Vintage Fridays: Kiko Garcia, 1978 Topps #287

Here's a fun, meaningless tidbit that dawned on me last night: both Chico Garcia and Kiko Garcia played for the Orioles. Vinicio "Chico" Garcia was a star player and manager in his native Mexico, but his only big league experience came with the O's in 1954. The 29-year-old played sparingly at second base for Baltimore, batting .113 (7-for-62) with eight walks, two triples, and five RBI in 39 games. You might be more familiar with Alfonso "Kiko" Garcia, the California-born shortstop who plied his trade in Charm City from 1976 through 1980, batting .232/.278/.317 with nine homers and 78 RBI. His claim to fame was his performance in the 1979 World Series, when he collected eight hits in 20 at-bats for an even .400 average against the Pirates. He drove in six Oriole runs and scored four others, accounting for a sizable chunk of the team's total output of 26 runs.

In a nutshell, that's the story of Chico and Kiko.

Vintage Fridays: Kiko Garcia, 1980 Topps #37

To cap off this slapdash 1980s theme week, here is Kiko Garcia - floppy hair and dirt-stained knees included - making a relay throw in a ballpark that I am reasonably sure is Yankee Stadium. Lookin' good, Kiko.

Tomorrow, I take the Plunge into the Chesapeake Bay. For real this time! I'll report back with pictures and any relevant stories.

Kiko Garcia, 1981 Donruss #514

In 1979, Kiko Garcia committed 27 errors at shortstop and second base for the Orioles. That's the most miscues in one season by an Oriole since 1961, when Ron Hansen booted 31 balls. The team's all-time record is 34, by shortstop Willy Miranda in 1955. I guess that's my way of saying that everyone makes mistakes. I made an error in judgment by waiting until late last night to write a blog post. When I finally got around to it, I discovered that my Internet connection was not functioning properly. Everything is up and running now (obviously), so this is the first of two entries today. I'd like to say that you live and learn, but as you can see, I'm at the keyboard pretty late again tonight. Whoops!