Earl Weaver, 1985 Topps Traded #129T

Yesterday the Orioles extended the contracts of manager Buck Showalter and GM (excuse me - that's executive vice president) Dan Duquette through the 2018 season. Keeping in mind the significant caveat that one or even both of them could still be fired before those deals expire, this is encouraging news, particularly as it concerns the man in the dugout. As Roch Kubatko astutely noted, Buck would have an eight-plus year tenure if he does indeed stick around through 2018. I was a bit surprised to learn that this would give him the second-longest reign as O's manager, behind only Earl Weaver. Of course, once you get past Paul Richards, the original architect of the Birds, there isn't a whole lot of competition. In my lifetime, only Mike Hargrove has lasted as many as four seasons at the helm, and his clubs averaged 93 losses per year. I suppose it's to Peter Angelos' credit that he never deluded himself into giving overmatched skippers like Dave Trembley and Sam Perlozzo multi-year contracts, but that's just a good sign that they shouldn't really have been hired in the first place. But as the Orioles sunk to the bottom following Davey Johnson's acromonious departure in late 1997, it became increasingly difficult to find qualified candidates who were actually willing to take the job. Now, not only has Buck Showalter restored professionalism and respectability to the Baltimore organization, he's actually agreed to stay throughout the decade. Long live Buck!

Ken Dixon, 1985 Topps Traded #31T

This is usually the purview of my 1965 Topps blog, but today I present 10 Fun Facts about Ken Dixon:

-According to the card back, "his wide variety of hobbies include writing, playing basketball and drums". That is a wide variety! I wonder what he wrote. Maybe it was a script for a stage revival
of "Maude".

-Ken was traded to the Seattle Mariners in 1987 for Mike Morgan, one of twenty-two transactions in Morgan's long career.

-He won his first career game on April 25, 1985, a complete-game, three-hit effort against the Indians.

-As a rookie, ranked in the top ten in the American League in fewest hits per nine innings (8.0, 7th) and most strikeouts per nine innings (6.0, 10th).

-He shares a birthday October 17) with former Baltimore Elite Giants and Dodgers infielder Jim "Junior" Gilliam and 19th-Century great Buck Ewing.

-Won a career-high 11 games (against 13 losses) in 1986, and improved to seventh in strikeouts per nine innings (7.56).

-Held Don Baylor to two singles in 19 career at-bats with six strikeouts.

-Struck out thirteen White Sox batters on July 11, 1986.

-Ken's the only player in major league history born in Monroe, VA.

-There is a Camden Chat member named KenDixonFanClub. Is he a member of the fan club? Is he the president? Is he the entire fan club? Inquiring minds want to know.

Fred Lynn, 1985 Topps Traded #77T

Fred Lynn played for the Orioles from 1985 through 1988, a four-year run near the end of his accomplished career. But someone at Fleer didn't get the memo. A few months back, I was trading some cards with Ed and I came across Carlton Fisk's 1992 Fleer card. I glanced at the photo and noticed that "Pudge" and the Oriole batter were both wearing their team's old uniforms. I figured it was a Turn Back the Clock Day, but then I took a closer look at the batter:

If you click on the image to enlarge it, you should be able to spot the #19 on the bill of the dejected Oriole's helmet. No Baltimore hitter wore #19 in 1990 or 1991 (pitcher Ben McDonald was in number nineteen). Larry Sheets donned #19 in 1989, but that's pretty clearly not him. That brings us back to Fred Lynn. The White Sox didn't wear these uniforms until 1987, so the picture was taken in either 1987 or 1988. It's a great photo, with Fisk decked out in the tools of ignorance and intensely shouting orders to his pitcher, while Fred looks like he's headed back to the dugout after coming up short. But the real question is why Fleer chose a four-to-five-year-old image for a veteran star's baseball card? I hope that it had something to do with a bet between two bored card designers.