn't something to take lightly, but also seemed to be attempting to head off any potential nagging: "I know my doctor will be calling me tonight telling me to get in there tomorrow. And I know my family will be after me to go.”

It just bears repeating: Frank Robinson is the baddest badass that ever badassed. Eddie Murray would agree.

Vintage Fridays: Curt Motton, 1970 Topps #261

I hate to begin the weekend on a down note, but it's my sad duty to pass along the news that Curt Motton has lost his battle with stomach cancer. He was 69 years old. I didn't know much about Curt, but this very heartfelt remembrance from Roch Kubatko's blog gave me a good sense of his character. He was by all accounts a very warm and friendly guy, known to his friends and teammates as "Cuz". Terry Crowley mentioned that Motton was a player who had "terrific" minor league numbers but was blocked by the great regulars with the Orioles in the late 1960s. Well, the Crow wasn't just whistling Dixie. Curt was a .297 hitter in the minors, peaking at .333 at Class A Stockton in 1963, after which he lost a year-plus to military service.

"Cuz" peaked in 1969, when he hit .303 with a .573 slugging percentage in limited at-bats for the American League champs. He homered six times in 89 at-bats. (The entire league batted .246 and slugged .369.) He also broke a scoreless tie with a game-winning opposite-field single in the bottom of the eleventh inning in Game Two of the 1969 ALCS.

The really astounding thing about Roch's blog post was his list of all of the 1970 World Champion Orioles who have passed away; Motton is the tenth player, and two coaches are also departed. I realize that 40 years have gone by, but that's still tough to hear. Hopefully you'll take the chance to meet some of your heroes whenever the opportunity arises. For my part, I will be at FanFest early tomorrow afternoon (11-1:15 or so); if you spot me in my "Baltimore" road jersey, come say hello. I still look a lot like my profile picture, just with a patchy beard.

Vintage Fridays: Al Severinsen and Roger Freed, 1970 Topps #477

If this card seems uncommonly spooky, keep in mind that today is Friday the 13th. I don't know about you, but that mutant colony of chaw in Al Severinsen's cheek gives me the willies. Then there's flycatcher Roger Freed, who became just the third player in team history to wear #13 on his back when he debuted with the Orioles in 1970. Above all, there is the misleading label of "Rookie Stars", bestowed upon two young men who combined to play 14 games in O's uniforms. There's a chill in the air...

Actually, I was hoping to post a "Jason" card tonight, for obvious reasons. But sadly, the Birds did not have any Jasons in their history until 1999, far past the Vintage Fridays cutoff date of 1980. To date, these pitchers are the only three players in team history who share that name:

Jason Johnson (1999-2003) 34-53, 4.84 ERA
Jason Grimsley (2004-2005) 3-6, 4.78 ERA
Jason Berken (2009) 6-12, 6.54 ERA

AAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHHHHH! Now that's a scary group of killers. Sleep with one eye open, kids...

Vintage Fridays: Andy Etchebarren, 1970 Topps #213

Since I'm away for a few days, you're getting the short form and liking it. As mentioned recently, this is the beautiful card that reader Alan got Andy Etchebarren to autograph for me at a York Revolution vs. Somerset Patriots game last month. I don't care for the 1970 Topps design, but this is a great photo: "Etch" glowering at the photographer from under the shade of his cap brim while choosing the only bat on the rack that is coated in pine tar. He's sporting some sharp sideburns and a black batting glove that makes me wonder if he ever rode a Harley. A mysterious mustachioed man sits in the dugout, perhaps observing player behavior in a Jane Goodall-type fashion. This card has got it goin' on.

Fun fact: the card number is #213, and as this card auto-posts I will probably be driving down MD Route 213 to Washington College. Go figure.

Vintage Fridays: Dave May, 1970 Topps #81

Happy May Day, folks! Unlike last year, I'm not going to regale you with sordid tales of nudity and bacchanalia. Sorry. Dave May was the first of the three Mays to play for the Orioles (the others, as previously mentioned, were his son Derrick and of course the powerful Lee May). Unfortunately, none of the Baltimore trio of Mays were born in their namesake month, which would have allowed for some creative uniform design. But Lee May's younger brother had the chance and took the initiative.

Carlos May was born on May 17, 1948. He was a decent player in his own right, hitting .274 in a ten-year career and being selected as a two-time All Star despite losing his right thumb in a mortar accident while in the Marine Reserves. But many fans (particularly the trivia-crazy) know him best as the only player in major league history to wear his birthday on his back: MAY 17. I couldn't find a rear view of him, but here's a frontal shot. As somebody who has a fixation on uniform numbers, I think that's pretty cool.

I don't want to give Dave May short shrift, since this very well may be the first and last time he's featured on this blog. He never did much for the O's, hitting .216 with 5 home runs in parts of four seasons at the beginning of his career, but his last home run for the Birds was a game-winning two-run shot in the bottom of the tenth on June 14, 1970. It came off of Fred Talbot of the A's, who incidentally was featured on my 1965 Topps blog today. Dave also was an All-Star for the Brewers in 1973. That year, he hit .303 with 25 HR and 93 RBI and led the American League with 295 total bases. A year later, he was traded to the Braves for none other than Hank Aaron. That's a feather in your cap, I'd have to think.

Vintage Fridays: Orioles Celebrate - Sweep Twins in Three!, 1970 Topps #202

I need a reminder of the good times tonight, an era when October in Baltimore meant a trip down to 33rd Street to see the O's dominate the opposition. This card depicts a mob scene at home plate during the first-ever American League Championship Series, during which the 109-win Orioles squeaked out a couple of walk-off wins over the Western Division Champion Twins before cruising in the deciding Game Three.

The sharp-eyed Birdbrain could tell you that the players who are visible in the above photo are, from left to right, Frank Robinson, Paul Blair, Andy Etchebarren, and Davey Johnson. I'm not sure whether they're reveling in the glory of Game One or Game Two, but both were incredible. In the opener, the host Orioles trailed 3-2 before Boog Powell led off with a game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth and Brooks Robinson singled, chasing Minnesota starter Jim Perry. A couple errors and a fielder's choice moved Brooks to third, but he was caught stealing home to end the inning! The game ground its way into the twelfth, where Baltimore's Dick Hall inherited a bases-loaded jam from Marcelino Lopez and retired the next two Twin batters to keep it knotted at 3-3. In the bottom of the inning, the Birds finally broke through against Ron Perranoski, who had been on the mound since the ninth. Mark Belanger singled, moved to third on two infield outs, and scored the winning run on a daring bunt single by Paul Blair. It was a rare example of small ball by the czar of the three-run homer, manager Earl Weaver.

Game Two was a breathtaking pitchers' duel. The Orioles' Dave McNally and the Twins' Dave Boswell, a pair of 20-game winners in the regular season, each allowed their share of baserunners: 3 hits and 5 walks for McNally, and 7 and 7 for Boswell. They both did their job in the runs column, however, trading zeroes into the eleventh inning. McNally, who had the stronger line of the two (particularly when you compare his 11 strikeouts to his opponent's 4 K's), stranded two Twinkie runners in the top of the frame. Boswell finally let up, walking Boog Powell and Davey Johnson (the latter intentionally) and turning things over to (who else?) Ron Perranoski. The reliever once again played the goat, yielding a two-out pinch single to Curt Motton to bring home Powell with the game's only run. Utterly demoralized, Minny would scratch across just 2 runs on 10 hits against Jim Palmer in the final game of the series. Baltimore had no such difficulty, with 11 runs to show for their 18 hits off of 7 Twin hurlers.

As you can see, the Orioles had a right to celebrate. I think things got a little gloomier in the World Series, but my computer seems to lock up when I try to research it, so we'll just stop here. ;)

Vintage Fridays: Dick Hall, 1970 Topps #182

There's a lot to like about this card. I'll start with the design - though 1970's Topps set is often maligned for being drab and dull, its biggest crime is being the set that came just before the revolutionary black bordered 1971 cards. There's something understated and classy about these simple gray borders, and I like the script that the player name is rendered in; it's a font I don't recall seeing on any other cards, and it's somehow reminiscent of a 1950's diner.

I also love the players in the background, backs to the camera. I've come to enjoy the quirks of baseball card photography, particularly guys who make cameos on other player's cards. In this case, the humongous Gene "Lurch" Brabender (of Ball Four fame) stands to Hall's right, our left. On the other side of him is #9. A visit to my website will tell you that he is none other than outfielder Don Buford, the table-setter of the greatest Oriole teams.UPDATE 5/20: As reader Ed has pointed out, the player wearing #9 is more likely Russ Snyder, which would mean that Topps took a shortcut and recycled a photo from Dick's first stint in Baltimore (1961-1966). Russ Snyder wore #9 from 1961-1967.

The artful presentation of Dick Hall himself lends a certain charm to this photo, as the extreme closeup lends a sense of action to a posed shot. He is following through with his not-quite-sidearm, not-quite-three-quarters delivery, eyebrows arched in anticipation of the batter's reaction. To top it off, he's wearing that glorious "Baltimore" road jersey.

What adds to my enjoyment to this card is the fact that I've exchanged a few emails with Dick Hall. A week after I launched the NumerOlogy website, the Orioles Hall of Famer contacted me to complement me on my work. He was known for wearing #29 as an O, but was fairly sure that he'd worn another number when the team first acquired him from the Kansas City Athletics in 1961. He even went so far as to guess that it might have been 38, though he was uncertain. I went back to my sources and sure enough, baseballalmanac.com listed him as #29 and #38 in 1961. I'd previously discounted it because pitcher Dick Hyde was also #38, but it turned out that he joined the team after Hall, making it probable that there was a number switch when Hyde arrived. So the first correction to my research came straight from the source. To spin it another way, a friend assured me that I must be an authority if I had former players coming to me to find out which numbers they wore!

As a postscript, I've recently emailed Dick to ask if he'd consent to an interview to be posted on the homepage of NumerOlogy. If he agrees, I'll put up a link when it goes live.