Brooks Robinson and the Baltimore Orioles

[roarfrom34]

Hand written letter from a young Cal Ripken Jr. to a family during his season in Rochester (1981):

[Mark70Z]

Originally Posted by roarfrom34

Hand written letter from a young Cal Ripken Jr. to a family during his season in Rochester (1981):

Bill,

VERY COOL piece...

[Mark70Z]

Day 331 (November 26, 2020 – 331)


Hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving Day!


On Thanksgiving I’d like to picture a couple of 1967 Topps Test Discs. The ’67 Test Discs are all progressive proofs or not a finished product. I don’t have a full color ’67 proof; all are missing a color or multiple colors. The discs have a circular photo with a silver foil background. My scanner really doesn’t do them justice, but hopefully they still look ok.

1967 Topps Test Discs

Day 331 a 1967 Topps Test Dics.jpg
Day 331 b 1967 Topps Test Disc 1.jpg
Day 331 c 1967 Topps Test Disc 2.jpg

[David W]

You have some very nice progressive proofs.

[BaltOrioles]

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

The Baltimore Orioles of the late 1960's and 1970's were one of the most successful franchises in baseball, being in playoff contention every year. However, if I described a team, over an 11 year period, as having a .582 winning percentage, 8 First Place finishes, 2 Second Place finishes and 1 Third Place finish, 10 Playoff Appearances with 5 League Championships, you would probably assume I talking about the hated Yankees from their hey day.

I'm actually talking about an Orioles farm team. From 1966-1981, Miami was the Orioles class A affiliate in the Florida State League. From 1966-1970, they were known as the Miami Marlins. in 1971, they were renamed the Miami Orioles. A number of future Orioles played in Miami, over the years, including Jim Palmer, Don Baylor, Eddie Murray, Mike Flanagan, Dennis Martinez, Cal Ripken Jr and John Shelby, to name a few.

Here's what the Marlins/Orioles accomplished during an 11 year run.

Combined record

1968–1978 (879-629) (.582)

Yearly records

1968 (87-55) 1st Lost in Championship Series
1969 (80-52) 1st Florida State League Champions
1970 (88-45) 1st Florida State League Champions
1971 (94-47) 1st Florida State League Champions
1972 (73-57) 1st Florida State League Champions
1973 (77-64) 2nd Lost in 1st Round of Playoffs
1974 (74-58) 3rd Missed Playoffs
1975 (79-57) 1st Lost in 1st Round of Playoffs
1976 (79-63) 1st Lost in 1st Round of Playoffs
1977 (72-66) 2nd Lost in 1st Round of Playoffs
1978 (76-65) 1st Florida State League Champions


Here are all the Miami programs from that incredible run. On a side note, the programs, from 1971-1978, parallel the Orioles spring training programs.

Miami Marlins / Orioles programs from 1968-1978

1968 Miami Marlins - Copy.jpg 1969 Miami Marlins (40 pgs) - Copy.jpg

1970 Miami Marlins - Copy.jpg 1971 Miami Orioles - Copy.jpg

1972 Miami Orioles - Copy.jpg 1973 Miami Orioles - Copy.jpg

1974 Miami Orioles - Copy.jpg 1975 Miami Orioles - Copy.jpg

1976 Miami Orioles - Copy.jpg 1977 Miami Orioles - Copy.jpg

1978 Miami Orioles - Copy.jpg

[roarfrom34]

Mark...awesome Test discs (they look just fine)...

Some of you may remember at Memorial Stadium the "Hit & Run Club" which was a bar/restaurant located near the front entrance...

From Cal's rookie season of 1982, here is a placemat from the restaurant signed by most of the team:

[Mark70Z]

Originally Posted by David W

You have some very nice progressive proofs.

Thanks David. I'm trying to find more blank backs as well. I see you have quite a number of Brock examples.

[mrmopar]

Always thought these were neat, but too expensive. The value is always there is the metals, I suppose. I have a different Brooks, also signed, that may be platinum. I'd have to try to dig it out, as I don't recall.

[Mark70Z]

Day 332 (November 27, 2020 – 332)

I may as well follow up the 1967 Test Discs with two 1968 Topps Test Discs. The Brooks disc for 1968, as you can see, have Brooks’ photo reversed, but is the same setup as the 1967. Also, the one full color disc proof has a white background rather than the silver foil. To date I’ve only seen the white background proofs associated the ’68 discs and not the ’67’s.

1968 Topps Test Discs

Day 332 a 1968 Topps Test Disc a.jpg
Day 332 b 1968 Topps Test Disc b.jpg