Vintage Fridays: Mike Adamson and Roger Freed, 1971 Topps #362

Rookies? Yes. Stars? Not so much. Mike Adamson had the rare honor of being drafted in the first round twice: 18th overall by the Phillies in 1965 out of high school, and first overall by the Orioles in the secondary phase of the 1967 draft after a stopover at USC. Within a month of the draft, he debuted in Baltimore, but got battered in three appearances and was sent to Rochester. That was the pattern again in 1968 and 1969 - success at AAA, and rough sledding in brief stints in the majors. After posting a 4.36 ERA and 1.44 WHIP while splitting 1970 between starting and relieving duties with the Red Wings, he really backslid in 1971, allowing 102 hits in 74 innings in stops at Rochester, AA Dallas-Fort Worth, and Milwaukee's AAA Evansville club. Having put up a 7.91 ERA that season, Adamson walked away from pro baseball at age 24.

Roger Freed's stock was high entering the 1971 season. As part of a loaded Rochester squad that included Don Baylor and Bobby Grich, Freed was the 1970 Player of the Year for the International League. He earned those honors with a .334/.427/.561 triple slash, 24 home runs, and a league-best 130 RBI. The O's rewarded Freed with a September callup, and he saw action in four games, collecting two hits and three walks in 17 trips to the plate. Those would be his only four games as an Oriole, with his path to the majors blocked by Frank Robinson, Don Buford, Paul Blair, Merv Rettenmund, and Baylor. That December, the Birds dealt him to the Phillies for Grant Jackson and a pair of reserve outfielders. Freed scuffled in two seasons in Philadelphia, batting .222/.321/.335 with a dozen homers and 55 RBI in 191 games. He spent the rest of his career as a journeyman, passing through the Indians, Reds, Expos, and Cardinals organizations, and even spending 1975 in Monterrey, Mexico. He briefly found a role in St. Louis as a pinch hitter and backup first baseman to Keith Hernandez. In 95 plate appearances in 1977, he batted .398/.463/.627, and was 9-for-23 off the bench. Roger's overall performance in 1978 was less impressive (.239/.297/.370 in 101 PA), but he excelled again in a pinch (11-for-29 as a PH). Freed passed away in 1996 at age 49 due to a heart condition.

Vintage Fridays: Pat Dobson, 1971 Topps #547

Here we see a barely-conscious Pat Dobson proudly wearing the uniform of a team that is TOTALLY NOT the San Diego Padres. I mean, just look at his logo-less black cap with its orange-like brim! I'm sold. I also appreciate the scuffing in the bottom right corner that gives the appearance of a camera flash. No wonder Pat can't keep his eyes open.

Vintage Fridays: Andy Etchebarren, 1971 Topps #501

It's great that Topps started incorporating action photos into their base set in 1971, but an action shot is wasted on Andy Etchebarren. Why would you zoom out and obscure the classic masterpiece that is his face? That could be any old schlub taking his hacks in road grays. Luckily they learned from their mistakes and returned to posed close-ups for the rest of Etch's career.

Vintage Fridays: Frank Robinson, 1971 Topps #329

I've spent most of my evening watching other teams play postseason baseball, but nobody looked as good doing it as Frank Robinson did with his high, skinny orange stirrups and his contrast-colored, radial-arched name plate. Even home plate umpire Tony Venzon and number five hitter Paul Blair have to give Frank a once-over to take it all in. I hardly need to tell you that the Orioles dispatched the Reds 9-3 in this game, which took place on October 13, 1970 in Memorial Stadium. The O's only outhit Cincy by a 10-9 count, but three of Baltimore's hits left the field of play, and none of Cincinnati's did. Robby and Don Buford each hit a solo homer off of Tony Cloninger, and winning pitcher Dave McNally really blew the game open in the bottom of the sixth with a two-out grand slam off of reliever Wayne Granger. Perhaps buoyed by his rare feat, the Birds' tough lefty went the full nine innings to give his club a 3-0 advantage in the 1970 World Series. The whole thing took just two hours and nine minutes, which probably has something to do with the lack of three-minute commercial breaks between innings. Crazy, I know.

Vintage Fridays: Boog Powell, 1971 Topps #195

1971 Topps. Boog Powell getting some love from Frank Robinson. An umpire in a necktie. A recap of the Orioles' ALCS trouncing of the Twins, in this case a 10-6 win in the 1970 playoff opener. Boog's homer was the third and final four-bagger in a seven-run outburst in the top of the fourth inning, following back-to-back blasts by Mike Cuellar (a grand slam!) and Don Buford. The opposing pitcher for Powell's home run was Bill Zepp, whom I had never heard of before this moment. This card has pretty much everything that I'm looking for as a collector.

Vintage Fridays: Chico Salmon, 1971 Topps #249

I haven't posted a card this...well-loved in a while. The dinged corners, the heavy creasing, and there's even some paper loss on the back. But it's all good. I'm always happy to have a grizzled veteran in the mix, as long as the picture is intact. There will always be time for upgrades.

You don't see a lot of dugout photography on older cards. It opens up another part of the players' world to the collector. Of course, Chico Salmon seems slightly put out by the photographer's presence. "Look," he could be saying, "Is this going to take much longer? The rest of the guys are on the field already, and I've got the ball. They can't start without me, and Frank Robinson is not a patient man."

Meanwhile, I wish we could identify the anonymous recumbent player in the dugout. He doesn't have a care in the world.

Vintage Fridays: Mike Cuellar and Dave McNally, 1971 Topps #69

On Thursday night, the Orioles won a 3-2 nailbiter over the Red Sox, giving Chris Tillman his 15th win on the fifth attempt. You wouldn't think that 15 wins would be a big milestone, but Tillman is the first O's pitcher to reach that peak since Erik Bedard in 2007. Wins aren't the end-all and be-all of pitching stats these days, but it's a pretty simple indicator of how dang hard it's been for this team to find reliable pitching. If you'd like an interactive illustration of this, there's a fun quiz on Sporcle that asks you to choose the 29 Oriole pitchers who have notched a 15-win season from a larger list of possibilities. I got 25 of the 29, an 86.2% success rate. Can you top that?

Vintage Fridays: Dave McNally, 1971 Topps #320

With today's intrasquad game, the Orioles inched a little closer to the April 6 opener of the regular season. But there's still a few dozen exhibition games to slog through before we get there, so I decided to find the best Opening Day performance by an O's starting pitcher. My quest was facilitated by Baseball Reference's Opening Day starters page for the club; I clicked on the box scores and used the pitchers' Game Scores as my criteria for simplicity's sake. There have been a fair share of stinkers and plenty of "good enough" efforts, but five performances stood out above the rest. I'll list them in reverse chronological order.

April 1, 2011: Orioles 4 at Rays 1. WP: Jeremy Guthrie (GS 81)

This is the only one I witnessed as it was happening, in the company of friends and acquaintances from Camden Chat at Pickles' Pub. Sitting a few hundred feet from Oriole Park, we saw Jeremy Guthrie turn in his best game of the season. He breezed through 8 innings on 94 pitches, giving up only a pair of doubles, a single, and a walk. No batter reached third base, and he struck out six. With the O's up 4-0 in the ninth, Jim Johnson was called upon to finish, and gave up a solo home run to Ben Zobrist to spoil the shutout.

April 6, 1992: Orioles 2 vs. Indians 0. WP: Rick Sutcliffe (GS 82)

This was of course the first regular-season game played at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and Sutcliffe's Oriole debut. (Side note: How cool is it that the Birds open the 2012 season on the 20th anniversary of the ballpark's first opener?) The red-bearded veteran kept Cleveland off-balance all day, yielding five singles and a walk and striking out six. His offense gave him little margin for error, but Sut outdueled Charlie Nagy, who took a complete-game, six-hit loss.

April 10, 1975: Orioles 10 at Tigers 0. WP: Jim Palmer (GS 85)

Going by Game Score, this one is the winner winner, chicken dinner. It's little surprise, as Palmer mowed down the first dozen Detroit batters before Nate Colbert managed a leadoff single in the fifth inning. All three Tiger hits were singles, and none even made it to second base. "Cakes" had only four strikeouts, but did not issue any walks. The O's battered Joe Coleman, with Lee May doing manager Earl Weaver proud with a three-run homer to open the scoring in the first inning.

April 6, 1973: Oriole 10 vs. Brewers 0. WP: Dave McNally (GS 82)

Another 10-0 romp? I hope Baltimore fans knew how good they had it in the 1970s. McNally's effort was also a three-hit, no-walk gem, but he struck out just one batter. He pitched around a Gorman Thomas triple as well as a Rick Auerbach double, but the outcome wasn't truly in doubt. Brooks Robinson socked two home runs, and Don Baylor pounded out four extra base hits, finishing a single shy of the cycle.

April 7, 1970: Orioles 8 at Indians 2. WP: Dave McNally (GS 81)

Jim Palmer may have the single best O's Opening Day start, but the lefty from Montana is the only repeat performer on this list. He surrendered a pair of runs on four hits and three walks, but compensated by whiffing a career-high 13 Tribe hitters. Opposing starter "Sudden Sam" McDowell fanned 11 Birds, but lasted only 6.1 innings. The Orioles put the game on ice against the Cleveland bullpen thanks to some patient at-bats. McDowell walked the first two batters in the seventh and was pulled with one out and a 2-1 lead. Davey Johnson walked to load the bases, and then Mike Paul earned a blown save by issuing run-scoring walks to Elrod Hendricks and Curt Motton. A pair of two-run doubles by Paul Blair and Davey Johnson gave the Birds a four-run eighth inning, and Frank Robinson added the exclamation point with a ninth-inning home run.

So there you have it. Whoever gets the Game 1 assignment next month has a tough act to follow.

Vintage Fridays: Frank Robinson, 1971 Topps #640

Today marks the 36th anniversary of a momentous day in both baseball history and the life of Frank Robinson. On April 8, 1975, the future Hall of Famer became the first black manager in MLB history when his Indians opened their season at home against the Yankees. Jackie Robinson's widow Rachel threw out the ceremonial first pitch in front of a crowd of 56,715. Frank was still on the active roster as a player, so he penciled himself into the starting lineup as the designated hitter, batting second behind Oscar Gamble. The 39-year-old brought the Cleveland fans to their feet by taking Doc Medich deep in the first inning for his 575th career home run. It was also his eighth career Opening Day homer, a record. With one swing of the bat, the Tribe led 1-0.

In the following half-inning, the Yankees jumped on Indians starter Gaylord Perry for three runs on four hits, with Chris Chambliss' two-run double serving as the big blow. But the wily veteran clamped down and shut out the visitors over the final seven innings, and the Cleveland batters battled back with a big contribution from another prominent former Oriole. 33-year-old Boog Powell, acquired from the O's in a trade two months earlier, slugged a solo home run in the fourth inning (#304 of his career) to tie the game at 3-3. Two innings later, he drove in George Hendrick with a double to put the Indians on top 4-3. Boog eventually scored on a Jack Brohamer single to make it 5-3, and that would be the final. Frank Robinson began his managerial career with an exciting win.

Vintage Fridays: Bobby Grich, 1971 Topps #193

This is Bobby Grich's rookie card, as he debuted with the Orioles in 1970 three years after the Orioles drafted him and Don Baylor with their first two picks. Not a bad haul, huh? Grich was promoted in late June and appeared in 30 games, batting .211. As you can see here, not only did he make most of his appearances at shortstop (rather than second base, his customary position for the rest of his career), but he was also clean-shaven. When I think of Bobby Grich, I picture his trademark mustache, less a fashion statement than a way of life. He looks very much like an earnest, driven young player here, but you can sense that something is missing - something besides the ball that has yet to bounce into his outstretched glove. That upper-lip-warmer was just lying in wait, biding its time until Bobby was ready to harness its power and realize his destiny as a five-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glover.

Vintage Fridays: Baltimore Orioles, 1971 Topps #1

Tomorrow, many of the men pictured on this card will reunite at Oriole Park at Camden Yards to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their 1970 World Championship season. Gates open at 2:30 PM for an alumni press conference featuring Brooks and Frank Robinson, Jim Palmer, Paul Blair, Boog Powell, Davey Johnson, and Earl Weaver. Concurrent with the press conference will be autograph sessions on the lower concourse. Scheduled to sign are Fred Beene, Don Buford, Andy Etchebarren, Bobby Floyd, Bobby Grich, Dick Hall, Dave Leonhard, Tom Phoebus, Merv Rettenmund, Pete Richert, and Eddie Watt. There will be a memorabilia sale before and during the game and a pregame ceremony on the field at 3:30. The current O’s will wear 1970 throwback uniforms, as will their opponents, the Nationals (they’ll be dressing up as the old Senators, not the Expos). By my count, that’s 16 former players and the manager, and that doesn’t even include current hitting coach Terry Crowley. Unfortunately, 11 of the 32 men who suited up for the Birds that year have passed away. The organization has done well to gather the bulk of those who remain, though.

I fear that we may never see a team like this one again. To put it another way, those of us born in the 1970s and later just plain may not see it. Not to belabor the point, but at the 72-game mark the 1970 O’s were 46-26. The current team has twice as many losses and would be trailing them by a full 26 games. From 1969 through 1971, the Birds put together the most dominant three-year regular season run by any baseball team, winning 318 games and losing only 164 (a winning percentage of 67%). They never trailed in the standings after June 4 in any of those three seasons, and finished each year with at least a 12-game cushion on the runner-up. They swept all three American League Championship Series. Of course, the black mark on their record is the fact that they won “only” one World Series in that stretch, getting shocked by the Mets in 1969 and being outlasted by Roberto Clemente, Steve Blass, and the Pirates in 1971.

But that makes the 1970 club all the more memorable. There were seven All-Stars (Frank, Brooks, Palmer, Boog, Cuellar, Davey Johnson, and McNally). Boog Powell (.297/.412/.549, 35 HR, 114 RBI) was the AL MVP, finally nabbing the award after two previous top-three finishes in balloting. In a sign of things to come, Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, and Mike Cuellar were all 20-game winners, with the latter pair tying Minnesota’s Jim Perry with a league-leading 24. Brooks, Paul Blair, and Davey were Gold Glove winners. And of course the World Series became the Brooks Robinson Show, as #5 robbed the Cincinnati Reds time and time again with jaw-dropping plays at third base and hit .429 (9-for-21) with two doubles, two homers, and six RBI in the five-game set.

So if you’re in the neighborhood this weekend, drop on in at Eutaw Street and toast one of the greatest teams in the history of our fine city.

Vintage Fridays: Earl Weaver, 1971 Topps #477

This week provided an interesting juxtaposition of past and present in regards to Orioles managers. Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated wrote an excellent profile of Hall of Fame skipper Earl Weaver, everyone's favorite irascible, chain-smoking imp. I can't recommend it to you strongly enough; it's always great to hear Earl praised as an ahead-of-his-time strategist. He studied statistical matchups, championed on-base percentage, and disdained the bunt decades before Moneyball was written by Michael Lewis. It's also good to know that #4 still hasn't lost his edge. Reading the transcript of his anguished reactions to an Adam Eaton start in Spring Training, I felt like someone was eavesdropping on my own heat-of-the-moment exclamations.

Every manager that has followed Weaver in Baltimore, from Joe Altobelli to Dave Trembley, has had an impossible act to follow. No matter who is helming the team, it seems like the fans are always complaining that the manager isn't fiery enough. He doesn't challenge the players. He doesn't snipe at reporters. Most of all, he doesn't battle the umpires. Dave Trembley in particular seems to be 180 degrees away from his diminutive predecessor; we're talking about a guy who seems nice enough but conducts press conferences in a low monotone and counts Diet Coke as his greatest vice. Yet on Tuesday evening, Trembley boiled over and unleashed a tirade that may have impressed Earl.

It started in the top of the first inning in Seattle, when Luke Scott drove a liner up the gap with two outs and the bases loaded. Adam Jones and Nick Markakis raced home, and Mariners center fielder Franklin Gutierrez's relay throw struck the pitcher's mound and ricocheted into the camera well. With Nolan Reimold already around second base, the Orioles players and coaches waved him home. But home plate umpire Tom Hallion erroneously ruled that he had eased up going into second and sent him back to third base. That's when Dave erupted, and it was all caught on tape (jump to 2:28). He screamed from the dugout, charged the field, went nose-to-nose with Hallion, screamed some more, accused the ump of lying and failing to know the rules, cursed, and then politely offered Big Blue his cap. He was, of course, ejected.

Today, the bureaucrats at the commissioner's office handed down a two-game suspension to Trembley, reported because he continued to watch the game from the tunnel leading to the clubhouse. That's against the rules, and he ostensibly could have continued calling the shots from there. Whatever. Oh, and there was no acknowledgement of the blown call. Color me shocked.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that sometimes you've just gotta blow off some steam. Diamond Dave did just that, and got a mini-vacation out of it.

Vintage Fridays: Merv Rettenmund, 1971 Topps #393

This Day in Orioles History: August 15, 1970

Orioles 7, Athletics 1 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

I didn't realize until I started writing up these game summaries that most of these were away games. Oh well, I guess you're all getting a tour of the American League through the years.

Mike Cuellar went the distance, tossing an artful seven-hit, one-walk effort at a very solid Athletics squad. He struck out six in earning his seventeenth win of the 1970 campaign. The win allowed the Birds to maintain their eight-and-a-half game advantage over Ralph Houk's Yankees.

The lion's share of the Baltimore offense was supplied by Brooks Robinson, Andy Etchebarren, and Merv Rettenmund, who combined for eight of the team's twelve hits. "Etch" had three hits and drove in the first two O's runs, Brooksie homered, double, and scored three times, and Rettenmund hit safely three times, including a game-breaking three-run home run in the ninth.

I chose this game because I had a lot of fun with all of the familiar names in Oakland's half of the box score. The A's fielded three future big league managers that day: right fielder Felipe Alou (who had three of their seven hits), reliever Marcel Lachemann, and a weak-hitting utility player named Tony LaRussa (0-for-1 as a pinch hitter). For fans of Ball Four, there were no less than four ex-Seattle Pilots: Tommy Davis (a future Oriole), Don Mincher, Bob Locker, and losing pitcher Diego Segui (father of another future Bird, David Segui). As the cherry on top, Rettenmund's three-run blast was hit off of old Jim Bouton nemesis Dooley Womack. Dooley Womack!

Vintage Fridays: Don Buford, 1971 Topps #29

I've only really focused on buying vintage cards since I started collecting again last summer. Prior to that, I owned one 1966 Brooks Robinson card and a handful of 1979 Topps. I was fortunate enough to have an uncle who collected cards feverishly for a few years in the late 1980s and early 1990s before losing interest altogether. Last summer, he realized that he wasn't going to do anything with his collection and generously gave everything to me. Scattered amongst the rows of 1986-1992 Topps and 1989-1992 Upper Deck were a few older items, including a single 1971 Topps card: Nelson Briles, of the Cardinals (a one-time Oriole, too). That was the first of what is now a couple dozen 1971 Topps in my collection.

I had to see these cards in person to appreciate their retro beauty. The thick black borders were revolutionary for their time, and something about that backdrop with the squared-off mod lettering reminded me of my father's old black alarm clock. He's a thrifty and loyal type of man, who doesn't throw anything out if it has an ounce of usefulness left. He received that clock from my grandfather as a high school graduation gift. It's rectangular and analog, with big white numbers on a black background that flip down as the minutes tick past. The "29" and "30" minute plates are sort of mixed up; apparently this stems from my early childhood, when somebody who may or may not have been me knocked over the clock accidentally.

As a child, the clock resided in my room for a couple of years. I was a bright kid by all accounts, but I also worried, all the time and about everything. Often I had trouble falling asleep at night, and the merciless clicking of those numbers just exacerbated things. I was all too aware of each and every minute that was passing without the peaceful repose of sleep. I can't be sure, but I think my Dad still has that clock.

Don Buford is a throwback, much like the card that bears his likeness, indeed much like the alarm clock. He's battle-tested and rough around the edges. When I interned with the minor-league Aberdeen IronBirds in 2004, Buf' was the manager and was known for having a prickly personality. But whatever else you can say about him, Don Buford got the job done without a lot of fanfare or recognition. He was the leadoff hitter of the Orioles during one of the greatest three-year runs for any team in baseball history, 1969-1971 (318-164, three straight AL pennants). With on-base percentages near or above .400, he set the table for the greats: Brooks, Frank, Boog. Hell, he even holds a major league record, grounding into just 34 double plays in 4,553 career at-bats, or one every 138 times to the plate. (By comparison, Jim Rice had 36 GIDP in 1984 alone!)

Look at Don Buford. He doesn't care what you think. He's gonna keep on tickin'.