Vintage Fridays: Merv Rettenmund, 1974 Topps #585

Today is Merv Rettenmund's 71st birthday. Though I've featured a handful of his cards on my blog, I've written next to nothing about Merv himself. Mervin Weldon Rettenmund (there's a mouthful) is one of only three "Merv"s in major league history, and the only one to play in the post-World War II era. A Michigan native, he turned down a contract offer from the Detroit Tigers after high school and attended Ball State University on a football scholarship, breaking the school's single-season rushing record. Though he was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys, baseball was his preferred sport. He hit .321 at Ball State, and also earned a bachelor's degree in education. When the Orioles came calling in 1964, Merv signed on for a $15,000 bonus.

Rettenmund battered minor league pitching for four seasons before making it to Baltimore to stay. In 1968, he was the International League MVP. Competing at AAA for the first time, he hit .331 with an astounding .459 on-base percentage and a .588 slugging mark. He scored 104 runs and had 25 doubles and 22 homers in just 114 games with Rochester. His first major league home run was also the only walkoff blast of his career: a tie-breaking, pinch-hit two-run shot off of Oakland's Warren Bogle on August 27, 1968. The heroic feat came in his eighth career game and the fourth appearance in his second stint with the club that season.

It wasn't easy to crack the O's lineup in those days, so Merv was something of an outfield super-sub, rotating at all three positions and pulling pinch hit duty as needed. He was at his best for the 1970 World Champion Orioles, with a batting line of .322/.394/.544 and 18 home runs in 338 at-bats. Those numbers were boosted by a torrid second half in which he put up a .373/.452/.559 triple-slash. Despite those lofty numbers, he started only twice and had one other appearance as a pinch hitter in the 1970 postseason. Undaunted, the outfielder reached base five times in 11 tries overall and drove in two runs in the Birds' title-clinching 9-3 romp of the Reds in Game Five of the World Series.

In 1971, the Orioles were the class of the American League for a third straight year, and Rettenmund had a big hand in that. Playing in a career-high 141 games, he batted .318, trailing only Tony Oliva and Bobby Murcer for the AL crown. He drew 87 walks to boost his on-base percentage to .422, scored 81 runs and drove in 75, and earned a few down-ballot MVP votes. This time he appeared in all ten of Baltimore's postseason games and started nine of those. Although he batted just .200 (7-for-35) with an uncustomary lack of walks, his three-run homer off of Dock Ellis was the key hit in a 5-3 win in Game One of the Fall Classic.

Merv would never again reach the height of those prime years in Charm City, with injuries and batting struggles marking his final two seasons in orange and black. At age 30 he was traded to the Reds in the deal that brought Ross Grimsley to Baltimore. But the outfielder spent the latter years of his career as a pinch-hit specialist with the Padres and Angels, and in 308 trips to the plate over the 1977-1978 seasons he reached base at a .432 clip. After retiring in 1980, Rettenmund got right into coaching, embarking on a quarter-century of work as a highly-regarded batting instructor. The Oakland A's won the 1989 World Series under his tutelage, and during nine seasons as the Padres' hitting coach he worked with multiple-time batting champ Tony Gwynn. Currently Merv is enjoying a well-deserved retirement.

Vintage Fridays: Merv Rettenmund, 1972 Topps #235

Before I got totally sidetracked and stopped updating my website for a year or more at a time, Orioles' uniform numbers were kind of my thing. But I need some help with this one, folks. As you can see, Merv Rettenmund is posing in his best batting stance among the palm trees in sunny Florida. But I can't say for certain which Oriole is standing behind him near home plate. Mystery Bird is wearing number one, but that number was last worn in the regular season by 29-year-old rookie shortstop Chico Fernandez in 1968. Fernandez had two singles in 18 at-bats and was never heard from again. Al Bumbry would come along later in 1972 and wear #1 until he and the team parted ways in 1984, but there's no way that blurry orange name plate says "Bumbry".

I think it's Chico. Merv debuted with the O's in 1968, and he and Fernandez were both still in the Baltimore organization in 1969, though the latter played just four games at Rochester that year. I would never suggest that Topps was recycling three-to-four-year-old pictures on their cards back in the day, but...okay, that's exactly what I'm saying. I seem to remember hearing that the card company ran up against some resistance from Marvin Miller and the MLB Players' Association in the early days of the union. In the pursuit of better compensation for the use of player images, Miller urged the players not to pose for new photos. This was especially noticeable in the 1969 Topps set, which was chock-a-block with early-to-mid-1960s player shots.

If my guess is right, I'm sure Chico Fernandez would have been thrilled to appear on a baseball card three years after his pro career ended.

Vintage Fridays: Merv Rettenmund, 1973 Topps #56

As of today, full-squad Spring Training officially begins for the Orioles down in Sarasota, Florida. Of course, nearly all of the position players reported early this year. It's almost as if they're more eager to play in 2013 after the excitement of a 93-win season in which they fell two runs short of the American League Championship Series. Funny how that works.

Though it's starting to look like the cost of airfare is obscene enough to keep me away from Ed Smith Stadium this time around, I can still look at cards like this one and think warm thoughts. As is the case with several Topps cards from the 1970s, Merv Rettenmund's 1973 Topps photo shows him taking his practice cuts down south at Spring Training. Since he's wearing his road grays, I'm not sure that the Birds are being photographed at their old base of operations in Miami. But I see a blurry palm tree in the background, and a bunch of black and orange gear scattered in the grass, and both things make me happy in a simple way. Sometimes that's all that it takes.

Merv Rettenmund, 1991 Crown/Coca-Cola All-Time Orioles #377

If my calculations are correct (and they probably are not), the Orioles won the 1,001st game in team history on August 27, 1968. It was a walkoff victory in the bottom of the ninth over the visiting Athletics, and Merv Rettenmund provided the heroics. With one out and the scored tied 3-3, Curt Blefary singled. Elrod Hendricks was announced to pinch hit for Larry Haney, so Oakland manager (and ex-Oriole) Bob Kennedy replaced righthander Jack Aker with lefty Warren Bogle. Never one to shy away from a chess match, Earl Weaver countered with the rookie Rettenmund, who delivered a two-run homer. 5-3, Orioles. It was the first home run of Merv's career, and the only walkoff shot he ever hit.

Why am I writing about the Birds' 1,001st win? Because this, loyal readers, is my 1,001st post on this blog. A few weeks ago, William (who must have almost as much time on his hands as I do) mentioned that I was nearing 1,000 and wondered if I had anything special planned. As I prepared to post yesterday's underwhelming Rick Schu card, I briefly considered checking to see how close I was to that nice round number. Obviously, I failed to do so, but I could easily pretend that I planned it this way. After all, life isn't about wrapping things up in neat little packages and round numbers. It doesn't go according to plan. But I've already shown my hand, so there's no chance for that. I'm glad that I found a neat tidbit to go with #1,001 anyhow.

When I started this blog on New Year's Day 2008, I didn't know if I'd really be able to keep myself on-task and update it every day. If you look at the archives on the sidebar, you'll see that I have kept it going for 2.75 years now, with one or two hiccups. I'm certainly not in danger of running out of different cards to feature, and although some days I don't have the time or inspiration to write much, I am still not tired of rambling on about my life, my hobby, and my favorite team. Of course I wouldn't have poured numerous hours into this pursuit if no one was reading, so I'd like to thank all of you who have shared your own memories, opinions, kind words, or snide remarks in blog comments and emails. I've traded cards with a number of you, and others have given freely from their collections without expecting anything in return. I've even had the opportunity to meet a few of you, and that has been a rewarding experience as well. I wouldn't have imagined it when I creeped back into the hobby in 2007, but the Internet has made card collecting a much more social pursuit for me than it was in my adolescence.

So thanks for following along for the first 1,001. The best should be yet to come - I'm sure you'll want to read my thoughts after the Orioles win the World Series next October...

Vintage Fridays: Merv Rettenmund, 1971 Topps #393

This Day in Orioles History: August 15, 1970

Orioles 7, Athletics 1 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

I didn't realize until I started writing up these game summaries that most of these were away games. Oh well, I guess you're all getting a tour of the American League through the years.

Mike Cuellar went the distance, tossing an artful seven-hit, one-walk effort at a very solid Athletics squad. He struck out six in earning his seventeenth win of the 1970 campaign. The win allowed the Birds to maintain their eight-and-a-half game advantage over Ralph Houk's Yankees.

The lion's share of the Baltimore offense was supplied by Brooks Robinson, Andy Etchebarren, and Merv Rettenmund, who combined for eight of the team's twelve hits. "Etch" had three hits and drove in the first two O's runs, Brooksie homered, double, and scored three times, and Rettenmund hit safely three times, including a game-breaking three-run home run in the ninth.

I chose this game because I had a lot of fun with all of the familiar names in Oakland's half of the box score. The A's fielded three future big league managers that day: right fielder Felipe Alou (who had three of their seven hits), reliever Marcel Lachemann, and a weak-hitting utility player named Tony LaRussa (0-for-1 as a pinch hitter). For fans of Ball Four, there were no less than four ex-Seattle Pilots: Tommy Davis (a future Oriole), Don Mincher, Bob Locker, and losing pitcher Diego Segui (father of another future Bird, David Segui). As the cherry on top, Rettenmund's three-run blast was hit off of old Jim Bouton nemesis Dooley Womack. Dooley Womack!