Vintage Fridays: Don Baylor, 1973 Topps #384

As promised, here's the fourth in a series of pictures from an early 1970s Orioles' photo day at Memorial Stadium. All had been in my grandmother's possession throughout the later years of her life.

If today's player is wearing number 25 (which is my best guess), this is a very young Don Baylor. "Groove" debuted with the O's in 1970, but played a total of just nine games with the big league club in 1970 and 1971. So my slightly informed supposition is that these pictures were all snapped on one day between the 1972 and 1974 seasons.

Baylor was already managing the Colorado Rockies by the time baseball caught my attention in 1993, and even the 1980s cards that I accumulated in adolescence showed him as a barrel-chested veteran slugger. It's almost surprising to see him as an athletic, streamlined prospect. But indeed, Don swiped at least 22 bags in each of his first eight MLB seasons, peaking with 52 steals in 1976. I imagine that whoever took these pictures, be it my grandmother or one of my aunts or uncles, they couldn't help but feel starstruck while milling around on the Memorial Stadium field in the presence of all-time greats like Jim Palmer and Brooks Robinson, as well as stars of present and future like Boog Powell and Don Baylor. Some of them were close enough to reach out and touch. It was the 1970s, and the Baltimore Orioles were the class of baseball.

Vintage Fridays: Don Baylor, 1974 Topps #187

Things I like about this card:

-Don Baylor's bright blue batting glove. Did he ever wear it in a game? Where did he even get it?

-The wear and tear on the card's surface. This card could tell some tales, but it has just enough scratches and creases to give it character. Any more damage and it would almost lose something.
-The real original Yankee Stadium in the background. Most old Topps photos taken in Yankee Stadium were shot either on the left field or right field side, and you could see that white gatework facade that remained after the mid-1970s renovation. But here you can see the big classic scoreboard looming in center field.

-The barely-visible metal snaps on the front of Don's waistband. The best thing to happen to baseball in the 1990s was the return of belted pants.

-This isn't really related to the card per se, but it's been reported that Don Baylor cried when he learned that the Orioles had traded him to Oakland in the Reggie Jackson deal. In a day and age when players are largely seen as mercenaries, it's heartening to remember someone who was so appreciative of his teammates, coaches, and fans in Baltimore that he wept upon learning that he'd a) been traded for one of the biggest stars in the game and b) was headed to a team that had just won 98 games.