Johnny Oates, 1991 Crown/Coca-Cola All-Time Orioles #340

Today would have been Johnny Oates' 69th birthday. It's hard to believe that he's been gone for ten years, his life cut short by brain cancer. Just a few weeks ago, I visited Oates' birthplace of Sylva, a quiet town in the mountains of western North Carolina. I didn't make the connection at the time; my wife and I were visiting her favorite haunts from her undergrad days at Western Carolina University. But it was a fine place, fitting for such a beloved man. I hope he's in an even better place now.

Johnny Oates, 1993 Topps #501

Today Buck Showalter was officially introduced as the 17th manager in Orioles history. While I think his no-nonsense approach and predilection toward younger players is exactly what the team needs, none of us has any way of knowing whether this will work out. The team could be a winner in 2011, or 2012, or 2013…or God forbid, they could just keep losing. But before Buck has even managed his first game in the home dugout at Camden Yards, he has made one gesture that should endear him to Baltimore fans.

Throughout his managerial career, Showalter has worn uniform number 11. Coincidentally, that’s the same number that had been worn by former third base coach and interim manager Juan Samuel, the man Buck is replacing. Perhaps knowing that Samuel was popular in the O’s clubhouse, or maybe just looking for a fresh start, the new skipper decided that he’d like to wear #26. That was the number worn by Johnny Oates during his managerial stints in Baltimore and Texas; after a brain tumor cut his life tragically short in 2004, the Rangers retired the number in his honor. Oates managed Showalter during the latter’s time as a minor leaguer in the Yankees organization in the early 1980s, and the pair became good friends. Even though they managed competing teams in the American League East in the early 1990s, they didn’t let the rivalry affect their personal relationship. While it was classy and understandable for Buck to request his fallen friend’s jersey number with the Orioles, he took the gesture a step further by first calling Johnny’s widow Gloria to ask her permission to do so. After getting an enthusiastic response from the rest of the Oates family, she called Showalter back and gave him the approval he sought.

Good move, Buck. May it be the first of many you make in this town.

Johnny Oates, 1991 Topps Traded #85T

It’s not often that you get Hall of Fame news in late March…unless it’s the Orioles Hall of Fame. The 2010 inductees have a decidedly Uniformed Personnel theme, as former pitching coach and manager Ray Miller and one-time first base coach and manager Johnny Oates will receive the honors this summer. (Sure, Johnny began his playing career as a reserve catcher with the O’s in the early 1970s, but a .262 average with four home runs in 90 games doesn’t get you many votes.)

I think both men are fine additions to the orange and black shrine, especially given the lack of standout players left to be recognized; this year’s eligibles included Roberto Alomar (only an Oriole for three years), Mike Bordick (I guess it depends on how much you value defense), Jesse Orosco (probably a better candidate for the Guinness Book of World Records), and Rafael Palmeiro (the wounds are too fresh).

Of course Miller (a.k.a. “Rabbit”) was a native of Suitland, MD who never made it to the major leagues but still had a considerable impact on several pitching staffs. He finished his active career as a player-coach at AAA Rochester, where manager Joe Altobelli convinced him to wear both hats for a mere $1,000 raise. Soon the Baltimore organization hired him as a full-time coach, and within four years he was finally in the big leagues, where his pupils enjoyed measurable success. From 1978-1984, Miller coached five twenty-game winners (Jim Palmer, Mike Flanagan, Scott McGregor, Steve Stone, and Mike Boddicker) and two Cy Young recipients (Flanagan and Stone). The O's also went to two World Series in that span, winning it all in 1983. He had a brief stint managing the Twins before spending a decade tutoring the Pirates pitching staff (including their three straight N.L. East-winning clubs from 1990-1992). He returned to Charm City as pitching coach for the 1997 A.L. East champion Orioles, but proved to be in the right place at the wrong time when Davey Johnson "resigned" that offseason. Miller seemed frustrated and overmatched as the skipper of some aging, underachieving O's clubs in 1998-1999. He returned for a third go-round as pitching coach in 2004-2005. The talent he had to work with paled in comparison to his previous tenures and he quickly retired for health reasons, but he did pull a rabbit out of his hat (pun intended? Perhaps) with Bruce Chen (13-10, 3.83 ERA in 2005).

As for Oates, I sincerely believe that Baltimore fans and management didn't know what they had with him until he was gone. Peter Angelos (who had inherited Johnny from the previous ownership) booted his skipper after only three-plus seasons, despite the fact that he had won 54% of his games in his three full seasons at the helm. When the players' strike brought the 1994 campaign to a halt, the Birds trailed Cleveland by only two and a half games in the wild card race. Oates had a reputation as one of the nicest men you would ever meet, and had a dry sense of humor to boot. In 1991, then-Royals outfielder Danny Tartabull hit .523 (23 for 44) with five home runs against the O's. As the Orioles prepared to host K.C. for one particular series that year, the manager was asked about his strategy for facing Tartabull:

“I’m going to find out what his room number is and call the hotel and say, ‘Cancel my wakeup call’. Then I’m going to call the cab companies and tell them not to have any taxis in front of the hotel; we’ll make him walk to the ball park. Then I’ll tell security not to let him in without an ID. Then I’ll tell Freddy (Tyler, the clubhouse man) to burn his uniform, and if he still makes it, I’ll walk him.”

After the O's and Johnny parted ways, he was hired in about a minute by the Rangers. In his six full seasons in Texas, he led the club to their only three playoff appearances...but won just a single postseason game in three division series against the Yankees. Unfortunately he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor shortly after resigning from his post in 2001. Somewhat remarkably, he survived for three years when the prognosis only gave him twelve months. In that time, he was able to attend his daughter's wedding, his grandchild's birth, and his induction into the Rangers Hall of Fame. He was only 58 when he did succumb to the illness on Christmas Eve, 2004. But while he won't be on hand to be honored by the team that drafted him and gave him his first big league coaching and managing jobs, he'll certainly be there in spirit.

Johnny Oates, 1992 Topps #579

I selected Johnny Oates today because he was the manager of the Orioles on Thursday, June 2, 1994. Of all of the games I've attended over the past fifteen years, that day's game has proven one of the most memorable. Among other things, it was the only game I've ever attended with my mother - just the two of us. Even better, she pulled me out of school to go to the game, which started at 12:35 in the afternoon. I was in sixth grade at the time, and for reasons I did not fully understand at the time (and certainly don't understand or even remember now) our teacher failed to plan a field trip for the class at any time that year. With the school year winding to a close, Mom took it upon herself to provide me with a field trip of my own. This was obviously superior to a regular field trip; I was spared from a day of school when no one else was, and there was no threat of an educational experience! The tickets were a gift from one of her coworkers who couldn't use them that day. I recall a quick stop at the McDonald's around the corner from my school for lunch, and then we were off to Oriole Park at Camden Yards. This would have been only my second game at the still-new ballpark, and my first game of the 1994 season.

At the time, the O's sat in third place with a respectable 27-22 record, six games back of the front-running Yankees. It was one of several competitive Baltimore teams in the early-to-mid Nineties, anchored on offense by Rafael Palmeiro, Cal Ripken, Jr., Brady Anderson, and Harold Baines. The starting rotation was topped by Mike Mussina and Ben McDonald, who was having a breakthrough year; at the end of games, veteran Lee Smith would saunter in from the bullpen to close out wins. There's no telling how good that team would have been over a full season; they were 63-49 on August 12, when a players' strike halted (and ultimately cancelled) the rest of that year's action. They stood frozen, six and a half games behind the Yankees in second place and just two and a half games behind the Indians for the first-ever Wild Card berth.

As time ran out on the 1994 season, so too did it run out on Johnny Oates. The former O's catcher, who had guided the team to three straight winning seasons and no worse than third place in each full season since taking the reins, was fired by an impatient Peter Angelos, who had spent a lot of money to bring several star players (Palmeiro, Smith, Sid Fernandez, and Chris Sabo) to town and expected greater results. Oates, known as one of the kindest and gentlest men in the game, landed on his feet. He was quickly hired by the Texas Rangers, and helmed them during the greatest period of success in team history. In 1996, his second year in Texas, the team won 90 games and captured their first division title. For his efforts, Johnny was named Manager of the Year in the AL. The Rangers would win three AL West crowns in four years, but they ran into the Yankees each time, winning just one playoff game in all that time. Oates resigned after a last-place finish in 2000 and a slow start in 2001. Just three years later, at age 58, he died from a brain tumor. Texas retired his number 26; legendary pitcher Nolan Ryan (#34) is the only other Ranger to receive this honor.

To be continued tomorrow.