Vintage Fridays: Mike Adamson and Roger Freed, 1971 Topps #362

Rookies? Yes. Stars? Not so much. Mike Adamson had the rare honor of being drafted in the first round twice: 18th overall by the Phillies in 1965 out of high school, and first overall by the Orioles in the secondary phase of the 1967 draft after a stopover at USC. Within a month of the draft, he debuted in Baltimore, but got battered in three appearances and was sent to Rochester. That was the pattern again in 1968 and 1969 - success at AAA, and rough sledding in brief stints in the majors. After posting a 4.36 ERA and 1.44 WHIP while splitting 1970 between starting and relieving duties with the Red Wings, he really backslid in 1971, allowing 102 hits in 74 innings in stops at Rochester, AA Dallas-Fort Worth, and Milwaukee's AAA Evansville club. Having put up a 7.91 ERA that season, Adamson walked away from pro baseball at age 24.

Roger Freed's stock was high entering the 1971 season. As part of a loaded Rochester squad that included Don Baylor and Bobby Grich, Freed was the 1970 Player of the Year for the International League. He earned those honors with a .334/.427/.561 triple slash, 24 home runs, and a league-best 130 RBI. The O's rewarded Freed with a September callup, and he saw action in four games, collecting two hits and three walks in 17 trips to the plate. Those would be his only four games as an Oriole, with his path to the majors blocked by Frank Robinson, Don Buford, Paul Blair, Merv Rettenmund, and Baylor. That December, the Birds dealt him to the Phillies for Grant Jackson and a pair of reserve outfielders. Freed scuffled in two seasons in Philadelphia, batting .222/.321/.335 with a dozen homers and 55 RBI in 191 games. He spent the rest of his career as a journeyman, passing through the Indians, Reds, Expos, and Cardinals organizations, and even spending 1975 in Monterrey, Mexico. He briefly found a role in St. Louis as a pinch hitter and backup first baseman to Keith Hernandez. In 95 plate appearances in 1977, he batted .398/.463/.627, and was 9-for-23 off the bench. Roger's overall performance in 1978 was less impressive (.239/.297/.370 in 101 PA), but he excelled again in a pinch (11-for-29 as a PH). Freed passed away in 1996 at age 49 due to a heart condition.

Mike Adamson, 1991 Crown/Coca-Cola All-Time Orioles #5

I've spent most of a fairly leisurely Saturday watching and thinking about football. It's the opening weekend of the playoffs, after all. As such, I didn't give much thought to today's post. So follow the stream of consciousness that led to this card and this player:

-The Jets defeated the Bengals, 24-14. Much was made of the matchup between quarterbacks Mark Sanchez of New York and Carson Palmer of Cincinnati, both of whom attended the University of Southern California.

-I wandered over to baseball-reference.com to find a list of major leaguers who were once USC Trojans.

-There have been 100 Southern Cal alumni in MLB to date. The most notable are Tom Seaver, Mark McGwire, Randy Johnson, Fred Lynn, Barry Zito, Dave Kingman, Bret Boone, and Don Buford.

-Despite the significant number of former USC players, only one has ever pitched for the Orioles: Mike Adamson. He was their first-round draft pick in 1967, debuted with the Birds days later at age 19, and went 0-4 with a 7.46 ERA in 11 games over three seasons. He was the first player to ever go straight to the majors from the draft, for all of the good it did him.