Dave Philley, 1991 Crown/Coca-Cola All-Time Orioles #360

Three years ago, I figured out that Dave Philley was the oldest living Oriole. Sadly, that's no longer the case, as the 18-year major league veteran passed away last Thursday in his hometown of Paris, TX. He was 91 years old. His American League record of 24 pinch hits in one season was achieved in 1961, when the then-41-year-old was in his second stint with the O's. Dave served his country in World War II and had 1,700 hits and a .270 career batting average for the Orioles and 8 other big league teams. Serendipitously, he played for both "Philly" teams: the Athletics and the Phillies.

Roch Kubatko notes that Eddie Robinson, a former first baseman who spent just four games at the end of his career in Baltimore but also served on Paul Richards' coaching staff here, is now the current senior Oriole. As it happens, Robinson was also born in Paris in 1920; his birthday is December 20 whereas Philley's was May 16. The pair were teammates in a few different cities and were reportedly close friends.

Vintage Fridays: Dave Philley, 1956 Topps #222

Earlier this week, my booty from the Topps Million Card Giveaway finally arrived, some six weeks and change after I ordered them for shipping. Of course, I waited until the very last day to place my order, so there's another lesson about procrastination.The important thing is that the cards all arrived in reasonably good condition. I'll do a full show and tell a little later. This Dave Philley card was the oldest of my new additions, acquired in a trade with Ryan of recently-relaunched Phillies blog The Fightins. He said that he didn't care what he got in return, as long as it went to a good home. I took him at his word and offered a 1988 Topps Indians Team Leaders card...yes, seriously.

But that was just on the Topps website. I had been holding onto a Chase Utley relic card that I pulled from a pack of 2010 Topps last year, and when Ryan and I met up in Philly back in February I completed the trade by giving him the Utley card. I think we're both happy with the exchange. This is a pretty well-kept card considering that it's 55 years old - a bit off-center, some mild surface wear, light creases in the top and bottom right corners that are only really visible on the back, and the entirely understandable fuzzy corners. Now I have Dave Philley's first Orioles card, featuring the smooth swing that allowed him to put together 28 multi-hit games in half a season after the O's acquired him from the Indians in July 1955. If I had any criticism of this card, it would be the backdrop of (I assume) Yankee Stadium. Considering that this is more of a portrait than a photo, it would've been nice if they had taken a little creative license and depicted Dave in Memorial Stadium. Eh, what can you do?

Vintage Fridays: Dave Philley, 1961 Topps #369

I was stunned to learn that Dom DiMaggio, a seven-time All-Star center fielder for the Red Sox and the younger brother of Joe DiMaggio, passed away this morning. It was one of those weird cosmic coincidences, in that just yesterday I was learning about Dom's career by reading David Halberstam's book Summer of '49 and had given him a mention on my 1965 Topps blog. Speaking frankly, I was also a bit surprised that he had still been alive until today; 92 years is a long life by any standard.

So I got to thinking: who is the oldest living ex-Orioles player? After poring over the team's rosters from 1954-1964, the dean of the Birds is none other than pinch hitter extraordinaire Dave Philley. He was born on May 16 (my grandmother's birthday) in 1920. God willing, he will blow out 89 candles on his cake a week from tomorrow. A switch hitter, he made his major league debut with the White Sox in 1941, just in time to lose four years of his career to service in World War II. In an early indicator of his longevity, he still played in the big leagues for parts of eighteen seasons, retiring at age 42 after playing 38 games in 1962 with the Red Sox. He earned a spot in the record books in 1959, when he hit safely in his ninth consecutive appearance as a pinch hitter. He was a favorite of manager Paul Richards and had two stints with the O's. In the second half of the 1955 season, he hit .299 in his first go-round in Baltimore and was named Most Valuable Oriole. In 1961, his final season in Charm City, he set American League records with 24 pinch hits in 72 tries (.333 AVG). Today, he still lives in his hometown of Paris, Texas.

Congratulations on a long and remarkable career and an even longer life, Dave!