Brooks Robinson and the Baltimore Orioles

[Mark70Z]

Originally Posted by roarfrom34

OTD in 1998, approximately 10 minutes before game time, Cal Ripken Jr. entered manager Ray Miller's office to inform him that he would not be playing that evening and thus the game streak that first started over 16 years earlier would come to an end at 2,632.

Here is an original game lineup sheet that was passed out to members of the media in the Press Box earlier in the evening showing Cal Jr. batting 6th and playing third:

That's a very neat item!

[Mark70Z]

Day 265 (September 21, 2020 – 265)

Feels like a snapshot photo type of day. The first snapshot is of Brooks and Connie Robinson along with Lee McPhail, the Orioles President and General Manager. The snapshot was on October 22, 1965 and was at some type of dinner event.

Day 265 a Snapshot 1965 Connie MacPhail October 22.jpg

Next up is a snapshot of Brooks from 1974 taken at Metropolitan Stadium.

Day 265 b Snapshot 1974 Metropolitan Stadium.jpg

The last snapshot today is a bit odd taken in the Orioles locker room. It pictures Brooks, Jerry Adair and a young David Pinsky. All look a little uncomfortable to me…

Day 265 c Snapshot Brooks Jerry Adair and David Pinsky.jpg

[roarfrom34]

Ball signed/dated by Floyd Rayford who was the last player to play third before Cal's streak started , Cal Jr. with the dates of his streak & Ryan Minor who replaced Cal:

[BaltOrioles]

For the past 14 seasons, the structure of the Orioles minor league affiliates has remained intact, with the exception of the Orioles dropping their Bluefield affiliate after the 2010 season. The Delmarva Shorebirds have been the Orioles low level class A affiliate since 1997.

However, in the early 1990's the Orioles A affiliates hopped around for a few years until landing in Delmarva. Teams included the Wausua Timbers (1990), Kane County Cougars (1991-1992), Albany Polecats (1993-1994) and High Desert Mavericks (1995-1996).

Today, I'm taking a look at the 1992 Kane County Cougars. The Cougars were located in Geneva, Illinois and played in the Midwest League. The Cougars finished 61-76. Not a lot of future Orioles talent on the team, but did include Rick Krivda, Curtis Goodwin, Scott Klingenbeck and Jimmy Haynes.

Krivda, Rick 2.jpg Goodwin, Curtis 1.jpg Klingenbeck, Scott 1.jpg Haynes, Jimmy 1.jpg


1992 Kane County Cougars team photo

1992 Kane County Cougars Photo.jpg


1992 Program

1992 Kane County Cougars.jpg


1992 Scorecard

1992 Kane County Cougars (Scorecard).jpg

[Mark70Z]

Day 266 (September 22, 2020 - 266)

Once again we see the Norman Rockwell, “Gee, Thanks Brooks” on a Rawlings Sporting Goods Company cover. The 1972 Rawlings Spring and Summer Institutional catalog with all the Rawlings sporting goods listed inside. They even have the start of the new colored gloves; featuring bright red and blue gloves, endorsed by Reggie Jackson (GJ55, GJ56) and Willie Stargell (GJ64, GJ65).

1972 Rawlings Spring and Summer Institutional catalog

Day 266 a.jpg

[BaltOrioles]

William Jacobellis was a highly regarded sports photographer for many years. Topps used some of his photos for their cards, especially in the 1950's & 60's. His original photos pop occasionally on eBay and some stars go for big bucks. Aside from his name/stamp on the back, his photos tend to have a black border around them. I picked up a few Orioles for my collection years ago.

William Jacobellis 4x5 Photos


Darrell Johnson

SCAN3985-1.jpg


Ron Moeller

SCAN3986.jpg


Charlie Locke

SCAN3985.jpg


Bob Caffery

SCAN3986-1.jpg

[Mark70Z]

Originally Posted by BaltOrioles

William Jacobellis was a highly regarded sports photographer for many years. Topps used some of his photos for their cards, especially in the 1950's & 60's. His original photos pop occasionally on eBay and some stars go for big bucks. Aside from his name/stamp on the back, his photos tend to have a black border around them. I picked up a few Orioles for my collection years ago.

Alan,

Do you think these were cut from a contact sheet?

Really good quality for sure.

[Mark70Z]

Day 267 (September 23, 2020 – 267)

A 1969 Orioles season ticket pass to see all the games in Memorial Stadium.

Day 267 a 1969 Season Pass.jpg

An Orioles press pin from 1969.

Day 267 b 1969 Orioles Press Pin.jpg

A 1969 Orioles picture pennant.

Day 267 c Pennant 1969 Picture.jpg

Today wouldn’t be that great without a couple of fielding photos shot in Memorial Stadium during the 1969 season to end the post.

Day 267 d Photo 1969 Fielding Memorial Stadium.jpg
Day 267 e Photo 1969 Home Fielding.jpg

[BaltOrioles]

Historically. the Orioles have printed postcards of mostly uniformed members of the team, players and coaches, with the exception of a couple postcards of the Orioles ballgirls in the late 80's.

Beginning in 1990, the Orioles periodically added postcards of their announcers and even a few general managers. The first two were B&W postcards of Rex Barney and Jon Miller. They were followed by Chuck Thompson, Frank Wren, Jim Beattie, Mike Flanagan, Joe Angel, Jim Hunter, Buck Martinez, Fred Manfra, Jim Hunter, Gary Thorne and Mike Elias. The Orioles took a step further this year and printed a postcard of analytics guru, Sig Mejdal.


1990 Postcards 01 - Copy.jpg 1990 Postcards 06 - Copy.jpg 1995 Postcards 10 - Copy.JPG 1999 Postcards 10 - Copy.jpg 2003 Postcards 01 - Copy.jpg 2003 Postcards 03 - Copy.jpg 2004 Postcards 01 - Copy.jpg 2004 Postcards 03 - Copy.jpg 2005 Postcards 06 - Copy.jpg 2006 Postcards 10 - Copy.jpg 2008 Postcards 06 - Copy.jpg 2008 Postcards 12 - Copy.jpg 2020 Postcards 01.jpg 2020 Postcards 01 - Copy.JPG

[Mark70Z]

Day 268 (September 24, 2020 – 268)

I think all of these sheets have been shown, but I had them scanned so may as well revisit. I remember fondly the Upper Deck commemorative sheets in early 90’s. Oh, and of course they were called limited editions which were limited in the tens of thousands… I’ll be honest I’m unsure how many of these sheets have Brooks contained, but here are the five I have scanned below:

1991 Upper Deck A Tribute to All-Star Heroes – July 8, 1991

Day 268 a 1991 UD A Tribute to All-Star Heroes July 8 a.jpg

1992 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball

Day 268 b 1992 UD Heroes of Baseball a.jpg

1992 Upper Deck “Heroes of Baseball All-Star Game” – July 13, 1992

Day 268 c 1992 UD Heroes of Baseball All-Star Game a.jpg

1993 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball – July 12, 1993

Day 268 d 1993 UD Heroes of Baseball AS Game July 12 a.jpg

1994 Upper Deck Tribute to the 1964 Season – June 4, 1994 (can't get this one to come up correctly; sorry about that.

Day 268 e 1994 UD Tribute to the 1964 Season June 4 a.jpg

There may be more, but I think the five are good enough for today...

[BaltOrioles]

Yesterday, I posted some team issued postcards of some non-uniformed Orioles personnel. Today, I'll add a few team issued 8x10 photos to the mix.

Included are the core group of general managers that guided the Orioles through years of success from the 60's to their last World Series win in 1983.

Owners Jerold Hoffberger

Hoffberger, Jerold 1 - Copy.JPG

General Managers & Asst General Managers Harry Dalton, Frank Cashen, Hank Peters, Roland Hemond and Frank Robinson

Dalton, Harry 1 - Copy.JPG Cashen, Frank 1 - Copy.jpg Peters, Hank 1 - Copy.JPG Hemond, Roland 1 - Copy.jpg Robinson, Frank 12 - Copy.jpg

Announcers Chuck Thompson and Jon Miller

Thompson, Chuck 2 - Copy.JPG Thompson, Chuck 1 - Copy.jpg Miller, Jon 1.jpg


This last guy may not be known by many of you. Len Johnston had a long minor league career before joining the Orioles organization. For over 30 years, Johnston served as a coach for the Bluefield Orioles. After the Orioles cut ties with Bluefield, Johnston as a regular at the spring training minor league camp, even serving as the camp's coordinator until a couple years ago.

Johnston, Len 1 - Copy.jpg

[ripfan008]

Some more stuff for Bill to add to his collection:

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...s-of-auctions/

[Mark70Z]

Day 269 (September 25, 2020 – 269)

I only have one progressive proof of the popular and attractive high number 1967 Topps #600 Brooks Robinson card. This is probably my favorite progressive proof that I have in my collection; I love the look.

Day 269 1967 Topps Progressive Proof.jpg

[ksfarmboy]

Damn Mark!, I’m seriously jealous!

[ripfan008]

Good morning,

I know the 1966 Orioles Media Guide was previously pictured on this thread but I was recently able to pick up a leather-bound copy of the media guides of all eight 1966 AL teams. Harry Brecheen, the O's pitching coach in 1966, is the name on the front of the cover, so this may have been something presented to him.

1966 Media Guides- front.jpg

1966 Media Guides- back.jpg

1966 Media Guide- Orioles.jpg

[BaltOrioles]

I've previously posted examples of Orioles team issued postcards and 8x10 photos. Here's some examples of their lesser known cousins, the team issued 4x5 photos.

I'm unsure how these photos were used, since I don't recall the Orioles selling these directly to the public. I have photos as early as 1954 and as late as the early 1990's, but most of the ones are from the 1970's. Most of them have names printed at the bottom, but not all. A few photos are action shots. Since I have mostly concentrated on the 8x10 head shots, I don't have a good handle on how many players were printed. I have noticed that they don't show up that often and when they do, they tend to be the same poses I already have.

Team issued 4x5 photos

SCAN3983-1.jpg SCAN3983.JPG

SCAN3961.JPG SCAN3970-1.jpg

SCAN3969.JPG SCAN3973.JPG

SCAN3964-1.jpg SCAN3963-1.jpg

SCAN3972-1.jpg SCAN3979-1.jpg

SCAN9565.JPG

[Mark70Z]

Originally Posted by BaltOrioles

I've previously posted examples of Orioles team issued postcards and 8x10 photos. Here's some examples of their lesser known cousins, the team issued 4x5 photos.

Alan,

I've seen some of the 4x5 photos before, and I have the Brooks, but didn't know that they were team issue photos. I actually didn't know what they were. Do you know how they were issued to the public?

[Mark70Z]

Day 270 (September 26, 2020 – 270)

On September 26, 1971, Jim Palmer wins his 20th game of the year against the Cleveland Indians, becoming the fourth Oriole pitcher to win 20 games in the season. Jim Palmer had a season ending record of 20-10, Dave McNally went 21-5, Mike Cuellar went 20-9 and Pat Dobson ended with a 20-8 record.

The four 20 game winners in their orange Oriole uniforms

Day 270 a Photo 1971 20 game winners Orioles pitchers.jpg

Same picture, cropped differently, of the 20 game winners signed

Day 270 b Photo 1971 20 game winners signed.jpg

A B&W photo of the 20 game winners signed

Day 270 c Photo 1971 20 Game Winners signed (2).jpg

Below is the 1971 Orioles Yearbook to celebrate the year…

Day 270 d Publication 1971 Orioles Yearbook 1.jpg

[BaltOrioles]

I'm sure all of us at some point have had our collections stall for one reason or another. Maybe it was a limited hobby budget, growing families, career or other priorities focused us in other areas. For me as my collection grew, I found myself only needing some items that were either very rare and/or out of my price range (it is still a hobby). In the case of my quest to find O's minor league affiliate programs, they just aren't out there to be found. Supply and demand. No supply and I'm the only demand.

This led me to some low cost, yet interesting to me, projects. The flood of cards into the market during the late 80's and early 90's created what are commonly known as "junk wax cards". Granted you are never going to send your kids to college with them, but the mass printings resulted in multiple print runs or printers be used during the period. This resulted in many sets having large numbers of variations.

What started out as something to keep me busy, has been a lot of fun also. If you have younger kids, they might enjoy helping out. Over the next few weeks, I'll try to post some of my findings. If anyone has questions, I'll be happy to share what I know so far.

I'm going to start out with some of the easier sets. If you're already bored, you will not enjoy the 1989 Donruss set (up to six different cards of each player). Disclaimer up front... Some sets have different backs that glow under a black light, etc. I'm not that crazy yet..


1987 Donruss

The fronts of the cards are the same, but the backs of the wax pack cards and factory sets have a different orientation on the back. The only difference I can see on the Diamond King cards is lighter or darker print.

SCAN9577.JPG

SCAN9578-1.jpg SCAN9578.JPG



1990 Donruss

There are several different things to look at with the 1990 cards. The border pattern on the front of the cards are different between the wax pack cards and factory sets. The Ripken on the far right is from a factory set. The cards from wax packs can also be found with either Leaf, INC (no period) or Leaf, INC. (with period) on the back of the cards. All the factory sets have the INC. (with period) variation. This creates three different cards for each player.

SCAN9579.JPG

SCAN9580.JPG SCAN9580-1.jpg



1991 Donruss

Same notes as the 1990 Donruss set.

SCAN9581.JPG

SCAN9582.JPG SCAN9582-1.jpg



1992 Donruss

The 1992 Donruss cards have the same fronts, but do have the INC / INC. variation. Two different cards per player.

SCAN9583.JPG

SCAN9584.JPG



1992 Leaf

The 1992 Leaf set has the same INC / INC. variations. However, in the Black Gold set, I have found the variations only in the second series (numbers 300 and up)

SCAN9585.JPG SCAN9587.JPG

SCAN9586.JPG

SCAN9586-1.jpg

[BaltOrioles]

Originally Posted by Mark70Z

Alan,

I've seen some of the 4x5 photos before, and I have the Brooks, but didn't know that they were team issue photos. I actually didn't know what they were. Do you know how they were issued to the public?

Mark,

I'm not sure how they were distributed. I have never seen them listed on any Orioles souvenir lists. Until around 1999, you could purchase the 8x10 photos directly from the Orioles. It's also odd that most of the ones I've seen are from the 1970's. I've never seen any from the 1960's and only a few from the 50's, 80's and 90's.

[Fleerfan]

Originally Posted by BaltOrioles

I'm sure all of us at some point have had our collections stall for one reason or another. Maybe it was a limited hobby budget, growing families, career or other priorities focused us in other areas. For me as my collection grew, I found myself only needing some items that were either very rare and/or out of my price range (it is still a hobby). In the case of my quest to find O's minor league affiliate programs, they just aren't out there to be found. Supply and demand. No supply and I'm the only demand.

This led me to some low cost, yet interesting to me, projects. The flood of cards into the market during the late 80's and early 90's created what are commonly known as "junk wax cards". Granted you are never going to send your kids to college with them, but the mass printings resulted in multiple print runs or printers be used during the period. This resulted in many sets having large numbers of variations.

What started out as something to keep me busy, has been a lot of fun also. If you have younger kids, they might enjoy helping out. Over the next few weeks, I'll try to post some of my findings. If anyone has questions, I'll be happy to share what I know so far.

I'm going to start out with some of the easier sets. If you're already bored, you will not enjoy the 1989 Donruss set (up to six different cards of each player). Disclaimer up front... Some sets have different backs that glow under a black light, etc. I'm not that crazy yet..


1987 Donruss

The fronts of the cards are the same, but the backs of the wax pack cards and factory sets have a different orientation on the back. The only difference I can see on the Diamond King cards is lighter or darker print.

Attachment 419578

Attachment 419579 Attachment 419580



1990 Donruss

There are several different things to look at with the 1990 cards. The border pattern on the front of the cards are different between the wax pack cards and factory sets. The Ripken on the far right is from a factory set. The cards from wax packs can also be found with either Leaf, INC (no period) or Leaf, INC. (with period) on the back of the cards. All the factory sets have the INC. (with period) variation. This creates three different cards for each player.

Attachment 419581

Attachment 419582 Attachment 419583



1991 Donruss

Same notes as the 1990 Donruss set.

Attachment 419584

Attachment 419585 Attachment 419586



1992 Donruss

The 1992 Donruss cards have the same fronts, but do have the INC / INC. variation. Two different cards per player.

Attachment 419587

Attachment 419588



1992 Leaf

The 1992 Leaf set has the same INC / INC. variations. However, in the Black Gold set, I have found the variations only in the second series (numbers 300 and up)

Attachment 419589 Attachment 419592

Attachment 419590

Attachment 419591

Nice review of the junk wax era variations. Its nice to see all the variations side by side.

[jingram058]

After all of the fantastic, even historic, posts to this thread, just a quick question...will the Orioles ever acknowledge their St. Louis Browns ancestry?

[Mark70Z]

Originally Posted by jingram058

After all of the fantastic, even historic, posts to this thread, just a quick question...will the Orioles ever acknowledge their St. Louis Browns ancestry?

No; never heard of them

Here’s the real question; will the Yankees acknowledge their roots?

[Mark70Z]

Day 271 (September 27, 2020 – 271)

In 1964 Brooks’ took home the American League MVP honors with his best offensive season of his career and a league leading 118 RBI’s. Below is a dugout photo, taken by Neil Leifer, from the 1964 season; you can see the relaxed atmosphere the Orioles had in the visiting dugout. Man, the Orioles had a good run in 1964.

Day 271 a Photo 1964 Orioles Dugout Neil Leifer.jpg

I know the 1964 Topps Giant #50 card has been shown in the thread, but this is just a great card from a great year. Has the back of the card been shown with the spring training diving pose?!?

Day 271 b 1964 Topps Giants #50.jpg
Day 271 c 1964 Topps Giants #50 back.jpg

[quitcrab]

Love that Mark has the new post for the day up at 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning! Great way to start the day.

I love the 64 Topps Giants set. Wish Topps would have included Roger Maris and Pete Rose (a little earlier in his career to pick Rose)
If these cards would have been regular card size they would get my vote as the best Topps issue from the 60s! I am a big fan of the 64 Stand Ups too.

[BaltOrioles]

If you're reading this, yesterday's post must not have put you to sleep. Today, I'll discuss the Orioles 1988 Donruss and O-Pee-Chee sets.

1988 Donruss

There are two things to watch for in the 1988 set.

1. The borders on the front either have a design in the upper left and bottom right or switched with the design in the upper right and bottom left. However, not all of the cards have this variation.

2. The Career Highlights section on the backs have different spacing, causing the first word on the last line to vary.

Here is the list I've created with the variations I have found to date. I don't believe any of the variations are tougher than the other.

SCAN9596.jpg


The Eddie Murray cards are examples of the border design variation, while the Fred Lynn cards do not.

SCAN9594.jpg


This is an example of the two different backs on the Fred Lynn cards.

SCAN9595.jpg


1988 O-Pee-Chee

The O-Pee-Chee set can be found with three different back variations. I have found the white backs are the toughest to find. I still need Eddie Murray and Ray Knight to finish my set.

1. Regular Orange back
2. White backs
3. Blank backs

SCAN9597.jpg

SCAN9598.jpg

[roarfrom34]

Back in February 1984, the World Champion Orioles and Washington Redskins jointly filmed a commercial for McDonalds, with Mike Boddicker, John Shelby, Rick Dempsey, Dan Morogiello & Eddie Murray participating...

Here is the jacket that Mike Boddicker wore in the shoot:



The actual commercial can be seen here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...-mcdonalds-ad/

[ripfan008]

Bill,

Thank you for sharing that commercial. It's so bad. Great jacket though!

[BaltOrioles]

Originally Posted by roarfrom34

Back in February 1984, the World Champion Orioles and Washington Redskins jointly filmed a commercial for McDonalds, with Mike Boddicker, Mike Young, Rick Dempsey, Dan Morogiello & Eddie Murray participating...

Bill,

That's pretty cool. I've never seen it before. That commercial never made it to Maine. LOL

I think that's John Shelby instead of Mike Young.

[roarfrom34]

Originally Posted by BaltOrioles

Bill,

That's pretty cool. I've never seen it before. That commercial never made it to Maine. LOL

I think that's John Shelby instead of Mike Young.

Alan:

I was totally unaware of the commercial as well until I received the jacket (must have aired in the DC/Baltimore TV markets only) and was thrilled when the Washington Post did an article on it in 2015 so I could finally see it!...Thanks for the correct ID of T-Bone.

Bill

[Mark70Z]

Day 272 (September 28, 2020 – 272)

I haven’t had an opportunity to have this calendar framed yet; I think it will look nice framed and up on the wall. As you can see it’s a 1960 Orioles schedule calendar put out by Sunpapers. It’s a very thin paper piece and is not in the best of shape, but I love the setup and the look of this schedule calendar.

1960 Sunpapers Orioles Schedule Calendar

Day 272 a 1960 Orioles Schedule Poster.jpg

How about a 1960 Leaf Brooks Robinson to celebrate the year?

1960 Brooks Robinson Leaf #27

Day 272 b 1960 Leaf #27.jpg

[ripfan008]

Originally Posted by Mark70Z

Day 272 (September 28, 2020 – 272)

I haven’t had an opportunity to have this calendar framed yet; I think it will look nice framed and up on the wall. As you can see it’s a 1960 Orioles schedule calendar put out by Sunpapers. It’s a very thin paper piece and is not in the best of shape, but I love the setup and the look of this schedule calendar.

1960 Sunpapers Orioles Schedule Calendar

Attachment 419827

How about a 1960 Leaf Brooks Robinson to celebrate the year?

1960 Brooks Robinson Leaf #27

Attachment 419828

Good morning Mark,

I agree, that Sunpapers O's schedule is definitely worth framing.

Below is a sign advertising All-Star Personally Autographed Baseballs featuring Brooks and Jim Palmer.

Does anyone remember these being sold?

1970's All Star Autographed Baseball Sign.jpg

[roarfrom34]

Originally Posted by ripfan008

Good morning Mark,

I agree, that Sunpapers O's schedule is definitely worth framing.

Below is a sign advertising All-Star Personally Autographed Baseballs featuring Brooks and Jim Palmer.

Does anyone remember these being sold?

Attachment 419831

Mike:

I do remember these back around 1976/77 and I actually purchased a Brooks & Belanger signed ball (I believe I saw their ads in Baseball Digest).

Never saw a retail display (I was living in Ohio at the time) but I think they're very nice!

[ksfarmboy]

Mark that schedule is awesome! Never seen that one before.

[BaltOrioles]

Mark,

I really like that calendar, too. 1960 was really the beginning, except for a couple seasons, of two plus decades of very good Orioles teams. Over those years, the Orioles farm system would produce plenty of major league talent.

The 1960 Orioles farm system consisted of the Vancouver Mounties (AAA), Miami Marlins (AAA), Fox Cities Foxes (B), Tri-Cities Braves (B), Aberdeen Pheasants (C), Stockton Ports (C), Bluefield Orioles (D) and Leesburg Orioles (D).

Here are programs from each of the teams, except Tri-Cities. I have the 1961 Tri-Cities program, but have never seen the 1960 issue.

Vancouver Mounties (AAA)

It's hard to tell from the scans, but one program is red and the other orange.

1960 Vancouver Mounties #1.jpg 1960 Vancouver Mounties #2.jpg 1960 Vancouver Mounties #3.jpg

Miami Marlins (AAA)

1960 Miami Marlins #1.jpg 1960 Miami Marlins #2.jpg

Fox Cities Foxes (B)

1960 Fox Cities Foxes.jpg

Aberdeen Pheasants and Stockton Ports (C)

1960 Aberdeen Pheasants.jpg 1960 Stockton Ports.JPG

Bluefield Orioles and Leesburg Orioles (D)

1960 Bluefield Orioles.jpg 1960 Leesburg Orioles.jpg

[Mark70Z]

Day 273 (September 29, 2020 – 273)

The Orioles were going to have Brooks Robinson’s statue unveiling in Camden Yards on May 12, 2012, but the schedule had to be moved due to Brooks being unable to participate due to health issues. The new schedule for the unveiling would be September 29, 2012.

My wife, for my birthday, purchased tickets for our family to attend the Brooks statue unveiling game. We travelled to Baltimore (I live in FL by the way if I haven’t mentioned it before) and was able to be present at the game. Of course we had such a great time and it’s such a fond memory of being at the stadium for the unveiling of the Brooks Robinson statue in Camden Yards.

I especially enjoyed Brooks’ speech during the ceremony. One quote I remember was Brooks saying, “I just want to say to all of you fans here, I don’t like to call you fans, I like to call you friends.” If you ever hear Brooks talk he always talks about how great other people are and this was no exception. I was very happy that all the players that have statues within Camden Yards were able to attend. Sadly Earl and Frank have passed away since then.

Brooks also stated, “I promise you, this will be the last ‘thank you’ of my career.”

2012 Brooks Robinson Replica Sculpture – I grabbed a screen shot of the
sculpture; running behind on taking pictures. Sorry…

Day 273.jpg

[Mark70Z]

Day 273 (September 29, 2020 – 273)

[roarfrom34]

Yesterday was the 9th anniversary of the infamous Game 162 and I was fortunate enough to be there...I generally don't go to weeknight games due to the distance, but I had a rain check that I had to use or I'd lose it, so I called my son the night before & asked him if he wanted to go to the last game of the season...Fortunately, he agreed and one of our Baltimore area friends met us there...

There was a long rain delay and when they resumed playing the Orioles said you could sit anywhere you wanted & fortunately we chose seats in left field probably 100 feet or so from the Red Soxs' Carl Crawford (who was unable to handle Robert Andino's game winning liner)...I'll never forget watching the Orioles players celebrate and Papelbon and the rest of the Sox players walking off the field when the Jumbo Tron suddenly switched to the action in St. Pete & showing Longoria hitting his walk off HR thus eliminating Boston from the post season...

The only thing I can compare it to was like New Years Eve as we left Camden Yards that night 'high fiving' everyone (including the on duty cops) and headed over to Sliders (our favorite bar outside the park) who was serving free Natty Bohs...Needless to say I didn't get home until 4:30 AM..

I keep score at all the games I attend, so here is my scorecard which over the years I've had signed on the cover by all the key participants of that ninth inning (Reimold, Davis, Kyle Hudson & of course Robert Andino):



Robert Andino game used jersey & bat:

[BaltOrioles]

Originally Posted by roarfrom34

Yesterday was the 9th anniversary of the infamous Game 162 and I was fortunate enough to be there...I generally don't go to weeknight games due to the distance, but I had a rain check that I had to use or I'd lose it, so I called my son the night before & asked him if he wanted to go to the last game of the season...Fortunately, he agreed and one of our Baltimore area friends met us there...

There was a long rain delay and when they resumed playing the Orioles said you could sit anywhere you wanted & fortunately we chose seats in left field probably 100 feet or so from the Red Soxs' Carl Crawford (who was unable to handle Robert Andino's game winning liner)...I'll never forget watching the Orioles players celebrate and Papelbon and the rest of the Sox players walking off the field when the Jumbo Tron suddenly switched to the action in St. Pete & showing Longoria hitting his walk off HR thus eliminating Boston from the post season...

Bill,

Great story. As a life long "Maine-ah" and professed Red Sox hater, that ranks as one of my all-time favorite regular season games. A close second was when the O's overcame a 9-run deficit to the Red Sox in 2009. Papelbon blew that one too.

Robert Andino was immediately inducted into my Orioles Hall of Fame.

Andino, Robert 1.jpg

[Mark70Z]

Day 274 (September 30, 2020 – 274)

The item pictured today is a Brooks Robinson semi life-size standup. I’m really not sure what it was used for, possibly a signing, an awards dinner and/or an advertising piece; who knows. I’ve seen a couple of the same standup so I’m also not sure if it was something just produced for the consumer. Anyway, it’s a pretty neat piece pictured near the end of his career sporting the white front panels on the Orioles cap.

Brooks Standup

Day 274 Standup 1.jpg

[BaltOrioles]

After a few emails this morning, we lost our power for the entire day. Huge wind storm in Maine and I lost a few big limbs off some trees. Anyway, I just realized nobody has posted today, since Mark's awesome Brooks stand-up. I've never seen it before and it's very cool.

Here's a few more O-Pee-Chee variations for those of you that care about such things. I'm still working on this two sets myself.

1981 O-Pee-Chee

All of the 1981 O-Pee-Chee cards can be found with cream white backs (common) and gray backs (estimated at 20-25% the quantity of the white backs). A common problem for O-Pee-Chee cards are centering issues.

1981 O-Pee-Chee #4.jpg SCAN8142.JPG


1990 O-Pee-Chee

The 1990 O-Pee-Chee cards have a little twist. All the cards come with gray backs, but only the cards with blue borders (Bradley, Holton and Tettleton in the scan) also come in white backs. Interesting, the white backs seem to be more common than the gray backs, in this group. Again, this only applies to the blue bordered cards. I have no idea why only the blue borders are affected.


1990 O-Pee-Chee #2.jpg

The two Mickey Tettleton cards illustrate the gray/white variation.

SCAN9469.jpg

[Mark70Z]

Day 275 (October 1, 2020 – 275)

The 1968 Topps Action All-Star Stickers consisted of (16) 3-part sticker panel strips containing removable, die-cut stickers. Each strip featured a large image of a star player in the center, with smaller pictures of three players on top & bottom panels. I don’t have the 3-part panel that incudes Brooks; I just a partial panel.

1968 Topps Action Sticker - partial panel Brooks w/Perez and McDowell

Day 275 1968 Topps Action AS Stickers.jpg

1968 Topps Action Sticker proofs

Day 275 1968 Topps Action Sticker a.jpg
Day 275 1968 Topps Action Sticker b.jpg
Day 275 1968 Topps Action Sticker c.jpg

[BaltOrioles]

Today, I'm going to focus on the 1989 Donruss set. This is by far the most challenging set if you want to put together a master team set with all the variations. So far, my research has found that every card has a least four variations, with some cards as many as six. The Eddie Murray card is an example of having all six different backs.

SCAN9599.jpg SCAN9600.jpg

There are three areas to look for on the back.

1. Each card comes with either INC (no period) or INC. (with period)
2. Each card comes with either *Denotes or *Denotes*

Here are example of each variation combo.

SCAN9600-1.jpg SCAN9600-2.jpg

SCAN9600-3.jpg SCAN9600-4.jpg


3. Each card comes with either a narrow space or wide space between the Career stats line and the Contract Status info.

Here are both examples.

SCAN9600-5.jpg SCAN9600-6.jpg


Congrats, if you are still reading... After all of that, I have found cards with six different combos of these variations.

Here is the master list I have created. The cards with a blank are the combos I don't have and haven't been able to verify, but possibly do exist. I am interested in any of those, if anyone has them.

SCAN9601.jpg

[Mark70Z]

Day 276 (October 2, 2020 – 276)

Brooks had a career year in 1964 and brought home the MVP award. Below is a 1964 Orioles Working Press Pass for admission to all the American League games played at Memorial Stadium.

1964 Orioles Working Press Pass

Day 276 1964 Working Press Pass.jpg

On October 2, 1964 the Sports Boosters Club of Maryland honored Brooks and presented him with a Most Valuable Player trophy along with a World Series Most Valuable Player watch.

1964 Sports Booster Club presents Brooks with MVP trophy and watch

Day 276 a.jpg

[BaltOrioles]

While it was exciting for awhile, the Orioles fell short this year of making the expanded playoffs, continuing with their rebuild plan. I always find it interesting to see who for former O's are in the playoffs.

I was planning to post these earlier, as a few teams are already eliminated. Not counting coaching staffs, I found 15 former Orioles on playoff rosters. Most are familiar, but a few you might have forgotten about.

Richard Bleier (Marlins), Zach Britton (Yankees), Nelson Cruz (Twins)

Bleier, Richard 1 - Copy.JPG Britton, Zach 1 - Copy.jpg Cruz, Nelson 1 - Copy.jpg

Oliver Drake (Rays), Rich Hill (Twins), Manny Machado (Padres)

Drake, Oliver 1 - Copy.jpg Hill, Rich 1 - Copy.jpg Machado, Manny 2 - Copy.JPG

Nick Markakis (Braves), TJ McFarland (A's), Wade Miley (Reds)

Markakis, Nick 1 - Copy.jpg McFarland, TJ 1 - Copy.jpg Miley, Wade 1 - Copy.jpg

Andrew Miller (Cardinals), Darren O'Day (Braves), Jace Peterson (Brewers)

Miller, Andrew 1 - Copy.jpg O'Day, Darren 1 - Copy.jpg Peterson, Jace 1 - Copy.JPG

Justin Turner (Dodgers), Jonathan Villar (Blue Jays), Matt Wieters (Cardinals)

Turner, Justin 1 - Copy.jpg Villar, Jonathan 1 - Copy.JPG Wieters, Matt 1 - Copy.jpg


Honorable Mention to Zach Davies (Padres), Josh Hader (Brewers), Jonah Heim (A's) and Liam Hendriks (A's), who all passed through the Orioles system at some point. In fact, Jonah Heim was my teammate during my brief stay with the Ironbirds.

[Mark70Z]

Day 277 (October 3, 2020 – 277)

In 1963 Topps had an interesting insert; the Topps Peel-Offs. The insert set of Peel-Offs (or Stick-ons) consists of 46 players which were inserted into wax packs of the 1963 regular issue baseball cards. There are two variations to the Peel-Offs, one with instructions on the back or a blank-back version.

1963 Topps Peel-Offs – front/back

Day 277 a 1963 Topps PEEL-OFFS.jpg
Day 277 b 1963 Topps PEEL-OFFS Instruction and Blank backed.jpg

[roarfrom34]

OTD in 2014 in one of the most exciting moments in Orioles history (recently anyways), Delmon Young hit a pinch hit bases loaded double at a frenzied Camden Yards to give the Orioles a 7-6 lead over the Tigers in Game 2 of the ALDS.

https://www.facebook.com/Orioles/vid...0401296685450/

Here is a signed game ticket from that contest as well as a game used jersey of Young from 2015 (from a game in which he homered twice)..

[ripfan008]

Bill,

I was at that game in 2014 with my wife, who is from Detroit. She wouldn't touch me after Young hit that double, so I hugged the guy in the stands next to me.

[Mark70Z]

Originally Posted by roarfrom34

OTD in 2014 in one of the most exciting moments in Orioles history (recently anyways), Delmon Young hit a pinch hit bases loaded double at a frenzied Camden Yards to give the Orioles a 7-6 lead over the Tigers in Game 2 of the ALDS.

NICE! Especially like the picture!!

[BaltOrioles]

Originally Posted by roarfrom34

OTD in 2014 in one of the most exciting moments in Orioles history (recently anyways), Delmon Young hit a pinch hit bases loaded double at a frenzied Camden Yards to give the Orioles a 7-6 lead over the Tigers in Game 2 of the ALDS.

That was a great game. The Tiger's bullpen imploded the whole series.

A couple of those faces look familiar. That has to be Bill Stetka?