Glenn Gulliver, 1983 Donruss #131

Glenn Gulliver is more than just a funny name. His major league career consisted of 73 games with the Orioles in 1982 and 1983. In that time, he hit only one home run. It came on Sunday, October 3, 1982, in the final game of the season. Though the game at large was a disappointment, as Jim Palmer was thrashed and the O's failed to unseat visitor Milwaukee for the American League East crown, it was undoubtedly a thrill for the 27-year-old rookie Gulliver to hit a third-inning solo homer against the great Don Sutton. Glenn assured himself a spot in the record books. According to Raphy at High Heat Stats, Gulliver is one of only 65 players in the entire history of MLB to hit his only career home run off of a Hall of Fame pitcher. Though Sutton pitched for an incredible 23 seasons and generously allowed 472 longballs to opposing hitters, the only other man to victimize Sutton for his lone career homer was a journeyman catcher by the name of Rick Stelmaszek. Oh, and in case you're curious, Glenn's big fly was the 326th that Sutton surrendered.

Rich Dauer, 1983 Donruss #455

After months upon months of speculation, or maybe two and a half weeks, the Orioles finally revealed the full details of their uniform tweaks for the 2012 season. Check it all out at Roch Kubatko's blog, and then you come right back hear so I can tell you what I think about the new duds.

Welcome back! First, I'll get the piddling dislikes out of the way. I've never been a fan of the white-panel hats. They're just not my style, and I think they pale in comparison to the solid black look. I also still don't like the "O's" hats, but I don't feel as strongly about them as did when they first appeared last decade. That's just as well, since they don't seem to be going anywhere any time soon.

I'm indifferent to the Camden Yards 20th anniversary patch. It's not very exciting to look at, but it's not a Citi Field-esque catastrophe either. The brick pattern in the background is a nice enough touch, but the black box around the orange-and-white Oriole Park at Camden Yards text looks a bit off to me. The color I most associate with the ballpark is green. Did they think it would clash too much? Eh.

A minor thumbs up to the slightly tweaked "Baltimore" script on the road jerseys. The old tapered wordmark didn't bother me too much, but the new uniformly-sized letters do look cleaner. The orange Saturday special jerseys are right in my wheelhouse. Orange is my favorite color, and it'll be nice to see it back in the rotation for the first time since 1992. It's loud without being an eyesore in my opinion. Lastly, a big thumbs up to the new-old Oriole bird. I know it's a fierce topic of debate in Baltimore, but the stodgy ornithologically-correct bird had a couple of decades to do his thing, and it's time to have a little fun with a familiar smiling face. As I mentioned previously, it looks especially great on the black and orange road caps. And although I don't much care for the "O's" cap logo, it's a solid addition to the bird's cap. It's at least an improvement over the indiscriminate blob of color on the cap of the bird's 1960s-1980s predecessors.

Of course, as many other Orioles fans have suggested amid the buzz of the new uniforms, these threads will look a lot better if the guys wearing them are able to win 15 or 20 more games.

Dennis Martinez, 1983 Donruss #231

It seems incredible, but it's been 35 years since Dennis Martinez made his major league debut with the Orioles. On September 14, 1976, the skinny righthander made baseball history by becoming the first Nicaraguan-born player in MLB. It was a baptism by fire, as Earl Weaver summoned Dennis from the bullpen with one out in the fourth inning and runners on first and second. The visiting Tigers had bolted out to a 6-0 lead in the first 3 innings against Ross Grimsley and Dave Pagan, but the O's came right back with 5 runs in the bottom of the third; Doug DeCinces' 3-run homer was the key blow. With the Birds having new life, Weaver didn't hesitate to yank Pagan after Alex Johnson's single bumped the score to 7-5. The 21-year-old Martinez announced himself with back-to-back strikeouts of Mickey Stanley and Bill Freehan to strand both inherited runners.

Baltimore's rookie pitcher looked like a veteran, as he scattered four hits and a walk in five and two-thirds shutout innings, sparing the rest of the bullpen. But Detroit reliever Dave Lemanczyk also quieted the O's bats after the DeCinces blast, keeping them off the board in the middle innings. The Orioles finally woke back up in the bottom of the seventh, with back-to-back doubles by Reggie Jackson and Lee May chasing Lemanczyk. New Tiger hurler John Hiller couldn't blunt the rally, as Ken Singleton coaxed a walk and DeCinces bunted for a hit to load the bases. Brooks Robinson, batting for first baseman Tony Muser, tied the game with a run-scoring groundout, and Mark Belanger drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly to right fielder Rusty Staub. Staub's wild throw from foul territory allowed DeCinces to score an insurance run.

Martinez seized the opportunity to earn his first career win by tossing a perfect ninth inning, coaxing three straight ground ball outs. The O's were victorious by a 9-7 margin, their sixth win in a row and the first of 245 wins in the remarkable 23-year major league journey of "El Presidente".

Rick Dempsey, 1983 Donruss #329

Tough loss for the O's tonight, but two out of three ain't bad. Going back to last night's 5-4 win, Rick Dempsey made his debut as a color analyst for NESN, the Red Sox regional TV network.

No, Dipper hasn't betrayed us. Regular NESN color man Jerry Remy was incapacitated with the flu, so Rick pinch-hit for the enemy. I almost wish that I could have listened. From what I read on Camden Chat from those with MLB.TV access, he was in rare form. When Luke Scott had the nerve to be pleased with himself for hitting a monster home run off of Josh Beckett, the Boston pitcher could be seen on camera demanding that the home plate umpire give him the f-ing ball. Dempsey suggested that Beckett was actually saying that he wanted "a fuzzy ball". Take a bow, Rick.

Al Bumbry, 1983 Donruss #383

On this Veteran's Day, I would like to remember and thank everyone who has served in the United States military to help make and keep this country great. That includes Al Bumbry, who earned a Bronze Star as a platoon leader in Vietnam. It also includes both of my grandfathers, my Uncle Phil, and my girlfriend's father. When it comes to baseball, we can get carried away using words like "hero", but we should never forget who the real heroes are.

Mike Flanagan, 1983 Donruss #105

From the "they don't make 'em like they used to" department: it was thirty years ago today (August 20, 1979) that Mike Flanagan tossed his league-leading fifth shutout, a 3-0 victory in which he held the Rangers to three hits and one walk and struck out seven. It came just five days after Flanny had tossed a 12-inning complete-game victory over the White Sox. In those dozen innings he surrendered five hits and a walk and whiffed 12 batters. The winning run scored with two outs in the bottom of the 12th when Eddie Murray STOLE HOME. What I would have given to see that! Mike was well on his way to the only Cy Young Award of his career (23-9, 3.08 ERA, 16 complete games) and Baltimore's fourth of the decade. Jim Palmer had the other three; when you add Mike Cuellar's award in 1969 and Steve Stone's in 1980, the Birds took home six plaques in a dozen years. Sadly, Stone's Cy was the last for the O's to date, and they haven't had five or more complete game shutouts as a team since 1995.

Five shutouts? Hell, five wins would put you in a tie for second-best on this year's team. Where have you gone, Mike Flanagan?

Gary Roenicke, 1983 Donruss #27

This card offers irrefutable proof that the modern-day Orioles are so much the poorer for their short-sighted grooming policy. I don't know about you, but I don't want to imagine a world without Gary Roenicke's untamed locks and madman fu manchu. Just think about how much more dull O's history would be without Ross Grimsley's glistening afro, or Dennis Martinez's mop, or (god forbid) Eddie Murray's majestic afro/chops/'stache combo.

Say it with me now...Beards for Birds! Beards for Birds! Beards for Birds!