Jeff Manto, 1995 Stadium Club #597

If you're looking for your dose of mid-1990s nostalgia tonight (and aren't we all?), this will do in a pinch. Jeff Manto, recently relieved of his position as Chicago White Sox hitting coach, has rejoined the Orioles as the organization's minor league hitting coordinator. Manto hasn't been seen around these parts since 1995, when he slugged .492 in 254 at-bats for the stunningly mediocre Phil Regan-managed O's. Jeff Manto will be molding the minds and bodies of Baltimore's offensive threats of tomorrow. Who knew?

Jeff Manto, 1996 Fleer Tiffany #14

There's always room for more Jeff Manto talk on my blog, especially on the occasion of his 48th birthday. You might remember him as the journeyman who stepped into the O's lineup in 1995 to slug .492 with 17 home runs in 89 games, posting a solid 108 OPS+. The important thing is that he acted as a band-aid for the third base position, starting 60 of the team's 144 games in that strike-shortened season. Leo Gomez (83 OPS+) had 36 starts at the hot corner, and Jeff Huson (64 OPS+) was penciled in 24 times. Bobby Bonilla also made 24 starts at third after joining the team in late July, but was used more frequently in right field (37 GS).

These days, Manto is working as the White Sox hitting coach, having joined the surprising American League Central leaders last offseason. Under Jeff's watch, the Pale Hose are in the middle of the pack offensively, but trail only the Yankees with 164 total home runs. Catcher A.J. Pierzynski is having a career year at age 35, and designated hitter Adam Dunn and right fielder Alex Rios have also bounced back significantly from terrible 2011 performances.

Jeff Manto, 1996 Donruss #38

I quite literally have one foot out the door as I type this sentence. I am driving over the Bay Bridge to Chestertown to drop in on reunion weekend at Washington College, the seventh such occasion since my graduation from that fine institution in 2004. It seems impossible that it's been that long, but here we are. Why Jeff Manto? He's the only Oriole who was once traded for Chestertown native Ryan Thompson, a journeyman outfielder who hit .243 in a 9-year career (1992-2002). The deal in question sent Manto to the Indians and Thompson to the Blue Jays on June 5, 1997. Remember that...there will be a quiz later.*

*=There will not be a quiz later.

Jeff Manto, 1996 Fleer Ultra #8

I wanted to talk about that incredible roller coaster of a game that the Orioles won last night, but of course they had to cock it all up by dropping a one-run game this afternoon on the strength of another crummy starting pitching performance, a bases-loaded walk by their best reliever, and more buffoonish baserunning. On the other hand, they probably won't win 60 games all year, so I'd better take what I can get.

I had to be at the theater last night at 7:30 for an 8:30 performance, so I followed the game through text notifications from ESPN's ScoreCenter iPhone app...when I wasn't onstage, of course! I also read backstage via Deadspin about the bizarre pickoff play in which Jake Arrieta's throw struck Carl Crawford flush in the groin, causing him to crumple to the ground and be tagged out by Ty Wigginton. It was an omen for an unusual night of baseball. After the early thrill of back-to-back-to-back home runs by Luke Scott, Wiggy, and Adam Jones, I felt a familiar sense of disappointment and resignation when the Rays scored seven unanswered runs in the middle innings to take an 8-4 lead. By the time the play had ended and we moved down the street for a beer, Luke's RBI single and Miguel Tejada's two-run double had brought the O's back to within a run in the seventh. Still, I confidently told my friend and costar Mikey that my team was just tantalizing me, and that the overtaxed bullpen would cough up a few insurance runs to make it moot. As if on cue, an alert soon popped up on my phone telling of Reid Brignac's solo homer to make it 9-7 Tampa Bay. Still, I was in for a surprise.

As I enjoyed a Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter (yes, I chose this draught primarily based its overblown name, but it was tasty), I got another message: Miggi had doubled in a couple more runs in the ninth, and we were all tied up. Twitter informed me that the Orioles had the winning run on second base with no outs, and left him stranded. Extra innings for the bedraggled remnants of the Baltimore crowd. I was starting to get a sneaking sense that the O's might win the bloody game. One of the weirdest things about this season has been their penchant for improbable comebacks. They might barely win at all, but when they do, they make the most of it.

I was driving the monotonous path of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway when I heard the six-note chime of the SportsCenter tone yet again. My hopes sank; in his third inning of work, de-facto closer Alfredo Simon had given up a 12th-inning run on a walk, throwing error, and single. 10-9 Rays. I didn't get any more texts for a while, so I finally tuned in to 105.7 to find out if the game was still going on. It was, but Koji Uehara was in with a runner on first. For some reason I assumed that Tampa Bay was still batting in the 12th, and that the pitching change had been the reason that things were still going without any further scoring. I switched back to my Arcade Fire CD and waited for the final score to pop up on my phone.

Several more minutes passed with no news, so I turned the game back on in time to hear former Oriole Lance Cormier surrender a four-pitch walk to Cesar Izturis...which is NOT easy to do, as he's topped 30 free passes once in his career and sports a .299 lifetime on-base percentage. Play-by-play man Fred Manfra insisted that the winning run was now on base, and I assumed he was making one of his standard gaffes. Surely Cesar was merely the tying run. But Manfra insisted upon it, and finally mentioned that it was the 13th. Somehow I'd missed the notification of Scott Moore's game-tying sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 12th. Now Felix Pie was up, and he quickly bunted Izturis to second. Given the team's usual futility in hitting with runners on base, as well as my Earl Weaveresque loathing of giving away outs, my hopes were dimming. The fact that Julio Lugo (who had pinch run for Tejada in the ninth) was the next batter wasn't encouraging, either. But in the next breath, the game was over! Lugo served Cormier's first pitch into right field for a walkoff single. After 4:38 of baseball, it took six pitches total to end it all. Orioles 11, Rays 10. Hallelujah.

But this game wasn't just a rarity because the O's actually won (it was their 30th victory of the year; by comparison, the Rays picked up their 30th W two months ago). The back-to-back-to-back homers in the second inning were really something special. The last time the Birds hit three consecutive home runs in an inning was fifteen years ago: September 5, 1995. If the date sounds familiar, it's because that was also the night that Cal Ripken, Jr. played in his 2,130th consecutive game. The victim was Angels starter Brian Anderson, who must have been having flashbacks as he called the game from the visitor's broadcast booth last night. The sluggers that night were Brady Anderson, Mark Smith, and Mr. Jeff "Super" Manto. Takes you back, doesn't it?

Jeff Manto, 1996 Upper Deck #17

This is turning into a week for rookies of an advanced age. Last night, the Orioles turned to a guy who was roughly Plan G for the open spot in their threadbare starting rotation: Chris Waters. Waters was a 2000 draft pick of the Atlanta Braves, a lefty whose career was sidetracked by injuries in 2004. He didn't even sniff Triple-A until 2007, and after a 5-0 start at AA Bowie this season, he had some pretty ugly overall numbers at AAA Norfolk (5.70 ERA). Yet this was the man chosen to start a road game against the team with the best record in the major leagues. It's bizarrely fitting that Waters, who turns 28 in two weeks, would debut with eight innings of one-hit ball, combining with George Sherrill for the Birds' first shutout since April. It was like the perfect storm: Chris turned in the best first start for an Oriole since Bob Milacki in 1988, and only six pitchers in the past 50 years have debuted with an eight-plus inning, one-hit performance.

Today's long-time-coming moment belonged to Lou Montanez, an outfielder recalled in the midst of a Triple Crown campaign at AA Bowie. He's taken Adam Jones' roster spot, a bittersweet development. (Jones broke a bone in his foot and his very fine season may be over.) Montanez, like Waters, was drafted eight years ago and has barely played at AAA, much less the majors. At 26 years old, it's now or never for Lou. Faced with trying to top Waters' first impression, the native of Puerto Rico clubbed a home run in his very first at bat this afternoon. He later singled and scored on a Nick Markakis longball. Montanez is the first position player in O's history to go deep in his first MLB at-bat. (Pitcher Buster Narum managed the feat in May of 1963.) The next Orioles rookie to join the team has one heck of an act to follow!

I followed the game discussion at Camden Chat, and with a minor-league veteran making the start, it's only right that the name of Jeff Manto was mentioned. The former third baseman logged so much time riding buses, the Indians' AAA Buffalo Bisons club actually retired his jersey number (#30). He was a multiple-time minor league MVP, but by the time he fell into a starting role with the 1995 Orioles, he was a 30-year-old with barely 200 big league at-bats to his name. He went on a brief home run tear, including tying a league record with roundtrippers in four consecutive at-bats. That summer, I made my first (and to date, only) trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, and Manto's bat was on display. He ended the year with 17 home runs, more than half of his career total of 31. "Super Manto" came and went in just one year, but nearly fifteen years later, he hasn't been forgotten. I'd love to see Chris Waters and Lou Montanez prove that they're late bloomers, rather than flashes in the pan. They'll have a shot in the coming days and weeks.