Gregg Olson, 1992 Studio #128

YouTube continues to be my baseball lifeline in 2020. Today's special took me back to July 11, 1990, as the Orioles hosted the Royals for an ESPN Wednesday Night Baseball telecast. It was an odd one-game series, wedged in after the All-Star Break to make up one of the games lost in the brief lockout at the beginning of the season. The broadcast team was a fresh-faced Gary Thorne, Norm Hitzges, and (ugh) Mike Lupica. Thankfully, Lupica was the third man, and didn't talk as much as you might fear. If you're familiar with Gary Thorne's work, you won't be surprised that he wryly referred to the game as a "one-night stand". Though there's an inning or so missing near the beginning, this was a surprisingly fun little midseason game between two scuffling clubs. George Brett slugged three doubles for Kansas City, one of them marking his 2,600th career hit. Bo Jackson (pre-traumatic hip injury) made an incredible sprinting catch in center field to deny Joe Orsulak, with his momentum causing him to literally run up the outfield fence in three steps. If you don't feel like watching two-and-a-quarter hours of a 30-year-old VHS transfer, skip to 31:20 for that play.

Things didn't look good for the O's early in this game, as a Randy Milligan error at first base opened the floodgates in the top of the third. In the blink of an eye, a 2-0 lead turned into a 5-2 deficit. Bob Milacki couldn't make it through the inning, as KC strung together five straight two-out hits off of Milacki and reliever Brian Holton. But the rest of the Baltimore bullpen held the line, with Ben McDonald (in his ninth career game), C*rt Sch*ll*ng, Mark Williamson, and Gregg Olson combining for six scoreless innings. Meanwhile, the Oriole bats clawed back with three runs in the home half of the fourth to tie it, but the score remained deadlocked until the bottom of the seventh. Facing Maryland native Steve Farr, the Birds played a bit of small ball, turning four singles and a Brad Komminsk sac bunt into two runs. Orsulak had the go-ahead knock, and Milligan provided the insurance run. Manager Frank Robinson probably felt secure handing the ball to Olson with a 7-5 lead, but the Otter made it interesting by loading the bases in the ninth. He did strike out the side in the midst of all of that drama, with third base umpire Don Denkinger ringing up Willie Wilson on a borderline check swing to end the game. It was the 18th save of the year for Olson, and he preserved the first career win for Schilling, who retired all six batters he faced in the sixth and seventh innings. There would be 215 more W's for Schilling by the time he hung 'em up in 2007, but this relief appearance marked his only victory in orange and black. No matter how odious Curt may be as a person, it is noteworthy that this particular game is available to watch online.

Sam Horn, 1992 Studio #125

I think I'm going to have to work terrible Sam Horn puns into every holiday I can. I already went with an Uncle Sam reference last year on July 4. Here on Thanksgiving, we have a Horn o' Plenty. (Please hold your groans until the end of the blog entry.)

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, wherever you might be and whatever you might be doing. I'm going to stop in early in the afternoon to visit with my brother-in-law's family, and then head north to Harford County for a proper holiday dinner at my aunt and uncle's house. Then this evening, because I'm a crazy person, my sister and I will be going downtown to M & T Bank Stadium to root on the Ravens against the NFC West Champion (I'm going to go out on a limb and award them the division) San Francisco 49ers. I'm incredibly excited to attend my first prime-time football game. I'll see you back here tomorrow, though I'll probably be a little hoarse.

Rick Sutcliffe, 1992 Studio #130

I was going to mock Rick Sutcliffe's mighty helmet of hair in this copper-framed Glamour Shot, but now I'm afraid of the consequences.

You see, I'm currently reading Cal Ripken, Jr.'s new motivational book, Get in the Game: 8 Elements of Perseverance that Make the Difference. It was sitting on the "free table" at work, one of the little perks that comes with working for a national publication. I tend to view rah-rah self-help books with skepticism, but this one has been a light, quick read with plenty of entertaining baseball stories to illustrate points. One of the funniest anecdotes involves big righthander Rick Sutcliffe.

As Ripken tells it, he and Sutcliffe were standing on the field in Cleveland; he doesn't give a date, but obviously it would have been during the pitcher's two-year tenure in Baltimore (1992-1993). Cal was having second thoughts about continuing The Streak; he was struggling on the field, and the increasing pressure from the media was wearing on him. So he asked for Sut's take:

After a moment's pause, Rick looked at me rather seriously. "Well, I'm pitching tomorrow," he said. "And if you take a day off tomorrow, I guarantee you'll make the papers. You'll be in the front pages. You'll be in the sports sections. You might even make the business sections. But there's one more section you'll be in."

"What's that?" I asked.

"The obituaries-because I'm going to kill you."

Cal went on to mention that Rick was 6'7", making him the rare contemporary to tower over the O's shortstop, and that he wasn't smiling when he threatened Ripken's life. But Sutcliffe went on to compliment his teammate's stabilizing presence on the team, all of the things that he did to help the club win, slump or no slump. He told Junior to "stop your whining and go back to your job". Because he didn't sugarcoat his message, he got Cal's attention and helped him snap out of his torpor.

These days, that same direct, no-nonsense approach is probably serving Rick Sutcliffe well as he endures treatments for colon cancer. The early prognosis is good, as the disease has been classified as "curable and maintainable". "Maintainable" seems like an odd word to use to describe cancer. But if the above story is any indicator, I'd put my money on Rick Sutcliffe to come out on top.