The Oriole Way

Greats of Baltimore Orioles History: Bob Boyd

The Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week is the first in a long line of great first basemen for the Baltimore Orioles.

The first player in the modern history of the Baltimore Orioles to hit over .300 in a season, Bob Boyd was a solid line-drive hitter and defensive standout.

A member of the Memphis Red Sox in the Negro Leagues from 1947-1949, Boyd became the first black player to sign with the Chicago White Sox in 1950 and made his major league debut in 1951 at the age of 31.

He joined the Orioles in 1956 and in his first season with the Orioles played in 70 games and hit .311.

Unlike some of the great first basemen that would follow him in Baltimore, Boyd was not known as a power hitter. Nicknamed “Rope” for his line drive hitting, Boyd had only 19 major league home runs. A great contact hitter, he struck out only 114 times in his career.

Orioles to Keep Dave Trembley for 2010

At first reaction, the announcement on Friday that the Baltimore Orioles have retained the services of manager Dave Trembley for the 2010 season seems like a head-scratcher.

After all, typically in professional sports the fate of a manger is judged by wins and losses and in that area Trembley has failed miserably. Since Trembley became manager of the O’s midway through the 2007 season he has posted a 169-244 record and the team’s winning percentage has declined each season.

But, managing the Baltimore Orioles the last couple years as the team looks to build for the long haul has not been your typical job.

“When we embarked on this process, we made a commitment to our system to get as much young talent in there as we could,” said team president Andy MacPhail. “We knew when we made the trades that we made it would be a short term pain for us.

“While the win-loss record is obviously important, Dave’s primary job was to get as many talented young kids up here and have them grow and develop as major leaguers. In our judgment he did that. He absolutely did those things that were important.”

Who is Baltimore's Greatest Sports Star of All-Time?

Measuring greatness is always a tough challenge. While athletes grow in size, stature and athletic ability, does it mean the athletes of today are greater than those of 30 years ago and were those athletes better than the stars of the 1940s and 1950s?

Through the years, Baltimore has been blessed with many great stars. From the 1950s through the 1980s, Memorial Stadium was home to some of the greatest athletes in Baltimore sports history. Then since the Orioles moved to Camden Yards and the ravens came to town, there have been more superstars to call the city home But who is the greatest of the greats? 

We want to know who you believe is the greatest athlete in the history of Baltimore sports. Vote in the Sports Then and Now Poll (click here) and then share with us your thoughts and memories on the athlete you believe is the most deserving.

Out of the dozens of athletes who could have easily been considered, we have narrowed the field to seven finalists. Brief profiles are below.

Greats of Baltimore Orioles History: Paul Blair

This week the Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week is an outfielder that patrolled centerfield with grace while also providing the Orioles with timely hitting for more than a decade.

On a team that built its strength through pitching and defense, Paul Blair fit perfectly. He is one of seven members of the Orioles from that era who won at least three Gold Gloves and is tied with Mark Belanger for the second most in team history.

Arguably the best defensive outfielder of his generation, Blair won eight Gold Gloves during a nine-year stretch, a total eclipsed by only five outfielders in baseball history. Possessing great speed, he could play shallow to swallow-up short balls and then use his speed to track down deep flies.

After playing briefly late in the 1964 season, Blair became the starting centerfielder for the Orioles in 1965 and quickly established himself as a defensive standout.

In the 1966 World Series, Blair used both his glove and bat to help the Orioles sweep the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Blair provided the only run of game three with a solo home run off pitcher Claude Osteen in a 1-0 Baltimore victory. In game four, he preserved a shutout and secured the series sweep by robbing Jim Levebvre of what appeared to be a sure home run in the eighth inning.

The following season, Blair earned his first Gold Glove and also displayed his offensive prowess. He hit a career-best .293 with 72 runs scores, 27 doubles, 11 home runs and a league-best 12 triples.

Greats of Baltimore Orioles History: Mike Cuellar

We recognize as the Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week one of the key pitchers for the Baltimore Orioles during their championship run of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Sometimes timing is everything. After toiling away in the minors and on primarily losing teams for a decade, a seemingly insignificant trade following the 1968 season proved to be all that Mike Cuellar needed to become one of the top pitchers in baseball.

A native of Cuba, Cuellar originally signed with the Cincinnati Reds in 1957 after originally drawing attention for a no-hitter he pitched in 1955 while serving in the Cuban army.

He made two relief appearances for the Reds in 1959, but quickly returned to the minors and bounced around before finally earning a shot with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964. 

Being used primarily in relief, Cuellar pitched in 32 games for the Cardinals and registered a 5-5 record and 4.50 ERA. He did not pitch in the World Series as the Cardinals defeated the New York Yankees.

Following the season, Cuellar was sent from the World Champions to the baseball basement as he joined the Houston Astros for their fourth season in the league.

Felix Pie Gets Chance To Shine For The Orioles

With Adam Jones potentially done for the season with an ankle injury, much-maligned Felix Pie will get a chance to prove that he belongs in the everyday lineup for the Baltimore Orioles come 2010.

If you will remember, Pie began the season as the starting leftfielder for the Orioles, but after registering an abysmal .157 average in April it didn’t take him long to get buried on the Baltimore bench.

The emergence of Nolan Reimold and solid start by Luke Scott made it look like Pie’s time in Baltimore might be short lived.

To his credit, even when everyone across the sports bloggersphere was calling for the Orioles to give up on the talented, yet unproven Pie, he kept his head down and moving forward.

He carried a .195 batting average into June, but even though his chances to show his talent were sparse as the spring turned into summer, he began to show some sparks of the ability everyone knew he possessed.

Matt Wieters Gives The Baltimore Orioles a Building Block For The Future

By any measure, Baltimore Orioles rookie catcher Matt Wieters has been outstanding since making his Major League debut for the Orioles on May 29.

While it is easy to notice his 13 RBI in the month of August and .277 batting average since July 1, what is especially impressive is the strides Wieters is making in his role grooming the young Baltimore pitching staff.

With five rookies having made their first big league start this season and nearly half the starts on the staff coming from first year pitchers, it might seem strange to have a rookie catcher behind the plate. But former major league catcher and current Orioles Broadcaster Buck Martinez thinks having Wieters working with the young pitchers could be a long-term blessing for the Orioles.

“Ideally you might want a veteran presence behind the plate when you have so many young pitchers,” Martinez said, “but because he [Wieters] is such a high profile catcher and projects to be an impact catcher with the bat you kind of let them grow together.

“The pitchers have a lot of confidence in Matt and throw to him with conviction.”

A Glove of Their Own Is More Than Just a Book

While players with multi-million dollar contracts playing in billion dollar stadiums have become the public face of baseball, at its core the game remains a cherished pastime for children playing on empty lots or little league fields across America.

An inspirational children’s book, A Glove of Their Own, is helping focus minds and memories away from the big-time nature of America’s Pastime and back where it belongs, on the game and the kids who grow up playing for the shear love of the game.

“It’s about the joy of baseball and the joy of giving,” said Bob Salomon, the man behind the movement to turn this award winning children’s book into a national crusade.

Written in an easily readable poetic rhyme, A Glove of Their Own harkens back to a time when games didn’t have to include parents, umpires or scoreboards and a group of four or more kids was all you needed to yell “Play Ball.”

A Look Back At Slick Fielding Mark "The Blade" Belanger

The Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week for this week is a former member of the Baltimore Orioles who may not have given the team a significant amount of offensive production, but was one of the best ever at fielding his position.

Mark Belanger was such a valuable player for the Orioles in the late 1970s and 1970s that he knocked a future Hall of Famer out of the Baltimore lineup and twice finished in the top 30 in the American League MVP despite hitting below .230 for the season.

Standing 6-foot-1 and barreling tipping the scales at 170 pounds, Belanger was known as “The Blade.”

After seeing limited duty over parts of three seasons, Belanger became the starting shortstop when the Orioles traded future Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio to the Chicago White Sox for Don Buford following the 1967 season.

Forgotten No More: Baseball in Baltimore, 1903-1953

The history of baseball in Baltimore since the St. Louis Browns moved to the city in 1954 has been well chronicled. However, until now, the great history of baseball in Baltimore prior to the return of Major League Baseball has gone largely unrecognized.

That is about to change with the release this fall of the documentary The Forgotten Birds.

The culmination of five years worth of research and interviews by director Paul Sekulich and writer Jimmy Keenan, the film will be premiered in Cooperstown at the Fourth Annual Baseball Film Festival from October 2-4.

Once upon a time, in 1884, the city of Baltimore actually had three professional baseball teams.