Andy Van Slyke, 1995 Pinnacle #396

Today is Andy Van Slyke's 56th birthday, which I learned by reading Stacey's "Bird Droppings" post this morning at Camden Chat. She also linked to this blog, which was a swell thing to do, and which gave me that little extra push to write something tonight. I guess reciprocity makes the world go 'round.

Andy was a five-time Gold Glove center fielder, a three-time All-Star, and a two-time Silver Slugger, and he did exactly zero of those things in Baltimore. It would've been hard to squeeze such accolades into his muddled 17-game swing through Charm City in early 1995. So it goes. You may feel like you've heard the Van Slyke name more recently; indeed, Andy's son Scott has been a part-time outfielder and first baseman for the Dodgers since 2012. He's batted .249/.331/.424 in 821 career plate appearances, with 27 home runs and 92 RBI.

The elder Van Slyke shares a birthday, birth year and all, with former righty reliever and storied prankster Roger McDowell, who also had a mid-30s sojourn with the Orioles in the mid-1990s. Roger finished his 12-year stint in the majors with 41 appearances out of the O's bullpen in 1996, running up a 4.25 ERA while walking 23 batters and striking out just 20. Two decades later, McDowell has returned to our city as Buck Showalter's new pitching coach after a lengthy tenure in that same role in Atlanta. He's got his work cut out for him, to say the least.

Matt Nokes, 1995 Pinnacle #417

Here's another need fulfilled, and all that I had to do was put it on my most-wanted list, the list of nine you see on the left side of this page. (Note to self: Update most-wanted list. Maybe tomorrow.) Thanks as always to Ed, who spends almost as much time working on my collection as I do.

As far as I know, this is the only card depicting former Tigers and Yankees catcher Matt Nokes in an Orioles uniform. There's a good reason for that. After the 1994 season, the O's parted ways with backup catcher Jeff Tackett. Perhaps looking for more offense off of the bench, the team inked Nokes to a modest free-agent deal. The 31-year-old was a few years removed from his days as a regular, but had just batted .291 and slugged .595 in 28 games in New York the previous season. So it looked like he still had the power stroke that allowed him to hit 32 home runs as a rookie back in 1987. Sadly, it seemed as though Matt had left his offensive talents behind during the players' strike. He had just 6 hits in 49 at-bats as Chris Hoiles' caddy, putting up a paltry batting line of .122/.185/.265 with a pair of home runs. The Orioles released him in mid-June, and he was so frustrated by his brief experience in Baltimore that he bashed manager Phil Regan and his coaching staff on the way out the door. I still remember him telling reporters that he felt as though he'd been "paroled", and claiming that the decision-makers couldn't even settle on which hat the team would wear from day to day (this was when the team first introduced the orange-billed cap and the ill-fated gray cap with black bill). Naturally it came across as sour grapes, since the source was an aging player who had failed to hit his weight. Certainly that was the impression left on this adolescent fan.

It took Nokes a full month to catch on with another team, but the Rockies gave him a look in July. A thumb injury limited him to 10 games in Colorado, and he didn't do much more than he had in Charm City: 2-for-11 with a walk. That proved to be the end of his major league career, but oddly enough Matt resurfaced in independent ball with the St. Paul Saints in the late 1990s, slugging 24 home runs in 141 games over a couple seasons. He also played for the Schaumburg Flyers and the Joliet Jackhammers in 2001 and 2002 before hanging up his spikes once and for all. Presumably the clubs of the Northern League weren't paralyzed by sartorial dilemmas like the 1995 Orioles were.

Ben McDonald, 1995 Pinnacle #120

Sunday night's blog entry about the Orioles' five straight shutouts to end the 1995 season made me think about another standout pitching performance from that year.

It was Monday, June 5, 1995, and school had either just ended for the summer or we were already sliding into the abbreviated days at the end of the term. My friend H.D. was going to the game with his mother, and offered me their extra ticket. It took about two seconds for me to say yes, so they picked me up at my house and we went on our way.

We had pretty decent seats, although it's hard to find fault with any location at Camden Yards. We were down the third-base line, and we settled in for a strong matchup between Ben McDonald, who had gone 14-7 in the strike-shortened 1994 season, and Mariners ace Randy Johnson. It was 81 degrees at first pitch (so Baseball Reference tells me) and it was a clear night with a bit of wind. A fine night for baseball.

Neither pitcher disappointed, as Seattle and the O's traded zeroes for five innings. Baltimore put a runner on base in each of their first four at-bats, but never seriously threatened. A single by Cal Ripken, Jr., a walk by Leo Gomez, a single by Manny Alexander (wonders never cease), and another single by Chris Hoiles were all wasted. None of the four even made it to second base. McDonald was only slightly more vulnerable. He pitched around an Edgar Martinez double in the first, got a Mike Blowers double play grounder to negate a Darren Bragg single in the second, followed a Felix Fermin walk with a Joey Cora DP liner in the third, and yielded a Jay Buhner double and an intentional walk to Martinez in the fourth before stranding both men by striking out Bragg to end the fourth.

However, the Mariners finally broke through in the sixth. Ben started out smoothly with a pair of groundouts, but surrendered another hit to Martinez to bring Buhner to the plate. The bald, goateed slugger belted McDonald's 1-0 offering deep down the left field line for a two-run home run. Though the lanky Oriole pitcher rallied, keeping Seattle hitless throughout the rest of the game, the damage was done.

The Big Unit, on the other hand, seemed to get stronger as the game moved along. After Hoiles' leadoff single in the fourth, Johnson didn't allow another base runner. He retired the last 17 men, and if you take into account Jeff Manto's double play that wiped out Hoiles, he got 18 consecutive outs. Overall, he yielded only one walk and three hits (all singles) and struck out a dozen. He whiffed all three batters in the fifth inning, and did it again in the ninth to cap his sixth win in as many decisions on the year. He finished with a pitch count of 141, something that would be a rarity today, and had an excellent Game Score of 92. By comparison, his 1990 no-hitter against Detroit (8 K, 6 BB) garnered a Game Score of just 89. In fact, using that statistic, this game ties for 12th-best among his 603 career starts.

Ben McDonald, of course, took a heartbreaking complete-game loss. He allowed only five hits and two walks while striking out six, but three of those hits went for extra bases. It would be the best game of the year for Ben, who suffered through a frustrating injury-shortened campaign and finished just 3-6 with a 4.15 ERA in 13 starts and a single relief outing.

It's always disappointing to see your team lose a close game, but even at a young age I was aware and appreciative of the fact that I had just watched a dominant performance by one of the best pitchers in the sport.

PS: Click the box score and get a load of that stinker of an Oriole lineup. Curtis Goodwin leading off? Washed-up Kevin Bass #2? Bret Barberie at DH? Bleagh. They might have had a hard time scoring runs against the batboy.

Lee Smith, 1995 Pinnacle #64

It's that time of year again; Hall of Fame ballots have been mailed. The older I get, the more disillusioned I become with the selection process. The Baseball Writers' Association of America is an exclusionist, flat-Earth society and too many writers treat their vote like a joke. After Woody Paige's admission that he picked Goose Gossage because he was nice to him, and the mere fact that somebody voted for Todd Stottlemyre, I can't begin to predict how badly the BBWAA will screw up the Class of 2009. But this is first and foremost a baseball blog, so let's talk shop. The former Orioles on this year's ballot are Harold Baines, Jesse Orosco, Tim Raines, and Lee Smith. All four had long and remarkable careers, but they are not all Hall-worthy.

Harold Baines is one of my favorite players and by all accounts a first-class human being, but he was never head and shoulders above his peers- never great. Regrettably, knee injuries robbed him of his speed and made him incomplete. He was an impressive hitter, but he didn't put up the sort of numbers necessary to gain entry to the Hall as a one-dimensional player.

Jesse Orosco is notable primarily for his longevity. Making a living as a major league pitcher for 24 seasons is nothing to scoff at, but he was a highly specialized role player for much of his career, not even averaging an inning per appearance in any season from 1991-2003.

Tim Raines meets my criteria for the Hall of Fame. He was one of the premier leadoff hitters of the 1980s, getting on base at an impressive .385 clip, and his 808 stolen bases are fifth all-time. I doubt he'll get in this year, since Rickey Henderson is on the ballot and voters will want to compare the two, but that's apparently the nature of this beast. He might also be hurt by memories of his admitted cocaine abuse in the Eighties, but he's long since rehabilitated himself and there are plenty of worse scoundrels enshrined in Cooperstown (see: Cobb, Tyrus).

In my opinion, Lee Smith also passes muster. In an era when closers are finally gaining entrance to the Hall (Eckersley, Sutter, Gossage), you can hardly exclude the man who amassed a record 478 saves, a mark since surpassed by Trevor Hoffman. The barrel-chested, long-legged Cajun struck out 2.5 batters for every walk in his 18-year career, and his 131 adjusted ERA+ (which accounts for home ballpark and league averages - 100 is average) was better than the figures for Goose Gossage, Rollie Fingers, and Dennis Eckersley.

So if I had my way, two ex-O's would be headed to Cooperstown next summer. They may not have spent much time in Baltimore, but they're a part of our history nonetheless.