Craig Worthington, 1988 Donruss the Rookies #23

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I found a card that has orange, green, and white, just like the flag of Ireland. Have a green beer if you please, or an Irish coffee, or at least some corned beef and cabbage. Slainte!

Craig Worthington, 1988 Fleer Update #U-4

Craig Worthington probably shouldn't have taken a nap before his session with the photographer.

Craig Worthington, 1991 Leaf #298

I was thumbing through some 1991 O's cards this evening when my inner child told me that I'd been neglecting Craig Worthington. It's been 20 months since I featured the former Oriole third baseman on this here blog, and really, how many Cal Ripken and Adam Jones cards can you see? I strive for variety in this trifling little enterprise. While we're here, I'd like to call attention to the fact that Craig drove in 105 runs in 132 games for the Hagerstown Suns in 1986, batting .300/.399/.471 with 35 doubles at age 21. Nobody in the Carolina League drove in more runs, though Ron Gant came close at 102. If only that batting prowess could have translated to the major leagues.

Craig Worthington, 1991 Fleer Ultra #26

Craig Worthington's 48th birthday is today, which probably happened because he stopped playing for the Orioles 22 years ago and you lost track of him, you insensitive person you. But the former International League MVP didn't just disappear from the face of the earth after the O's traded him to San Diego in the spring of 1992, you know. Where in the world is (was) Craig Worthington? Let's play:

1992: Released by the Padres at the end of Spring Training. Signed with the Indians three weeks later, put up a .794 OPS in 90 games at AAA Colorado Springs. Went 4-for-24 in a late-season cameo in Cleveland, and was released.

1993-1994: Played two full seasons for the Cubs' AAA Iowa affiliate, tallied a combined 30 homers and 135 RBI. Did not play in the majors at all.

1995: During the players' strike, he signed with the Reds as a free agent, was claimed in the Rule 5 draft by the Phillies, and was returned to Cincinnati prior to Opening Day. Hit .318/.381/.484 in 81 games at AAA Indianapolis, and collected five hits in 18 at-bats for the Reds in a 10-game stint. In mid-August, Craig was traded to the Rangers for Stephen Larkin (Barry's younger brother) and cash. Playing once again for former O's skipper Johnny Oates, Worthington mustered a scant .661 OPS in 26 games.

1996: A baker's dozen worth of games in Texas, another 15 at AAA Oklahoma City, and a June 12 release. That was the end of Craig's time in affiliated pro ball, but not the end of his playing career. He played briefly for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan near season's end.

1997: Worthington went south of the border to play for the Monterrey Sultanes. No statistics are available on his Baseball Reference minor league register.

1998-2000: Craig's final act, as is the case for many ballplayers, was in the independent leagues. He totaled 196 games over three seasons for the Newark Bears of the Atlantic League. His batting line: .271/.378/.471 with 34 home runs and 124 RBI. He would have at least briefly crossed paths with a few other ex-Orioles, including Joe Borowski, Jeff McKnight, John Mitchell, and Tom O'Malley (the team's manager).

So there you have it. More than you could possibly ever need to know about the post-Baltimore playing career of Craig Worthington, a decade spent largely in obscurity. As I try to remind myself, he accomplished more within his abilities than most pro baseball players.

Craig Worthington, 1990 Topps Heads Up #22

What in the wide world of sports is this monstrosity? Well, obviously it's the disembodied head of former Orioles third baseman Craig Worthington. More specifically, it's a Topps Heads Up...card? Collectible? Call it what you will, it's a five-inch tall cardboard likeness of Craig's head, with an adhesive strip and a suction cup on the back. You could totally hang it up in your locker, or on your car window! I'm not sure why you would, but it's your prerogative. I obtained this thingy as part of the TribeCards Buck-a-Box break, and my haul arrived today in the mail. In addition to my Craighead, I also received a Gregg Olson Heads Up (now I have the entire two-head team set!), six 1988 Sportflics (Ray Knight, Cal Ripken, Jr., Billy Ripken, Eddie Murray, Larry Sheets, and a trivia card with the Orioles team logo), two 2009 Allen and Ginter (both Nick Markakis - base card and National Pride insert), and four 2011 Bowman (Ronnie Welty, Nick Markakis gold parallel, and Jonathan Schoop in base card and Chrome flavors). Not bad for the cost of an Abe Lincoln. Now I just have to decide where to hang the floating heads of the Orioles' top two rookies of 1989...

Craig Worthington, 1989 Score Rising Stars #6

You have to love Spring Training photos. Where else could you see Craig Worthington, who wore #3 and #25 in four seasons in Baltimore, wearing a wacky number like #63? That's the kind of number that belongs to an offensive lineman, not a third baseman. For the purposes of my website research, rogue uniform numbers are murder. Suddenly you see Billy Ripken wearing #56 and you start second-guessing yourself. But it's always fun to see something obscure and silly-looking on a baseball card.

Speaking of weird things on an O's card, I see a grass-stained #27 lurking on deck in the above picture. I'm guessing that this is a Spring Training 1988 photo, which raises the possibility that the mystery man is Lee Lacy. He didn't play for the Birds that year, and his three-year contract with the team expired at the end of 1987, but he could have gotten an invite to extend his career at age forty. Of course, if he couldn't make that lousy 1988 team, he really would have gotten the message that it was time to hang it up. (FYI: Caucasian pitcher John Habyan wore #27 in the 1988 regular season, so I know that isn't him.)

I can at least guess about the identity of the fuzzy #27. As to the umpire's attendant-ish guy with the orange shirt and too-short black shorts directly behind Craig, I'm not sure I want to know.

Craig Worthington, 1989 Donruss The Rookies #25

I've been acting in plays for almost ten years. I enjoy having an audience to provide instantaneous feedback, and the ability to slip into different characters is a great escape from the relative mundaneness of everyday life. Plus, I've made some really great friends in theatre. I've always had a knack for memorizing and reciting lines, but the physical aspect of my craft has proven much more difficult. Above all else, I find myself struggling with the question of what the hell to do with my hands. I'm about 6'1" tall, and I have long, gangly limbs. One of the first rules of the dramatic arts is that you do not put your hands in your pockets. But I always feel like a dork when I just leave them hanging at my sides, so I usually spend the duration of the show crossing my arms across my chest or resting them on my hips. Apparently I also spend much of the time gesturing and flailing like I have some sort of palsy, as was brought to my attention by watching my friend Mike's short student film. Take a look if you're so inclined; I'm the straight-haired guy and the first character to appear.

Anyway, I don't mean to belabor the point. What I can tell you is that Craig Worthington is one player that never had trouble with his hands. As a rookie in 1988-1989, the third baseman earned a job alongside Cal Ripken, Jr. on the left side of the O's infield primarily on the strength of his defense. Overeager fans marveled at his diving stops and just-in-the-nick-of-time throws and uttered comparisons to the great Brooks Robinson. Craig held his own with the bat in his first full season, belting 15 home runs and driving home 70 runs for the second-place Birds. His combination of slick defense and above-average hitting helped him to finish fourth in Rookie of the Year voting (teammate Gregg Olson took the honors), though he won The Sporting News' version of the award.

Unfortunately, Worthington's bat couldn't keep pace with his glove, and he'd lost his hold on third base by 1991, pushed aside for the next hot rookie: Leo Gomez. (With names like these, it's not surprising that third base has been a revolving door in Baltimore for much of the three decades following Brooks Robinson's retirement.) Craig was out of organized baseball by the age of 31, a man with great hands but not much else to recommend him. I'd gladly borrow those hands from him for a show or two.