Scott McGregor, 1982 Fleer #172

On Twitter, on team blogs, in the local mainstream media, you can't avoid the Orioles' magic number. As of this writing, it's a Scott McGregor special: 16. Any combination of Oriole wins and Yankee losses adding up to 16, and Baltimore has its first American League East title since 1997. That's pre-Clinton impeachment, pre-Rays (hell, pre-Devil Rays), pre-Google. I have to confess that I've been keeping tabs on the Orioles' magic number for several weeks now. Ever since the team first opened up a sizable lead in the American League East with their early August surge, I've been mentally crossing games off of the schedule with impatience. They've finally reached the top, I thought. Just let them play keep-away from the Yanks, Jays, and Rays. Can't we fast-forward through these last 40-50 games?

I feel like I've been sounding some variation on this theme for much of the past three seasons, but this is alien territory for me. The O's did not play a single meaningful game in September for 14 years. The Orioles were overpaid, over-the-hill losers in 1998. They were anonymous, nosediving losers in 2002 (4-32 after August 23!). They were regressing-to-the-mean, malcontent losers in 2005. They were overmatched, laughingstock losers all through the Dave Trembley years of 2007, 2008, and 2009...he was gone by the summer of 2010, replaced by Buck Showalter (following the near-endless interim tenure of Juan Samuel) and leaving behind a gruesome 21-59 aggregate record in September.

Rooting for the Orioles seemed futile and hopeless more often than not in the first dozen years of this century, but never moreso than in September. Winter and spring brought pie-in-the-sky, best-case-scenario daydreams. The first half of the season was a small enough sample size for even the most wretched and raw clubs to scrape together a few good weeks here and there and maintain respectability. But by the season's final month, the grind of 130-plus games seemed to beat both fan and team into submission. Five months of constant travel, accumulated aches and pains, and the ascendancy of superior competitors took their toll. The lack of roster depth in the Birds' organization would be laid bare, night after ugly night. With school in session and football in season, crowds dwindled away to nothing. I'd turn on a game, or more rarely drag myself out to Camden Yards, and watch faceless scrubs get pounded by all comers. It just seemed inevitable.

Here is a non-comprehensive list of players who appeared in Baltimore's starting lineup in the team's season finales from 1998 through 2011: Lyle Mouton, Eugene Kingsale (twice!), Jesse Garcia, Mike Figga, Fernando Lunar, Rick Bauer (also twice!), John Stephens, Carlos Mendez, Jack Cust, Jose Morban, Eric DuBose, Bernie Castro, Walter Young, Sal Fasano, Fernando Tatis (this was 2006, not 1999), Chris Gomez, Brandon Fahey (God help us, also twice!), Raul Chavez, Tike Redman, Luis Hernandez, Scott Moore, J. R. House, Freddie Bynum, Brian Burres, Michael Aubrey, Lou Montanez, Jeff Fiorentino, Felix Pie, Josh Bell, Alfredo Simon.

If that was hard to read, imagine how hard those games must have been to watch. It might seem unfair to include 2011 (by way of starting pitcher Alfredo Simon), but the warm and fuzzy end results don't change the fact that the desiccated corpse of Vlad Guerrero batted cleanup that night.

2012 will always be the ultimate "is this really happening?" season for O's fans. That team wasn't expected to be adequate, much less a 93-win postseason entrant. But that team also needed every one of its 20 September and October wins to squeak by the Rays and the Angels...all of that just for the privilege of playing a sudden-death elimination game on the road against Yu Darvish and the powerful Rangers. There was no time to catch your breath, no chance to look ahead and count down and make plans.

So here we are. 81 wins (that number alone was unreachable for years). 57 losses. Nine and a half games up. 24 left to play. 16 away from clinching the division. Two back of the Angels for the league's best record, and with it home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. I'm as superstitious as the next baseball fan. I worry about jinxes and overconfidence and setting myself up for disappointment. But if you can't enjoy the tale that these standings tell, what hope is there for you? So I'll keep hoping, projecting, dreaming, and counting down.

16.

Jim Palmer, 1982 Fleer #175

Jim Palmer, rocking and firing, Memorial Stadium, Baltimore. Sometimes that's all you need.

Last week, my mother was going through some of my grandma's old photos and found a few that she thought would be of interest to me. I'll share them with you in the coming days, starting with a scenic postcard of Memorial Stadium:

I don't quite have the encyclopedic knowledge of the old haunts on 33rd Street to pinpoint the date that this lithograph was made, but maybe some of you can help me. I think that's the Schaefer Beer sign on top of the right field scoreboard, and the electronic left field scoreboard isn't there yet. That should narrow it down. Any hints?

Tippy Martinez, 1982 Fleer #171

Today is the birthday of one of my favorite people in the whole world. She also happens to be the woman that I'm going to marry in...53 days?! Can it really be that soon? Yes it can, as the increasingly urgent items on my to-do list remind me on a daily basis.

I wasn't able to find any Orioles past or present who were born on July 23, which just proves that Janet is one-of-a-kind. But I can tell you what the O's were doing on her birthday, at the risk of divulging a lady's age. It was the summer of 1980, and Baltimore was looking for a four-game series win at Minnesota. They squeaked out an 8-7 victory in a back-and-forth contest. Ken Singleton was 4-for-5 with a pair of RBI, and Dan Graham drove in three runs on a pair of sacrifice flies and a single. Scott McGregor gutted it out into the seventh inning without his best stuff, as he yielded six runs (five earned) on nine hits and two walks. However, the Birds gave him enough run support that he exited with a 7-5 lead. Sammy Stewart yielded the sixth run, but stranded the tying run at first base. Singleton delivered an insurance run in the top of the eighth, and it proved necessary. Stewart allowed a single and a walk in the ninth, and Earl Weaver called upon Tippy Martinez to put out the fire. The lefty did just that, giving up a sacrifice fly to Roy Smalley but ending the game with a ground ball to second base off the bat of Ken Landreaux.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some wedding invitations to address.

Doug DeCinces, 1982 Fleer #162

There are only so many hours in the day, and I already spend too many of them on the Internet, so I tend to keep my hobby reading habits to a tried-and-true small list of baseball card blogs. I should probably branch out once in a while, because even the few that I read provide great inspiration for topics for my own blog. (Inspiration...that's what it's called when you blatantly recycle someone else's ideas, right?) Anyway, Night Owl (a.k.a. Mr. Dependable) just posted his unapologetic tribute to the offbeat, off-centered charms of the 1982 Fleer set. It's still February, so there's no real live baseball to talk about. I thought I'd supplement his work by looking at some of the so-bad-they're-good Orioles cards from Fleer's sophomore effort. The charms of this Doug DeCinces card are numerous: the light saturation makes it look like a Polaroid, Doug's left arm is cut off, and he's got his right hand tucked into his waistband as if the photographer caught him leaving the restroom. This is the seventh card I've posted from the set. The others, in chronological order:

-A pigeon-toed Lenn Sakata takes infield practice on what looks like the local sandlot.

-John Lowenstein lets his freak flag fly.

-Tim "Bigfoot" Stoddard wears a Hefty bag and conspicuously tight pants during warmups.

-Dennis Martinez flashes his pearly whites and poses with a bat and helmet.

-Rich Dauer tries to turn two with Carlton Fisk bearing down on him, and Coke gets some product placement.

-Steve Stone, a curly hairdo, and a mess of Oriole Bird helmets.

Oh great, now I feel the urge to build another set. One thing at a time, Kevin...

Steve Stone, 1982 Fleer #182

Just enjoy this card. Enjoy it for all of your days.

Rich Dauer, 1982 Fleer #161

All things considered, this isn't a bad photo by 1982 Fleer standards. It's a fairly dynamic shot of Rich Dauer trying to turn the double play as Carlton Fisk barrels into him at second base, kicking up a plume of dirt. There's also some product placement for Coca-Cola, which I'm sure they didn't mind.

By the way, now that I'm officially on Pacific time for the weekend, this still qualifies as a Thursday blog entry - it's 10:40 here.

Dennis Martinez, 1982 Fleer #170

Oh, I am eating this card up with a spoon. Dennis Martinez has one of the best smiles in baseball, but there weren't a whole lot of cards from his time with the Orioles that showed off that smile. Maybe that's poor photo selection from the card companies, or maybe he was actually smiling less, as he was dealing with an alcohol addiction at the time. Either way, I'm glad to see "El Presidente" flashing a mischievous grin here. The cherry on top is the bat-and-helmet pose, which you don't get to see on a lot of pitcher cards, especially for American League teams between the beginning of the Designated Hitter era (1973) and the inception of Interleague Play (1997). It's clear that Dennis and/or the Fleer photographer decided to have a little fun, especially since the stadium in the background looks to be Fenway Park (Fleer did most of their work in Boston in those days). It's unlikely that Earl Weaver was auditioning the Nicarauguan hurler as a pinch hitter. Of course with Earl, you never know!

Incidentally, on this date in 1981, Dennis pitched 8 and 1/3 innings, holding Texas to three runs on seven hits and outlasting Fergie Jenkins for a 7-3 Orioles win. Now you know.

Tim Stoddard, 1982 Fleer #181

Since tonight is the Royal Rumble, my favorite wrestling event of the year, I'm posting this card of Tim "Bigfoot" Stoddard, whose imposing size (6'7", 250 lbs.) could have made him a pretty good wrestler. Tonight, I'm attempting my first ever live blog for the Royal Rumble match, as a follow-up to the contest that I ran with my post this afternoon on A Pack a Day. Since I couldn't track down anyone to split the $40 price tag for the pay-per-view, I'll be live-blogging other live blogs, essentially. Not the best-laid plans, to be sure. Keep refreshing for updates!

9:49 - Okay, we're underway! The first two entrants are #1 Rey Mysterio, Jr. (tiny masked Mexican wrestler) and #2 John Morrison (egocentric Jim Morrison knockoff.) After that we got #3 Carlito (Puerto Rican second-generation wrestler with a huge afro) and #4 MVP (generic conceited black athlete gimmick). #5 is the Great Khali (ginormous 7' tall Indian wrestler, starred in The Longest Yard remake). #6 is Vladimir Kozlov (undefeated evil whitebread Russian), who eliminates Khali! #7 is Triple H (neanderthal superstar who loves Motorhead and married the owner's daughter to ensure his stardom). Aaaand we're caught up!

10:03 - Had some technical difficulties. #8 is Randy Orton (obnoxious third-generation wrestler with some really dumb tattoos), followed by #9 JTG (horrendous black stereotype), #10 Ted DiBiase, Jr. (son of the Million Dollar Man, an awesome 1980s villain), #11 Chris Jericho (my personal hero, a bestselling author/heavy metal singer/VH1 commenter, and he wrestles sometimes too), #12 Mike Knox (creepy bearded baddie), #13 The Miz (John Morrison's tag team partner and a former MTV reality star), #14 Fit Finlay (insane middle-aged Irish brawler), and #15 Cody Rhodes (son of Dusty Rhodes and cohort of Orton and DiBiase). Someone needs to clear out some of the bodies in that ring, from the sound of it!

10:11 - They keep on comin'. #16 is the Undertaker (wrestling zombie/aging biker from Houston), #17 is Goldust (homoerotic man with gold facepaint and bodysuit), #18 is CM Punk (straightedge technician/greasy looking urchin), and #19 is Mark Henry (400+ pound ex-Olympic weightlifter).

10:14 - Apparently, the Twitter feed I was following was not keeping track of eliminations. Gone are MVP and Carlito at the hands of Kozlov. HHH takes out Kozlov, Morrison, and the Miz. #20 entrant is Shelton Benjamin (former amateur wrestler at the University of Minnesota, African-American with bleach blond hair). #21 is King William Regal (evil Britisher, real life recovering drug addict). #22 is Kofi Kingston (high-flying young Jamaican) and #23 is Kane (sadistic gargoyle who was burned badly as a child and is storyline brother to the Undertaker).

10:20 - #24 is R-Truth (wrestling rapper - he also had a brief role in "The Wrestler", which is a fantastic movie btw). So far, only commenter RWH is out of the running for the contest prize. I better reload and see if anyone else was eliminated.

10:25 - #25 is Rob Van Dam (pothead/ex 7-11 pitchman/flippy-floppy type guy), which is a huge surprise since he has only made one appearance for WWE in the last few years! #26 is THE Brian Kendrick (little shrimpy blond guy who hides behind his huge bodyguard Ezekiel). I need to find a liveblog that updates eliminations...grr.

10:30 - #27 Dolph Ziggler (doofy looking guy whose gimmick is introducing himself to people - don't ask), and #28 is Santino Marella (unibrowed Italian stereotype/chauvinist who is inexplicably hilarious). Marella is immediately gone - sorry, Thorzul. #29 is Hacksaw Jim Duggan (who you may have actually heard of - America-lovin', 2X4 toting slob from the 80's). #30 is the Big Show (7-plus-foot, 500 pound beast, good friend of Hulk Hogan. Was originally brought into WCW as Andre the Giant's son. Starred as Captain Insano in The Waterboy). Aaand now I'll try to find out who the heck got eliminated, and by whom.

10:38 - Here we go. Undertaker murders JTG - or maybe just throws him out (there goes Mad Guru's guy). Rhodes tosses Goldust, his real life brother and William's pick. Undertaker buries Mark Henry and Shelton Benjamin, and roofgod's chances of winning. Punk takes out Regal, Kendrick takes out Kingston (condolences to Fan of Reds), and Kendrick is dumped in turn by Triple H. Kane deposited Ziggler and the aforementioned Marella. That's all I've got right now.

10:41 - No word on the specifics of the other eliminations, but the Final Six are HHH, Orton, Rhodes, DiBiase, Big Show, and Undertaker. Even though only 15 of the 30 slots were claimed in my contest, only DiBiase (#10) is remaining among the unclaimed! Chances are we'll have a prize winner tonight!

10:43 - Latest on the Twitter has Taker and Show biting the dust. Sorry MGonnella and Burnsee2!

10:44 - Your 2009 Royal Rumble winner is Randy Orton (#8)! Congratulations to Sam! Email me (brotz13 AT gmail DOT com) with your favorite team and address, and I'll send out your prize later this week!

Thanks for hanging with me folks. A lesson learned: the next time I liveblog, I'll make sure I'm actually watching the event I'm blogging.

John Lowenstein, 1982 Fleer #169

Fleer truly had the best John Lowenstein photos in the early Eighties. I'm happy to use this classic example to announce that I am now the proud sponsor of Brother Lo's baseball-reference.com page. For all of the invaluable statistical information and trivia that B-R has provided me over the past year of blogging and website building, the least I could do was send a cool Alexander Hamilton their way. At the same time, I get to show a little love for one of the most entertaining purveyors of Orioles Magic, as well as promoting my website. It's really a win-win situation.

If you'd like to sponsor a lonely Oriole, John Shelby, Lenn Sakata, Dave Trembley, and many others are still available at rock-bottom prices. Act now!

Lenn Sakata, 1982 Fleer #178

This card is amazingly awkward on so many levels. First is the design itself. Fleer was in their second year of competition with Topps after two decades of other pursuits. As you can see, they were still struggling to find their way. There's something to be said for the less-is-more approach to card art, but in this case the collector is almost lulled to sleep. And lest you think that the medium-zoomed, unfocused photo on this card is an unfortunate abberation, I can assure you that the other 1982 Fleers I have don't look much better; some even look worse. At least Lenn's face is only half in shadow.

So let's focus on the particulars of this card photo. First of all, it appears that the O's are holding open tryouts on a local rec league diamond, what with the hard, mottled infield dirt giving way to the less-than-verdant outfield grass, which is backed by a chain link fence, which sits directly in front of some lovely suburban foliage. Then there's Lenn's fielding technique. If he always threw across the diamond with his wrist crooked at such a weird angle and his left foot pointed inward while his right foot hovered in midair, it's no wonder that Earl Weaver took the plunge and moved young Cal Ripken, Jr. from third base to shortstop.