Wednesday, March 10, 2010

#572 Baltimore Orioles Team

#572 Baltimore Orioles Team
Here they are, on full display: the oh-so-rare Orioles jerseys with block lettering! Baltimore wore these home uniforms for just one year -1964- before returning to their customary script lettering. Personally, I prefer the script to the somewhat austere-looking block. Your mileage may vary.

For much of 1964, the young and hungry Orioles had their way with the American League. After finishing within eight games of first place only once in their previous ten seasons in Charm City, Hank Bauer's boys spent 111 days in first place. The team ran out of steam in the end, being edged out by the Yankees by a 2.5 game margin. To add insult to injury, the White Sox slipped past them into second place, finishing a mere half a game ahead of the O's. Still, a new franchise record of 97 wins is nothing to sneeze at; neither is a healthy runs scored vs. runs allowed ratio of 679-567. Baltimore ranked fourth in the ten-team American League in attendance with 1,116,215 rooters passing through Memorial Stadium that year.

The O's didn't do a whole lot with the bats, ranking in the middle of the pack in most offensive categories, including sixth in runs. However, they were second in doubles with 229 and in steals with 78 (though 57 of those swipes came from All-Star shortstop Luis Aparicio). There were some individual standout performances, mostly notably AL MVP and All-Star starting third baseman Brooks Robinson. "Hoover" led the O's with a .317 average, 35 doubles, and an AL-best 118 RBI, and stroked 28 homers to boot. He and Aparicio also took home Gold Gloves. 22-year-old outfielder Boog Powell made his presence known by leading the league in slugging at .606. He also hit a team-best 39 homers, and batted .290 with a .399 on-base percentage and 99 RBI. Right fielder Sam Bowens set a new team record for rookies with his 22 round-trippers, and first baseman Norm Siebern joined Aparicio and Brooks on the All-Star team (.379 OBP, 24 doubles).

The pitching staff was an intriguing mix of savvy veterans and emerging youngsters, and they tossed up a cumulative 3.16 ERA that ranked fourth in the loop. Future Hall of Famer Robin Roberts was (at age 37) a full decade or more older than every other starting pitcher in the regular rotation. His 13-7 record and 2.91 ERA were strong, but qualified him for the third slot among O's starters. Righthander Milt Pappas had one of the best years of his career, going 16-9 with a 2.91 ERA and seven shutouts. But the real story was 19-year-old rookie Wally Bunker, who topped the team with a 19-5 record and a 2.69 ERA and 1.04 WHIP. He also completed a dozen games. Meanwhile, a trio of greybeards (Stu Miller, Harvey Haddix, and Dick Hall) shortened games in relief, led by Miller’s 23 saves and Hall’s ridiculous stat line of 9-1, 1.85 ERA, 0.84 WHIP. Overall the three were 21-13 with 40 saves, a 2.43 ERA, and a 1.01 WHIP. Not bad for a bunch with an average age of 35 and a half! NOTE: Hall does not have a card in the 1964-1966 Topps sets. I've heard that he had an exclusive contract with Fleer during that time, but I could be mistaken.

The future for the Orioles turned out to be as bright as their 1964 near-miss suggested. After another painful third-place finish in 1965, Baltimore picked up slugger Frank Robinson in a trade that proved to be a catalyst. The Birds won their first World Series in Robby’s debut season with his new team, and would go on to make four appearances in the Fall Classic during his six years with them (winning again in 1970 and losing in 1969 and 1971). They remained one of the top teams in the American League for another decade after Robinson’s departure, and in 2010 they will return to their rightful place among baseball’s elite.

(Just making sure that you’re still paying attention.)
#572 Baltimore Orioles Team (back)

7 comments:

  1. The 65 Topps set is the best and I totally enjoy all your postings. Having collected this set when I was 9 as a devoted Orioles fan, I can tell you they wore the block letter jerseys in 63 and 65 along with 64. They wore a 'B' on the home hat in 63 only. I think the reason they wore these dull jerseys for only three years was that they were pretty weak. In 66, the team broke loose at the end of spring training bagging the old jerseys on opening day and changing to script, with names on the back and the cartoon Oriole on the hat---and with Frank---won it all!!Just like they will this year!?

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  2. Anon - As a fellow Orioles diehard, I am embarrassed to admit that you're right - they wore the block lettering from 1963-1965. That's what I get for writing this on the quick and forgetting to fact-check before posting. Thanks!

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  3. Bunker was 6-0 against KC. Six wins against one team in one season is pretty hard to accomplish. The O's played each team 18 times and likely had a 4 man rotation - maybe 5 at times. Even getting sis starts against one team is unusual. Pretty amazing.

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  4. What an insane year Bunker had! Too bad he flamed out a few short years later.

    Orioles pitchers

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  5. Speaking of O's uniforms, I have an yearbook from the late '60s that shows Frank Robinson in the outfield wearing a sleeveless O's uniform with black long-sleeve shirt underneath. It's definitely an O's uniform. Wondering if they experimented with this during spring training and dropped the idea.

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  6. They wore the sleeveless uniforms only a few times during the regular season---sometime in the 69-70 range.

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  7. JA - Bunker won the games he should have, you can say that! Barber went 4-1 against the Yankees, which warms my Bronx-hatin' heart.

    Jim - Is it better to burn out than to fade away? Steve Stone willingly wrecked his arm throwing curveballs in 1980 and got a 25-win season out of it. He said later that one 25-win year was worth five 15-win seasons.

    Doug - The O's wore that one in-season, but as Anonymous said, not very often.

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