Baltimore Orioles Quiz: [1954-2002, not including years in
Milwaukee (1901) or St. Louis (1902-53)] 1) What Orioles were
Rookie of the Year for 1960, 1965, and 1973? 2) Who are the
only two in a Baltimore uniform to drive in 140 in a single
season? 3) Who is the last Oriole to win a batting title? 4) Name
the top 3 in lifetime home runs. Answers below.
As much as I’ve written about America’s heroes over the years,
it seems an appropriate time to honor those Americans who gave
up their lives in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
James Adamouski, Thomas Adams, Jamaal Addison, Tristan
Aitken, Brian Anderson, Jay Aubin, Andrew Aviles, Chad Bales,
Ryan Beaupre, Wilfred Bellard, Michael Bitz, Jeffrey Bohr,
Stevon Booker, Mathew Boule, John Brown, Henry Brown,
Larry Brown, Brian Buesing, George Buggs, Tamario Burkett,
Jacob Butler, James Cawley, Kemaphoom Chanawongse, Therrel
Childers, Donald Cline, Aaron Contreras, Michael Creighton-
Weldon, Daniel Cunningham, Michael Curtin, Eric Das, Wilbert
Davis, Robert Dowdy, Ruben Estrella-Soto, Mark Evnin, George
Fernandez, Thomas Foley, Travis Ford, David Fribley, Jose
Garibay, Juan Garza, Jonathan Gifford, Armando Gonzalez,
Jesus Gonzalez, Jorge Gonzalez, Bernard Gooden, Richard
Goward, Christian Gurtner, Jose Gutierrez, Erik Halvorsen,
Terry Hemingway, Nicolas Hodson, Lincoln Hollinsaid, Nolen
Hutchings, Gregory Huxley, Scott Jamar, Evan James, Howard
Johnson, Michael Johnson, Devon Jones, Phillip Jordan, Jeffrey
Kaylor, Brian Kennedy, James Kiehl, Edward Korn, Bradley
Korthaus, Michael Lalush, Nino Livaudais, Ryan Long, Joseph
Maglione, John Marshall, Francisco Martinez-Flores, Johnny
Mata, Donald May, Joseph Mayek, Brian McGinnis, Brian
McPhillips, Jesus Medellin, Joseph Menusa, Gil Mercado, Jason
Meyer, Jason Mileo, Anthony Miller, George Mitchell, Kevin
Nave, Patrick Nixon, Donald Oaks, Patrick O’Day, Eric
Orlowski, David Owens, Fernando Padilla-Ramirez, Michael
Pedersen, Lori Ann Piestewa, Frederick Pokorney, Kelley
Prewitt, Randall Rehn, Brendon Reiss, Diego Rincon, Duane
Rios, Russell Rippetoe, John Rivero, Todd Robbins, Robert
Rodriguez, Randal Rosacker, Brandon Rowe, Benjamin Sammis,
Gregory Sanders, Scott Sather, Christopher Seifert, Erik Silva,
Brandon Sloan, Thomas Slocum, Edward Smith, Eric Smith,
Paul Smith, Roderic Solomon, Robert Stever, Gregory Stone,
Jesus Suarez, Riayan Tejeda, Brandon Tobler, Donald Walters,
Kendall Waters-Bey, Michael Weldon, Nathan White, William
White, Michael Williams, Eugene Williams.
We also remember all of the victims of the conflict in
Afghanistan.
—
NFL Draft
With the NFL draft being Saturday, a recent article in the local
paper on the historic draft of 1983 had me going back through
my source material. Following is the order of the first round
back then, five of whom are in the Hall of Fame or will be. And
of course you’ll recognize that this was the year of the
quarterback.
#1 John Elway, QB, Baltimore
#2 Eric Dickerson, RB, L.A. Rams
#3 Curt Warner, RB, Seattle….not a HOFer, but 6,844 yards in
his career nonetheless.
#4 Chris Hinton, G, Denver
#5 Billy Ray Smith, LB, San Diego
#6 Jimbo Covert, T, Chicago
#7 Todd Blackledge, QB, Kansas City
#8 Michael Haddix, RB, Philadelphia
#9 Bruce Matthews, G, Houston
#10 Terry Kinard, DB, N.Y. Giants
#11 Tim Lewis, DB, Green Bay
#12 Tony Hunter, TE, Buffalo
#13 James Jones, RB, Detroit
#14 Jim Kelly, QB, Buffalo
#15 Tony Eason, QB, New England
#16 Mike Pitts, DE, Atlanta
#17 Leonard Smith, DB, St. Louis
#18 Willie Gault, WR, Chicago
#19 Joey Browner, DB, Minnesota
#20 Gary Anderson, WR, San Diego
#21 Gabriel Rivera, DT, Pittsburgh
#22 Gill Byrd, DB, San Diego
#23 Jim Jeffcoat, DE, Dallas
#24 Ken O’Brien, QB, N.Y. Jets
#25 Dave Rimington, C, Cincinnati
#26 Don Mosebar, T, L.A. Raiders
#27 Dan Marino, QB, Miami
#28 Darrell Green, DB, Washington
[Roger Craig, RB, San Francisco, was the 49th pick in the second
round.]
Of course in the New York area the big controversy concerning
1983 draft centered on the issue of Ken O’Brien being selected
over Dan Marino. Paul Needell of the Star-Ledger recently
interviewed the two key players in the call back then, personnel
director Mike Hickey and team doctor James Nicholas.
Hickey claims that the Jets didn’t pick Marino because Nicholas
said Marino had one bad knee. But Nicholas says today, “I never
even examined him. Maybe he didn’t pass his physical at the
scouting combine, that’s possible. But it didn’t come from me.”
Actually, for all the grief the Jets have received over the years, as
20 or so other teams have, too, excluding those who ended up
with Elway, Dickerson and Kelly, Ken O’Brien was a solid QB,
throwing for over 25,000 yards, while completing 58% of his
passes and tossing 128 touchdowns versus just 98 interceptions.
Hey, Wake Forest fans. Looks like fullback Ovie Mughelli is
going to be taken in the first two rounds. Not bad.
Golf / World Rankings
#1 Tiger Woods, 17.46
#2 Ernie Els, 9.16
#3 Davis Love III, 8.43
#4 Phil Mickelson, 7.31
#5 Mike Weir, 6.98
#6 Vijay Singh, 6.23
#7 David Toms, 5.92
#8 Retief Goosen, 5.67
#9 Jim Furyk, 5.49
#10 Padraig Harrington, 5.07
Stuff
–Kenyans took the top five spots for the men in the Boston
Marathon, 8 of the first 9.
–As Johnny Mac points out, the Yankees at 18-3 (through
Wednesday) are off to the team’s best start ever without Jeter and
Rivera, as well as little from Jason Giambi. The starters are
16-0. On the other side of town, I went to my first Mets game in
quite some time Tuesday and froze my butt off. And for crying
out loud, the squad is pitiful. But special kudos to the Astros’
Brad Ausmus, who signed autographs for about 20 minutes
before the game. [And thanks to my friends at PIMCO for the
super ticket.]
–63-year-old Mario Andretti could be making some news.
There is a chance he may try to qualify Tony Kanaan’s Honda
car for the Indy 500, due to the fact Kanaan is hurt, though Tony
should be ready for the race itself. It’s a great story, if Mario can
pull it off.
**Update: I was afraid this would happen. Mario crashed, but
at least he”s alright.
–All kinds of rumors that the Atlantic Coast Conference is trying
to poach Miami, Boston College and Syracuse, for the purpose of
having two, 6-team divisions….and a lucrative conference
championship game for football. Hey, I’m an old ACC guy from
way back, but it’s not right to destroy the Big East like this. Just
my opinion. [Thanks to Steve D. for being the first to pass this
info along.]……………wouldn’t mind a road trip to South
Beach, however.
–Ordinarily, I wouldn’t mention a specific book review, but
noted author of the deep, Richard Ellis, whose “Encyclopedia of
the Sea” I’ll have to revisit this summer, last week reviewed
Simon Winchester’s “Krakatoa” for the New York Times Book
Review. My friend Harry K. and I always appreciated a good
volcano tale and according to Ellis, Winchester’s book is
“brilliant.”
Just a blurb from the review of the story behind the 1883
explosion that rocked the world:
“ ‘It began with a sudden trembling,’ Winchester writes. ‘At first
it was slight, more of a quivering of the air, a series of windy
rumblings, of vague, barely noticeable atmospheric flutterings.’
After three months of rumbling earth tremors, the island blew up
with a succession of blasts that could be heard 3,000 miles away.
(If Pikes Peak in Colorado had exploded with the same force,
every person in the continental United States would have heard
it.)”
There, I just gave you a terrific read for the summer. Me? I’m
finally going to get around to my book on pitching great Walter
Johnson.
–50 years ago, April 24-25, 1953, Oregon Senator Wayne Morse
filibustered a bill on the Senate floor for 22 hours and 26
minutes, the longest ever for a single member. His attempt to
block legislation dealing with control of oil reserves failed,
however, by a 56-35 margin. That was 22 hours and 26 minutes
without a break, if you catch my drift.
Top 3 songs for the week of 4/24/76: #1 “Disco Lady” (Johnnie
Taylor) #2 “Let Your Love Flow” (Bellamy Brothers) #3
“Right Back Where We Started From” (Maxine Nightingale)
Baltimore Orioles Quiz Answers: 1) Rookie of the Year: 1960 –
Ron Hansen, SS; 1965 – Curt Blefary, OF; 1973 – Al Bumbry,
OF. 2) Rafael Palmeiro, 142 (1996) and Jim Gentile, 141 (1961)
are the only two Orioles to drive in 140. 3) Frank Robinson is
the last Oriole to win a batting title, as part of his Triple Crown
season in 1966 (.316). 4) Top 3 / Home Runs: Cal Ripken, Jr.,
431; Eddie Murray, 343; Boog Powell, 303.
**Speaking of the Orioles, the Detroit Tigers, 1-17 through
Tuesday, are off to the worst start in baseball history since the
1988 Orioles lost their first 21 on the way to a 54-107 mark. The
Baltimore pitching staff, you’ll recall, was led by Jay “They Call
Me Mr.” Tibbs, who went 4-15 with a 5.39 ERA.
This just in…Tigers win! Tigers win!…..now 2-17.
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday. *The editor is heading overseas and
will be out of touch for a spell. Enjoy some oldies but goodies in
the meantime.
