70 in 70. Celebrating the Orioles 70th season by showcasing a handful of pictures from each season of Orioles Baseball. 1977
February 11, 2023
70 in 70. Celebrating the Orioles 70th season by showcasing a handful of pictures from each season of Orioles Baseball. 1977
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Earl Weaver was known for his temperament and tendencies to get throw out of a game almost as often as any other manager. But on September 15th Weaver has plenty of good reason to be mad. The Sun reports “The Orioles were trailing, 4‐0, entering the last of the fifth inning when Weaver asked the third‐base umpire, Marty Springstead, to order the removal of the tarpaulin& which had been put on the mound in the bull pen in the left‐field corner to protect it from a steady rain. Weaver argued that the tarp was a potential danger to his left fielder, Andres Mora But Springstmd refused to comply with the request, and the Orioles’ tempestuous skipper then took his team off the field. The Orioles were given 15 minutes by the umpire to get their players back on the field. When they did not return, the game was forfeited to Toronto by the score of 9‐0.” The baseball reference page for this game reads “This game ended as a forfeit to the Blue Jays after Earl Weaver removed his team from the field in the fifth inning and refused to continue play. Weaver felt that a tarp covering the bullpen mound in foul territory represented an injury risk and the umpire refused to have the tarp removed.”
Lee May came to Baltimore in 1975 as part of a deal with the Houston Astros. A member of the Orioles Hall of Fame, May would hit .254/.299/.423 with 123 HR and almost 500 RBI during his time in Baltimore. He twice received MVP votes in Baltimore and would lead the team in either HR or RBI each season he was an Oriole.
1977 would be the last year of Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson’s career. At the age of 40 he appeared in only 24 games the whole season due to a plethora of reasons. His ending was somewhat unceremonious, playing sparling as a pinch hitter most of the season Earl Weaver brought him in for an at bat against the Oakland Athletics. Before Brooks could come up to the plate the Athletics made a pitching change switching a lefty with a righty, Weaver responded to this change by switching who the pinch hitter would be, effectively pulling Robinson from the game before he even recorded an appearance. Brooks had already lost his starting gig to Doug DeCinces in 1975, and the decline was very obvious for the 40 year old. On August 21st, with over a month left in the season, Brooks Robinson retired from baseball. The move came to help the team open a roster spot for Rick Dempsey who was coming off the IL. Robinson would finish his career the team leader in many offensive categories and would be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as the first Oriole
The real crime of the 1977 season is Al Bumbry missing out on any awards. Batting near .320 and playing near gold glove defense in center on a team that finished with nearly 100 wins and second in the division would usually gain more recognition but Bumbry received no votes for AL MVP. He didn’t win a Gold Glove either. His teammates Mark Belanger and Jim Palmer would both win but Bumbry would miss out on the OF award. Bumbry wouldn’t even make an All Star Team in 1977. The 1970s and era surrounding this time were packed deep with media darlings and fan favorites across all teams. Id like to imagine that today a center fielder doing what Bumbry did would receive more recognition. Oddly enough my source for this photo is the US Department of Defense website. I guess the DoD is full of Orioles fans
As part of a very uncommon practice for the Orioles at this time, a rookie debuted and gained regular playing time in the same year. Many key contributors that came up with the Orioles during this time would take a season or several to break into the lineup regularly. Eddie Murray debuted on Opening Day after a strong spring and would go on to appear on 160 games. The Hall of Famer started his career on a very good foot hitting 27 HRs and 29 Doubles. He would win Rookie of the Year in a race between him and Mitchell Page of Oakland. The Orioles trust in Murray to buck the trend and let him be a regular starter from day one paid off as he now has his number 33 retired by the club, a plaque in the Hall of Fame, and a statue at Camden Yards.
Reggie Jackson left Baltimore for New York in free agency after the 1976 season. He didn’t sign extremely late in the season, didn’t hold out like he did with the Orioles, he didn’t refuse to see the media at all after signing, yet his original Topps card used a photo of him in a different uniform. This is not uncommon, especially back in the days when player information, pictures, and the players themselves weren’t always readily available to the baseball card companies. What is uncommon about this card is how early Reggie Jackson joined his new team before the card was released. Jackson signed in late November even before the official Winter Meetings. The cards at the time were usually put out in a limited release right before Christmas, with a larger drop coming sometime closer to the season start. The only hiccup in the distribution process here would be that Free agency was so new to baseball and Jackson was the first big name so there was no real prescient to fall back on. Whatever the reason for the bizarre combination Yankees Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson’s first official baseball card had him in an Orioles uniform.
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Earl Weaver was known for his temperament and tendencies to get throw out of a game almost as often as any other manager. But on September 15th Weaver has plenty of good reason to be mad. The Sun reports “The Orioles were trailing, 4‐0, entering the last of the fifth inning when Weaver asked the third‐base umpire, Marty Springstead, to order the removal of the tarpaulin& which had been put on the mound in the bull pen in the left‐field corner to protect it from a steady rain. Weaver argued that the tarp was a potential danger to his left fielder, Andres Mora But Springstmd refused to comply with the request, and the Orioles’ tempestuous skipper then took his team off the field. The Orioles were given 15 minutes by the umpire to get their players back on the field. When they did not return, the game was forfeited to Toronto by the score of 9‐0.” The baseball reference page for this game reads “This game ended as a forfeit to the Blue Jays after Earl Weaver removed his team from the field in the fifth inning and refused to continue play. Weaver felt that a tarp covering the bullpen mound in foul territory represented an injury risk and the umpire refused to have the tarp removed.”
Lee May came to Baltimore in 1975 as part of a deal with the Houston Astros. A member of the Orioles Hall of Fame, May would hit .254/.299/.423 with 123 HR and almost 500 RBI during his time in Baltimore. He twice received MVP votes in Baltimore and would lead the team in either HR or RBI each season he was an Oriole.
1977 would be the last year of Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson’s career. At the age of 40 he appeared in only 24 games the whole season due to a plethora of reasons. His ending was somewhat unceremonious, playing sparling as a pinch hitter most of the season Earl Weaver brought him in for an at bat against the Oakland Athletics. Before Brooks could come up to the plate the Athletics made a pitching change switching a lefty with a righty, Weaver responded to this change by switching who the pinch hitter would be, effectively pulling Robinson from the game before he even recorded an appearance. Brooks had already lost his starting gig to Doug DeCinces in 1975, and the decline was very obvious for the 40 year old. On August 21st, with over a month left in the season, Brooks Robinson retired from baseball. The move came to help the team open a roster spot for Rick Dempsey who was coming off the IL. Robinson would finish his career the team leader in many offensive categories and would be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as the first Oriole
The real crime of the 1977 season is Al Bumbry missing out on any awards. Batting near .320 and playing near gold glove defense in center on a team that finished with nearly 100 wins and second in the division would usually gain more recognition but Bumbry received no votes for AL MVP. He didn’t win a Gold Glove either. His teammates Mark Belanger and Jim Palmer would both win but Bumbry would miss out on the OF award. Bumbry wouldn’t even make an All Star Team in 1977. The 1970s and era surrounding this time were packed deep with media darlings and fan favorites across all teams. Id like to imagine that today a center fielder doing what Bumbry did would receive more recognition. Oddly enough my source for this photo is the US Department of Defense website. I guess the DoD is full of Orioles fans
As part of a very uncommon practice for the Orioles at this time, a rookie debuted and gained regular playing time in the same year. Many key contributors that came up with the Orioles during this time would take a season or several to break into the lineup regularly. Eddie Murray debuted on Opening Day after a strong spring and would go on to appear on 160 games. The Hall of Famer started his career on a very good foot hitting 27 HRs and 29 Doubles. He would win Rookie of the Year in a race between him and Mitchell Page of Oakland. The Orioles trust in Murray to buck the trend and let him be a regular starter from day one paid off as he now has his number 33 retired by the club, a plaque in the Hall of Fame, and a statue at Camden Yards.
Reggie Jackson left Baltimore for New York in free agency after the 1976 season. He didn’t sign extremely late in the season, didn’t hold out like he did with the Orioles, he didn’t refuse to see the media at all after signing, yet his original Topps card used a photo of him in a different uniform. This is not uncommon, especially back in the days when player information, pictures, and the players themselves weren’t always readily available to the baseball card companies. What is uncommon about this card is how early Reggie Jackson joined his new team before the card was released. Jackson signed in late November even before the official Winter Meetings. The cards at the time were usually put out in a limited release right before Christmas, with a larger drop coming sometime closer to the season start. The only hiccup in the distribution process here would be that Free agency was so new to baseball and Jackson was the first big name so there was no real prescient to fall back on. Whatever the reason for the bizarre combination Yankees Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson’s first official baseball card had him in an Orioles uniform.