Tom Underwood, 1985 Fleer #194

While making the card blog rounds this morning, I learned some sobering news. Former Orioles (and Phillies, Cardinals, Blue Jays, Yankees, and Athletics) pitcher Tom Underwood died last Monday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 56 years old, the same age as my parents.

Tom was a solid major league pitcher for a decade, though he didn't quite reach the heights than many expected after his first few years with the Phillies. He won 14 games as a rookie in 1975, and followed up with a 10-5 record and a 3.53 ERA for the National League East champs the next year. A low point came in 1978-1979, when he was saddled with a combined 15-30 record for some awful Blue Jays teams despite a solid 3.88 ERA. He split his time between the bullpen and rotation for New York and Oakland over the next few years and fared better, then joined the Orioles as a free agent for the 1984 season. Used almost exclusively in relief, Underwood had one win, no losses, one save, and a 3.52 ERA in 37 games. He wasn't unhittable by any means, allowing a .283 average by opposing hitters and giving up nearly 10 hits per 9 innings. But his ERA was also inflated by a disastrous debut; he coughed up six runs in an inning of work on April 7. Without that meltdown, he would have been at 2.80 for the year. Nonetheless, he was released at season's end. He spent 1985 struggling back in the minors for the Yankees, and then hung up his spikes with a career record of 86-87 and a 3.89 ERA.

Long before I knew who Tom Underwood was, he was in my life. When I was a kid I had a small stack of cards that were probably given to me by a relative or friend of the family. Included were four 1982 Topps cards: three Orioles (Steve Stone, Gary Roenicke, and Al Bumbry) and one Athletics (Tom Underwood). Up until a few years ago, I didn't even realize that he had ended his major league career as an Oriole. That card seemed significant; it was the oldest non-Oriole card that I owned until I was in my mid-twenties. What's more, it was from the year I was born. Without looking at the card, I can see it in my mind: Tom stands before the camera with his arms crossed, a warm and bemused smirk on his face. He always looked like a friendly, approachable guy.

You'll be missed, Tom. It doesn't mean much, but one young boy was happy to have your card in his collection.

Tom Underwood, 1985 Topps #289

A gem of a fact tonight, courtesy of MASN's Jim "Not Catfish" Hunter: Koji Uehara is the second player in Orioles history to have a last name beginning with the letter U. The first was Tom Underwood, who teamed up with his mustache to win exactly one game with the Birds. Tonight, Koji tied him by allowing one run in five innings. Your glorious final: Orioles 7, Yankees 5.

It wasn't easy for the Japanese veteran, who threw 86 pitches and scattered five hits and a walk, but he frustrated the Yankee hitters when he had to, getting several pop-ups and lazy fly balls. Though there were only 22,856 fans at the stadium, the local fans still managed to shout down the visiting invaders, particularly when Mark Teixeira was at bat. He even got booed for cutting off a throw to home plate, which may have been a first in baseball. At one point in the game, play-by-play man Gary Thorne mentioned that 20 million Japanese people were expected to watch Uehara's major league debut, which really hit home. Millions of people from another country, people who wouldn't have known the Orioles from the Royals a few months ago, tuned in and watched them batter a very talented pitcher on a very powerful and internationally renowned team. It happened for the second day in a row. The Orioles announced themselves to Japan in grand fashion. Good stuff.

Tom Underwood, 1984 O-Pee-Chee #293

In case you ever wondered about some of the differences between Topps and O-Pee-Chee back when OPC was simply Topps' Canadian brand, I just happen to have both versions of Tom Underwood's 1984 card. As you can see above, Tom is pictured with the Athletics but labeled as an Oriole on his O-Pee-Chee card. There is also the helpful "Now with Orioles" notation floating on top of his groin. It makes him seem like a snack food that's been repackaged by Madison Avenue. "It's Tom Underwood by Nabisco! Now with Orioles! Mmm, taste that orange and black!"

Taking a gander at the 1984 Topps version of Underwood's card, you'll see essentially the same card, but with the Topps logo, the Athletics coloring and wordmark, and a squeaky-clean text-free groin. Tom was something of a latecomer, signing with the O's in February of 1984. His Topps cards were printed and shipped by then, but it wasn't too late to assign him to the Birds for the North of the Border cards. So I guess there was some tradeoff for those Canadian kids who waited patiently for their brand-new cards.