Vintage Fridays: Moe Drabowsky, 1968 Topps #242

Earlier this week, the Orioles became the fourth team to acquire Russ Canzler this offseason. The 26-year-old first baseman/corner outfielder has only 29 games of big-league experience, all coming with the Rays and Indians over the past two seasons. Though he's too old for prospect status, Russ is an attractive option for AAA depth. In 2011, he batted .314/.401/.530 with Tampa Bay's top farm club in Durham. But that "AAA depth" label seems to have cursed Canzler to become the ultimate fungible roster piece, a journeyman's journeyman.

On December 18, 2012, the Indians designated him for assignment to clear a 40-man roster spot for our old pal Mark Reynolds. Three days later, the Blue Jays claimed Russ on waivers with the intention of stashing him in the minors. However, he needed to clear waivers first; Cleveland grabbed him back on January 2 of this year. Just two days later, the Tribe tried to pass Canzler through waivers when they signed Brett Myers, and this time the Yankees snatched him. He lasted nearly a full month on New York's 40-man before his ex-Indians teammate Travis Hafner signed with the Yanks, so Russ hit the waiver wire again last Friday. That brought him to the O's 40-man roster...for the time being. I'll be pulling for Russ Canzler, wherever he lands.

Like Russ Canzler, Moe Drabowsky got his start in the Cubs organization. Unlike Russ, Moe was a major leaguer from age 20 onward. But he did his share of moving in his own right, pitching for eight different teams in a 17-year career. After an initial five-year stint in Wrigley, the Polish native stopped briefly in Milwaukee and Cincinnati before a three-plus year engagement with the Kansas City Athletics. Then there was a greatly successful three-season tenure in Baltimore's bullpen (1966-1968), after which Moe was claimed in the expansion draft by the Royals. That gave him the rare and dubious distinction of pitching for both of K.C.'s big league teams. The Birds reacquired the righty in the summer of 1970, but before the champagne had been sopped up from the team's second World Series title, he was dealt once more, this time to St. Louis. Finally, in 1972, Moe finished his career in a White Sox uniform following an early August release from his Cardinals contract. I'm always fascinated by the various twists and turns a player's career can take, even when he's one of the very best at what he does.

Vintage Fridays: Moe Drabowsky, 1967 Topps #151

I hope you'll forgive me for simply passing along a link on a Friday night, but I don't want to take a chance on an excellent blog post slipping through the cracks. I already knew (and had mentioned here) that Patricia and Lucy from Dinged Corners had become big fans of the dearly departed Moe Drabowsky. However, I was stunned and pleased to come across an interview that they published on Tuesday. The bloggingest card collecting mother-daughter duo in all of New Mexico had been in contact with Laura Nevell and Beth Drabowsky Morris. Laura and Beth are Moe's daughters, and they were kind enough to share their memories of the mischievous righty. It's a great chance to get a private glimpse of a loving father, an entertaining teammate, a patient coach, a gracious ambassador, and a pretty skilled pitcher.

But enough of my blather. Go read the interview here.

Vintage Fridays: Moe Drabowsky, 1966 Topps #291

Speaking of notable Orioles from yesteryear that I have yet to feature on this blog, we have one of the favorites of the gals over at Dinged Corners. Undoubtedly you've heard some of the choicest stories about reliever Moe Drabowsky's legendary pranks, but there may be a few you've missed. There are some amusing recollections in John Eisenberg's team history From 33rd Street to Camden Yards, but I want to keep this somewhat brief, so I'll share some of them now and save the rest for later. It also goes without saying that you absolutely should track down a copy of this book; you won't be sorry. Without further ado:

DICK HALL (on the topic of the hot foot): "...After a while we said, 'Hey, no more players'. The poor sportswriters really paid for that. Guys would set 'em up, giving real serious, earnest answers while Moe was creeping up behind them with a match. By the time you felt it, it was too late."

BILLY HUNTER: "Moe would do things that other people would get punched in the nose for, and he'd get away with them."

BOOG POWELL: "Obviously, Moe's parents never let him have toys when he was little, so he had a lot of catching up to do. He sat around and dreamed up things. He'd tie string to dollar bills and leave them on the floor in the airport, then yank them away when people reached down to pick the bill up. He was basically insane."

STEVE BARBER: "Moe was fine when he was sober. When he started drinking, he did some crazy stuff. We had an off-day in spring training and Charlie Lau and I were going out on this big boat out in the water. Took a runabout out there. We were just getting on, and another runabout comes pulling up, and there's Moe standing bare-assed on the thing shooting at us with a target pistol. Once we got to land we spent an hour trying to get the gun away from him. I have no idea what that was about."