Terry Crowley, 1983 Topps #372

The way the Orioles have been hitting (or not hitting) lately, there are probably a few frazzled fans out there who are pining for the days of hitting coach Terry Crowley. I'm not quite that desperate, just for the record. But I did witness Ryan Flaherty snapping the O's 29-inning scoreless streak with a second-inning three-run homer off of Toronto's Marco Estrada last night...followed by the team failing to score again and dropping a 4-3 decision to the Jays. Now torrential rains have bumped tonight's game to the front half of a single-admission doubleheader tomorrow. Maybe the Birds have saved all of their hits for just such an occasion. And maybe I'll find a few hundred thousand dollars between the couch cushions.

Vintage Fridays: Terry Crowley, 1979 Topps #91

I hope that you had the pleasure of watching Matt Wieters' first-pitch, walkoff grand slam in the bottom of the tenth inning last night. It was the capper on another tight, back-and-forth series with the Rays. It seems like every game between the O's and Tampa Bay is chock full of bizarre happenings, but that's a story for another day. For now, I thought I'd pay a visit to the trusty Baseball Reference Play Index to research the history of walkoff grand slams for the Orioles. There have been seven:

Date	Batter	Opp	Pitcher	Score	Inn	RoB	Out	Pit(cnt)Sequence	RBI	WPA	RE24	LI	Play Description
1970-07-07	Brooks Robinson	NYY	Lindy McDaniel	tied 2-2	b10	123	0		4	0.06	2.17	2.62	*WALK-OFF*:*ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Motton Scores; Robinson Scores; Hendricks Scores/unER
1976-05-22	Ken Singleton	DET	Jim Crawford	tied 4-4	b9	123	2		4	0.35	3.37	6.39	*WALK-OFF*:*ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Blair Scores; May Scores; Harper Scores
1982-08-08	Terry Crowley	KCR	Mike Armstrong	tied 6-6	b9	123	1		4	0.17	2.69	5.64	*WALK-OFF*:*ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Murray Scores/unER; Lowenstein Scores; Ripken Scores
1982-08-24	Joe Nolan	TOR	Joey McLaughlin	tied 3-3	b10	123	2		4	0.34	3.33	6.39	*WALK-OFF*:*ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Rayford Scores; Murray Scores; Ripken Scores
1996-05-17	Chris Hoiles	SEA	Norm Charlton	down 13-10	b9	123	2		4	0.89	3.29	4.00	*WALK-OFF*:*ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Alomar Scores; Bonilla Scores; Ripken Scores
1999-05-04	Harold Baines	CHW	David Lundquist	tied 5-5	b10	123	1	5 (2-2)	4	0.16	2.66	5.40	*WALK-OFF*:*ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball); Bones Scores; Bordick Scores; Anderson Scores
2013-04-18	Matt Wieters	TBR	Brandon Gomes	tied 6-6	b10	123	0	1 (0-0)	4	0.06	2.16	2.51	*WALK-OFF*:*ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep CF-RF); Markakis Scores; Machado Scores; Jones Scores

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/19/2013.

The Birds were in their 17th season in Baltimore when (who else?) Brooks Robinson delivered their first walkoff granny. Like Wieters, the great third baseman hit his with nobody out in the tenth inning. For the cherry on top, it came against those dastardly Yankees, who were in the middle of a swoon that put them comfortably behind the O's. Brooksie's full-count blast to left field gave Mike Cuellar a well-deserved complete-game victory, as the screwballer permitted just seven hits and a walk in ten innings. He outlasted Yankee starter Mel Stottlemyre, who gave up seven hits and two walks (and hit a solo homer of his own!) in seven innings. Lindy McDaniel had stranded an inherited runner at second base in the ninth inning, but was undone in the tenth by a leadoff walk to Boog Powell, followed by a Frank Robinson single and a Gene Michael boot of an Elrod Hendricks grounder.

Six years later, Ken Singleton helped the Orioles avoid extra innings on a Saturday night at Memorial Stadium when his clout off of Jim Crawford struck the left field foul pole. Incredibly, it was the first homer Kenny had hit with runners on base during his O's tenure. He was new to the team in 1975, and swatted 15 solo shots that season. The game-winning grand slam was his second home run of the '76 season, and it undid six-plus innings of shutout relief from Crawford, who replaced Detroit's ineffective starter Joe Coleman in the third inning. The Birds also yanked their starter, Ross Grimsley, in the third, and received solid long relief from Wayne Garland, who allowed the tying run in the sixth inning on a walk, a double, and a fielder's choice but kept the Tigers off the board otherwise to earn the win. A big assist came from Baltimore catcher Dave Duncan, who gunned down the speedy Ron LeFlore on an attempted steal of third base in the top of the ninth to keep the game knotted up.

Strangely enough, the O's hit their next two walkoff slams within two and a half weeks of each other in August 1982. Terry Crowley provided the first of the pair, and did it during your humble narrator's fourth day on this earth. Naturally, Crow's four-run four-bagger was a pinch-hit job in the ninth inning. It was his fourth career slam and his 101st pinch hit, and was the record-tying third pinch-hit slam of the season for the plucky Birds. Royals reliever Mike Armstrong got to a 2-2 count by pitching Terry away, but the wily veteran wasn't fooled when the pitcher came inside, and the result was a game-winner into the right field bleachers. Crowley had pinch-hit for Rick Dempsey, as Earl Weaver out-manuevered KC manager Dick Howser. After Eddie Murray (who reached on an error by shortstop U.L. Washington) and John Lowenstein (reached on a walk) moved to third and second base on an Armstrong balk, Howser ordered Cal Ripken, Jr. to be intentionally walked. Oops. This was a wild game even before the late fireworks; six home runs were hit in all, with Washington and Jerry Martin going long for the Royals and Murray, Lowenstein, and Al Bumbry also doing the honors for Baltimore.

How about another 10-inning complete game victory by an Oriole pitcher to go along with a walkoff granny? That's what the Birds got on August 24, 1982 when Dennis Martinez went the distance on four hits and Joe Nolan went yard to best the Blue Jays. Eddie Murray's three-run homer gave El Presidente a first-inning lead, but the Jays chipped away in the fourth and fifth frames to even the score. It stayed that way until the bottom of the tenth, when Toronto manager Bobby Cox replaced starter Dave Stieb with Joey McLaughlin. Hindsight is 20/20, right? McLaughlin walked the bases loaded, which included another intentional pass to Cal Ripken, Jr. following a John Lowenstein bunt. Jim Dwyer struck out for the second out, but backup catcher Nolan made it all moot with his heroics.

Chris Hoiles' "Ultimate Grand Slam" is the most well-known of these seven slams, and is also the only one hit when the O's were trailing. I wrote about it three years ago, so I'll save myself a little work this time around.

Harold Baines had been the last Baltimore hitter to end a game with a grand slam prior to last night, performing the feat way back in 1999. The O's badly needed that win, as they "improved" to 8-17 in the process. There are plenty of unusual sights in the box score, including an Albert Belle stolen base, Paul Konerko starting at first base for the White Sox (he's still there in 2013!), and the eternal punchline that is Calvin Pickering pinch hitting for Willis Otanez. Oh, did I mention reliever Ricky Bones pinch running for catcher Lenny Webster ahead of Baines' slam? Wait, it gets better. Despite two home runs from Jeff Conine, the Orioles were down 5-3 heading into the home half of the ninth. Chicago skipper Jerry Manuel subbed in Craig Wilson for Greg Norton at third base, and moved Norton to first, removing Konerko from the game. Naturally, Brady Anderson hit the ball to Norton, who muffed it. Rich Amaral was due up as the DH, but manager Ray Miller wisely pinch-hit with the 40-year-old Baines, who blasted Bob Howry's 0-1 pitch to center field for a run-scoring triple! Knowing the decrepit condition of Harold's knees, I can only assume that center fielder McKay Christensen suffered a major heart attack while the ball was in the air. Anyway, the O's were down to their last out after a pair of strikeouts, but Conine tied it with a line single to left field. The decisive tenth inning went walk, walk, bunt, hit-by-pitch (Brady Anderson, naturally), grand slam. Rough loss for Pale Hose rookie reliever David Lundquist, but at least he can see from this list that he wasn't alone.

Terry Crowley, 1983 Fleer #55

Terry Crowley is forever.

In 1966, when the Orioles won their first World Series, they drafted a 19-year-old kid out of Long Island University with their 11th-round pick. It was, of course, "the Crow".

He debuted in 1969, a September callup for the first O's team to lose in the World Series. He went 6-for-18 in 7 games at the end of that season.

A year later, he was a valuable bench bat for the 1970 World Champions, hitting .257 but endearing himself to Earl Weaver by drawing enough walks to post a .394 on-base percentage.

After a two-year exile to Cincinnati, he played seven games for the Braves in 1976 before being released. Three weeks later, he was back in Baltimore, where he stayed through the 1982 season. There was a return to the World Series in 1979, and a near-miss in 1982. At the end of that season, Weaver departed, and so did Crowley, finishing his playing career in 1983 as a Montreal Expo.

In 1985, Terry and Earl were both back in the Oriole dugout, with Crow serving as his former manager's hitting coach. Though Weaver retired for good after the 1986 season, Crowley stayed until 1988.

This time, he didn't resurface in Charm City until 1999, spending much of the interim in Minnesota as Tom Kelly's batting instructor. He reprised the role in Baltimore under Ray Miller, and kept it through the 2010 season, surviving several more managers. Even when he left the post during the past offseason, it was reported that it had been his own choice. Whether or not that was true, he remained in the fold as a minor league instructor.

This week, pitching coach Mark Connor unexpectedly resigned, with bullpen coach Rick Adair assuming his duties. That left an urgent need for an interim bullpen coach, and the Crow got the call. It's not expected to be a long-term solution, but the fact remains that Terry Crowley is spending at least part of a 29th season in an Orioles uniform, and it's his fifth separate stint. 45 years after the Birds kick-started his pro baseball career, he's still here...or here again.

To end on a complete non-sequitir, how about that goofy, gawky kid hovering over Terry's shoulder on this card?

Terry Crowley, 1982 Topps #232

In news that comes as a relief to most Orioles fans (myself included), Terry Crowley's 12-year run as the team's hitting coach has come to an end. The surprising thing is that it was reportedly his decision. Buck Showalter offered him a spot on his staff for the 2011 season, and the Crow initially agreed before reconsidering. He has accepted a new role as "organization-wide offensive evaluator", whatever that means.

It's hard to believe that Crowley maintained his post through a dozen years of losing, outlasting five managers and one interim skipper. Pro sports are known for the impermanence of coaching jobs, especially when on-field results are poor. In this case, the O's ranked in the bottom half of the American League in OPS in 8 of the last 12 seasons, and were in the bottom half in runs scored 11 times. The sole exception was 2004, when they were an underwhelming sixth-best with 842 runs. Even that little bit of mediocrity took career years from Miguel Tejada and Melvin Mora and a strong effort from Javy Lopez...it was an expensive sixth-place finish.

It's hard to figure out just how much of the blame Crow deserves for the Birds' anemic offense through the years. Some of the best hitters he's coached, including Nick Markakis, rave about his tutelage. But isn't it possible that Markakis is a star because he's talented, and not because of the coaching he's received? Besides, his career hasn't progressed the way most expected; his home runs and OPS have dropped since peaking at .897 in 2008. Besides, Nick himself publicly questioned the offensive approach of his teammates last June, saying that it looked like they had no plan. Shouldn't Crowley be held responsible?

Some might say that you couldn't expect a hitting coach to make chicken salad out of chicken crap, and the Geronimo Gils and Deivi Cruzes of the world are more the latter. But the best coaches coax lesser players to perform above their talent level, don't they?

I'm asking questions, and I don't have many answers. I'm sure Terry Crowley is a great guy, and he certainly has his fans in the game of baseball. But I'm perfectly happy to give someone else a chance to go to work with Baltimore's batters.

Terry Crowley, 1981 Fleer #190

Tonight I was going to start a dialogue about Terry Crowley's inexplicably long tenure as Orioles hitting coach, but I've spent all day moving into my new house and I'm quite pleased that I'm finally here and mostly settled. So I'm going to let it ride. You win again, Crow.

Vintage Fridays: Terry Crowley, 1973 Topps #302

Today we see Terry Crowley chugging down the third base line in Yankee Stadium. Standing in his way is All-Star Yanks catcher Thurman Munson, whose life and careeer came to a premature end in 1979, when he crashed while trying to land his personal plane. Munson was 32. But here, in this action shot from 1972, he is in his prime and ready for battle. Though "The Crow" has all the momentum from his charge around the basepaths, there is an uneasy look on his face, as though he's about to hit a brick wall. His right hand is raised in the air; though he could be preparing to strike at Munson in an attempt to jar the ball loose, it's just as likely that his thoughts have turned to self-preservation. After all, the ball has not yet arrived. We see it just inside the frame of the photo, blurred with motion. Terry is close enough to the catcher that he runs a real risk of getting pegged in the head with the hard white spheroid. Adding to the sense of impending violence, this card has a mysterious red stain right between the heads of the two combatants. Sure, it looks more like ink from a bingo marker, but it could very well be blood. Whose blood? Thurman's, or the Crow's? Maybe a little of each?

I'm not sure what the outcome of this play, or even this game, might have been. I've searched the invaluable Baseball-Reference.com and it appears that the only game in Yankee Stadium in 1972 in which Terry Crowley was involved in any plays at the plate was a June 29 contest, which the Yankees won 4-3. The Crow scored twice: once from third base on a Brooks Robinson single to left field, and once from third on a wild pitch with Elrod Hendricks batting. He was also thrown out trying to score from third on a Brooksie grounder to third baseman Celerino Sanchez. By process of elimination, the ball is coming from the field of play, so this wouldn't be the wild pitch play. On the other run, Brooks hit the ball through the infield. I'd like to think that even Terry wasn't slow enough to turn a two-out hit to the outfield into a close play at home (he would have been running on contact with two outs). Sadly, I think he was out on this play, and the O's lost to boot. According to the box score, the attendance was 8,438, which would explain the sparse crowd that serves as the backdrop to this photo.

So buck up, Crow. At least nobody was watching this game.