Terry Kennedy, 1989 Score #123

This is quite a well-composed photo. Your eye is drawn to Terry Kennedy as he shields his eyes from the sun with his glove and peers upward to track the ball. In his right hand he holds his catcher's mask, which will make an excellent emergency catching apparatus if the glove fails.

Of course, TK's face is completely cloaked in shadow, and nobody bothered to crop out the umpire's disembodied arm and hand...come to think of it, this card is pretty cruddy. Well, what can ya do?

Terry Kennedy, 1988 Donruss All-Star Pop-Ups #9

For those of us in the blogosphere who reside in the good ol' U.S.A., tomorrow is President's Day. In honor of our 14th-most-popular holiday, I present to you the Orioles' All-Presidents Team:

C Charles Johnson, Terry Kennedy, Darrell Johnson
UT IF Ron Washington, Bob Johnson
2B Davey Johnson
3B Bobby Adams, Ron Jackson, Bob Kennedy
OF Stanley Jefferson, Lou Jackson, Reggie Jackson, Joe Taylor, Donell Nixon, Dan Ford
DH Joe Carter
P Jesse Jefferson, Grant Jackson, Bob Harrison, Roric Harrison, Dorn Taylor, Connie Johnson, Dave Johnson, David Johnson, Don Johnson, Ernie Johnson, Jason Johnson, Jim Johnson, Mike Johnson, Jim Wilson, Dave Ford

Hmm...could we mold this list into a competitive lineup? Let's see...

C Charles Johnson (.294, 21 HR, 55 RBI in 84 games in 2000)
1B Terry Kennedy (.250, 18 HR, 62 RBI in 1987)
2B Davey Johnson (.282, 18 HR, 72 RBI in 1971)
SS Bob Johnson (.295, 8 HR, 32 RBI, 120 OPS+ in 82 games in 1963)
3B Bob Kennedy (.251, 6 HR, 45 RBI in 106 games in 1954)
LF Stanley Jefferson (.260, 4 HR, 20 RBI in 35 games in 1989)
CF Reggie Jackson (.277, 27 HR, 91 RBI, 28 SB, 155 OPS+ in 1976)
RF Dan Ford (.280, 30 2B, 9 HR, 55 RBI in 103 games in 1983)
DH Joe Carter (.247, 11 HR, 34 RBI in 85 games in 1998)
SP Connie Johnson (14-11, 3.20 ERA, 177 K, 14 CG in 1957)
RP Grant Jackson (8-0, 1.90 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 9 SV in 1973)

Not an overly impressive team there, and that's even with me cherry-picking their best seasons in Baltimore. It took some gymnastics to stick Terry Kennedy (25 career games at 1B, none as an Oriole) and Reggie Jackson (16 games in CF as an Oriole) at their respective positions. Still, I bet these guys were better ballplayers than they'd be heads of state.

Terry Kennedy, 1989 Topps #705

I'll say one thing for Terry Kennedy; he took a good picture. Some of the most memorable cards in my collection feature TK: on his 1987 Topps card, he seems to be shouting at a teammate or opponent from his perch in the dugout; he also has a great 1992 Upper Deck card with a closeup of his eyes framed by his catchers' mask. The card I'm featuring today is right up there with the best of them. It's an uncharacteristically dynamic action shot for the 1989 Topps set, with Terry perched over home plate, mask already flung away, waiting anxiously for the relay throw as the coaches look on from the blurry Oriole dugout. The intense concentration is etched on his face as the unseen base runner barrels down the third base line.

Terry became the first second-generation Orioles player when he arrived from San Diego along with Mark Williamson in the October 1986 trade that sent Storm Davis to the Padres. His father Bob had been a third baseman and outfielder for the O's in their infancy. The younger Kennedy had the unenviable task of replacing an all-time fan favorite in Rick Dempsey. While Terry was named to the All-Star team in 1987, it was more on name recognition than merit; the three-time National League All-Star batted just .250 that year. It would be his last year as a full time player. In 1988, Terry was one of many Birds to have a lousy year, dropping to .226 with just three home runs in 85 games. The following January, he was swapped to the Giants for fellow catcher Bob Melvin, who was a dependable part-timer for the O's for the next three years.

The future is bearing down on Terry Kennedy, but he doesn't flinch. Here comes the throw...