Posted on 12/22/2005 1:25:31 PM PST by MikefromOhio
yeah....
late 80s up to 1997 for me....then I moved to Ohio and only caught them on the TV....
I was going to a game during Cal's last year. The game was against the Blue Jays on Tuesday, September 11th, 2001.
I still have those tickets.
Wow!
John Miller!
I grew up with him. Damn Angelos.
yep.
I had them framed along with the Ripken Rookie cards I have....
I grew up with him. Damn Angelos.
I think the guy I started with was Bill O'Donnell.
Something about baseball on the radio ... It's kinda like background music for your youthful summers!
I think I had a coupla those ... but back then, they were just cards!
The manager of the 1983 O's, Joe Altobelli, is "Mr. Baseball" here in Rochester.
He still does the color on the Red Wings radiocasts and is a joy to listen to.
yeah...
I have all 4 of them, and I had the big one, The Topps Traded rookie card, signed.
What about the Billy Ripken card with the profanity printed on his bat? ;)
I have that one too :)
or I did. It's probably still in my parent's attic somewhere :)
Apparently, blood is not a sure indicator of talent!
For the record, Mark Belanger died in 1998 at the age of 54. He couldn't hit a lick but between Brooks on one side and Johnson or Grich on the other, not much got through that infield. I'm not an O's fan really, but it is true they were a model franchise for probably 30 years. I grew up in SE PA and used to hear the Birds games on WBAL -- Chuck Thompson (who also died not that long ago) and Frank Messer and Bill O'Donnell doing the games. Ess-Kay Quality Meats and Utz Potato Chips and National Bo were the sponsors. Many fond memories of Memorial Stadium for this Yankee fan (except for finding a place to park, that is.) I thought that was a wonderful park, but it has been so overshadowed by Camden Yards that people forget what a nice, low-key, homey place to play it was. Does anybody else out there remember Dugout Chatter with Jim West?
heh :)
Grich was part of one of the best AAA teams ever here in 1971.
I bummed 5 bucks off him at Silver Stadium the night he was inducted into the Red Wings Hall of Fame circa 1989!
Remember the eye black he always wore?
Joe Altobelli went to Eastern High School in Detroit with my Uncle Joe. And then the Tigers beat the Padres the next year's World Series (1984). Last shot at the Tigers' glory.
That's what Earl did best!
I do remember the Orioles seemed loaded forever back in those days -- Grich and Baylor led the pack -- there was also a guy named Roger Freed (also deceased) who looked like he might have been the best hitter of the lot, but he never really made it. Coggins, Bumbry, DeCinces, Dauer, Wayne Garland, Don Hood, Jesse Jefferson, Ross Grimsley -- a lot of those guys with promise passed through Rochester on their way to Baltimore.
I believe Freed still has the Rochester franchise record for homers.
His stories are priceless. I think the guys who weren't great players have the best tales ...
He was a great manager here and for the O's!
That's an amazing group to come from one team. If memory serves, the O's broke their long-term relationship with Rochester not too long ago. Too bad; it was quite a history. One more bad Angelos legacy.
I remember another promising Orioles prospect, George "Storm" Davis -- a Palmer protege. He had a few decent years in the majors, but nothing like the expectations.
I had mixed emotions. As an O's fan, it was great to see all the prospects come thru here -- but there weren't anymore prospects.
The Twins have a great farm system, though they don't have the $$$ the O's had.
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