Vintage Fridays: Tom Phoebus, 1970 Topps #717

I've got a bit of show and tell for you today. My parents recently found a nifty piece of memorabilia at home, commemmorating the 1970 World Champion Baltimore Orioles (click to embiggen):

As you can see, this plastic ruler has been well-used, but it's still hanging in there after 43 years. The front side of the ruler features manager Earl Weaver and the Orioles' starting position players, as well as their top three starting pitchers. The back features the coaching staff, reserve position players, and the rest of the pitchers. Unfortunately, Andy Etchebarren, Dick Hall, and Tommy Phoebus got the brunt of the wear and tear, but you can still faintly see their likenesses.

So now I'm curious: what's the most unusual item in your Orioles collection? Reply in the comments if you like.

Vintage Fridays: Tom Phoebus, 1969 Topps #185

On April 27, 1968 - exactly 44 years ago today - Baltimore native Tom Phoebus tossed the third no-hitter in team history, cruising to a 6-0 win over the Boston Red Sox in front of a paltry Saturday afternoon crowd of 3,147 at Memorial Stadium. There was an 83-minute rain delay, which might help explain the low turnout. The 26 year-old righty walked a pair of BoSox batters and threw a wild pitch in a shaky first inning, but catcher Curt Blefary (making only his fourth start behind the plate after beginning his career as a first baseman/outfielder) gunned down Joe Foy on an attempted steal of third base to wipe out Boston's first and last runner in scoring position. Starting with an inning-ending groundout by Reggie Smith, Phoebus put down 13 Boston hitters in a row before a sixth-inning walk by Gene Oliver gave the visitors their only other baserunner on the day.

The O's gave Tom a little wiggle room with a four-run third inning. The pitcher actually sparked the rally himself with a one-out single off of his opposite, Boston starter Gary Waslewski. Paul Blair also singled, and a two-out grounder by Blefary was booted by Sox first baseman George Scott, loading the bases and keeping the inning alive for Brooks Robinson, who cleared the sacks with a double to right field. A wild pitch moved Brooks over to third, at which point Boog Powell was intentionally walked to bring up Davey Johnson. Davey singled to knock in Robinson and make it 4-0.

The Orioles added single runs in the fifth on another Johnson hit and the eighth on Phoebus' second single. Davey scored on the latter after doubling for his team-high third hit of the game, as he and his pitcher were the only Birds with multi-hit games that day. Tom picked up momentum as he got deeper into the game, shrugging off the leadoff walk of Oliver in the sixth inning to mow down the final 12 Red Sox to come to bat. The biggest threat to the feat was a one-out sinking line drive hit by Rico Petrocelli in the eighth inning. Naturally, Brooks Robinson lunged to his right and plucked it off of his shoetops. Phoebus sealed his no-hit gem by striking out Foy for the final out, giving him his ninth whiff against three walks. The pitcher's final Game Score was 93, matching Hoyt Wilhelm's 1958 blanking of the Yankees (8 K/2 BB) for the highest mark by an Oriole in a no-hitter.

Tom, who grew up playing stickball in the Hampden neighborhood, now lives in Palm City, FL. He is a retired physical education teacher who enjoys golfing.

Vintage Fridays: Tom Phoebus, 1968 Topps #97

On April 27, 1968, Baltimore native Tom Phoebus no-hit the Red Sox, picking up a 6-0 win in front of just 3,147 hometown fans. Since very few O's fans saw this historical game as it unfolded, it would be a nice treat if it were to show up on MASN's Orioles Classics series. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem likely.

The local sports cable channel has the potential for something both simple and great with Orioles Classics: just take tapes of memorable O's games of yesteryear and rebroadcast them, complete with a little pre-and-post-game exposition from Tom Davis and a former player. Nostalgia is always in fashion, especially with bedraggled Birds fans who don't have much to enjoy in the present. These games should pull higher ratings than the ESPNews simulcasts that eat up chunks of MASN airtime each day. Now that there are two MASN stations to account for simultaneously occurring O's and Nationals games, there's plenty of room for a little trip down memory lane.

But I feel like I've seen all of the games that Orioles Classics has to offer. If you watch much MASN, you can recite them along with me: various games from the 1966, 1970, and 1983 World Series and the 1996 and 1997 ALDS, the first home win in 1988, the 1991 farewell to Memorial Stadium, the 1992 opener at Camden Yards, Eddie Murray's 500th home run game in 1996, and Cal Ripken, Jr.'s 2,130 and 2,131 games and his 2001 farewell. I also seem to recall spotting the 1998 game that ended his streak, and a wild walkoff win against the Angels in 1989. So that's probably a dozen to sixteen games to represent more than 56 years of baseball history. What gives?

It doesn't seem likely that there would be a broadcast rights issue, since the Orioles have an ownership stake in MASN...that's a pretty big trump card. Besides, they still partner with WJZ-13 to televise a handful of games each year, so they should have access to several years worth of game footage in that case. I guess you never know.

Anyway, as long as I'm spitballing, here a few other games I would like to see on Orioles Classics: the birth of "Oriole Magic", featuring Doug DeCinces' walkoff homer against Detroit; the Tippy Martinez three-pickoff inning against Toronto in 1983; Chris Hoiles' Ultimate Grand Slam in 1998; the "Birdland Day" ten-run comeback against Boston last year...I could go on for quite a while. What's your wish list for Orioles Classics?

Vintage Fridays: Bird Hill Aces, 1969 Topps #532

Time to take a quick breather from Wietersmania to focus on a subject recently approached by the delightful Dinged Corners: multi-player combo cards. When I received this card a year or so ago, I thought it was pretty nifty, but curious. When you think of great O's rotations from the glory years, it seems inexcusable to exclude Jim Palmer. But he had just missed most of 1967 and all of 1968 with arm woes, so Topps can be forgiven for not guessing that he'd come back to win 245 more games in the ensuing sixteen seasons. But what about the guys who made the cut? Sure, Tommy Phoebus was a local kid, and he even no-hit the Red Sox in 1968, but was he really an "ace"? Then there's Jim Hardin, who I couldn't tell you anything about without first checking an encyclopedia. Then again, I could just read the text on the back of the card, which goes a long way toward explaining why this particular quartet were featured.

Dave McNally, of course, was the veteran of the group. 1969 would be his eighth season with the Orioles, and after gaining national attention with his World Series-clinching shutout in 1966, he fully realized his potential in 1968 with 22 wins (trailing only Denny McLain's 31), 10 losses, and a 1.95 ERA (third-best in the Year of the Pitcher). He led the American League with a 0.84 WHIP(!) and was still only 26. He would run off three more consecutive 20-win seasons, including a league-best 24 in 1970 and a 21-5 record in 1971, the year that the Birds boasted four 20-game winners. Ace? Yes.

Mike Cuellar had just arrived in Baltimore via an offseason trade with Houston. In what amounted to Cuellar-for-Curt Blefary, the O's got away with murder. The Cuban screwballer had amassed a ho-hum 36-32 record in three full seasons in the Astros rotation, but his peripherals were good and a great supporting cast in Charm City made all the difference. Mike went 23-11 with a 2.38 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in his first Oriole season, and (just like McNally) posted four 20-win seasons in orange and black, three of them consecutive. His 24 victories in 1970 tied McNally for the league lead, and he twice topped the Junior Circuit in winning percentage. In each of his first seven seasons with the club, he completed at least 17 of his starts, including an A.L.-best 21 in 1970. Ace? You bet.

Hindsight is 20/20, but at the time this card was printed, Tom Phoebus looked like another great Oriole pitching find. The unibrowed hometown boy had gone 14-9 as a rookie in 1967, and followed up with a 15-15 mark in his sophomore season. His 2.87 ERA was none too shabby, and of course there was the April 27 no-no against Boston. Nine strikeouts, three walks? Yes, please. 1969 was more of the same, a 14-7 record and a 3.52 ERA that was higher, but still better than average. Curiously, he earned only ten decisions in 21 starts in 1970 (5-5), but boasted a 3.07 ERA and a relief win in the World Series that fall. The Birds struck gold by trading Tom that offseason for Padres pitcher Pat Dobson, the missing link of the four 20-game winners in 1971. Phoebus lasted just two years in the National League, winning another half-dozen games. Ace? It didn't turn out that way, but apparently life is still good for Tom.

Righty Jim Hardin was the youngest of this foursome, and he too seemed to be on the rise. After going 8-3 with a 2.27 ERA in half a season in 1967, the slim Tennesseean racked up 18 wins against 13 losses with a 2.51 ERA the next year. He seemed durable, going the distance in 16 of 35 starts. But after being slotted into a swingman role, Jim was less effective in 1969-1970 (12-12, 3.57). On the plus side, he did hit a walkoff home run against former Oriole Moe Drabowsky in 1969! As with Phoebus, Hardin was traded in 1971 and out of the majors within two seasons. Ace? Nope, but it's not he was no slouch for a few years there.

So all four of these guys may not have won 20 games year after year, but two of them did, which isn't a bad success rate in baseball. This card certainly isn't cringe-worthy like this 1993 Upper Deck Cardinals team card spotlighting Geronimo Pena and Bernard Gilkey. Yikes.