Wally Bunker

There are some players from Orioles history that I really feel like I should have covered by this point in my blogging, and Wally Bunker is certainly one of them.  He was a star rookie for the team in 1964 and was a key part of the Orioles 1966 World Series sweep of the Dodgers. But this is the very first mention of him on my site in almost four years of writing. I think that at least part of the delay was the fact that I knew I should have covered him sometime long ago, and the longer I didn't do it, the better I felt like the post should be; but don't expect anything great from me. After all that, I still don't have a lot to say about Wally.

The Orioles signed Bunker straight out of high school in 1963 and he joined the team later that same year, appearing in one game with the team when he was just 18 years old. He was dominant throughout 1964, his first full MLB season, and went 19-5 with a 2.69 ERA over 29 starts which earned him the Sporting News A.L. Rookie Pitcher of the Year award. He was so dominant that Baltimore'e mayor at the time officially christened the pitching mound at Memorial Stadium "Baltimore's Bunker Hill" with dirt from the actual Bunker Hill. Unfortunately, in a game late that season, Wally suffered an arm injury that he likened to being shot, which was never properly diagnosed and he was never able to repeat the success from his rookie campaign.

He continued to be at least an average big league pitcher over the next seven seasons. One highlight was the  shut out he pitched against the Dodgers in Game 3 of the '66 World Series, which was part of the 33 1/3 consecutive shutout innings that the Orioles pitching staff reeled off during the series. He also was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 1969 expansion draft and threw the first pitch in the history of the team.

By 1971, his arm injuries were too much for him to overcome and he threw his final big league pitch at just 26 years old. However in a few interviews that took place in more recent years, it sounds like Wally is very much at peace with how his career worked out. I think I can safely say that most of us would be satisfied having done what he did before he turned 27!

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Moe Drabowsky, Oriole #226

This week, I'm combing two of my themed posts, Unpossible Autographs, signifying an Orioles player who has passed away, and Counting Down the Orioles, which chronicles the Orioles debuts. If I like it, I might make it a new thing. 

(Every Friday, I profile a former Oriole who has passed away. I've substituted the word unpossible for impossible as an homage to a line from "The Simpsons". Young Ralph Wiggum, who is a few pennies short of a dollar, says "Me fail English? That's unpossible.") 

Although this autograph has been in my collection for some time now, I think that I've avoided writing about Moe because I don't feel qualified to do so. I know that I've written many posts about old-school players who I never saw play and don't know much about, but I've heard so many stories about Moe's legendary prankster status, that I have no idea where to begin. But here it goes...

Moe was born in Ozanna, Poland in 1935 and, luckily, his family moved to the U.S. in 1938, ahead of many of the Nazi-era Eastern European atrocities that took place in the ensuing years. 

Moe made his Orioles debut on Opening Day, 1966 against the Red Sox. He was the first pitcher out of the bullpen that day and pitched 1.2 innings of relief, allowing two hits, one run, one walk and striking out one. 

Over his career, he pitched in the Majors for 17 seasons, including two well-timed stints with the Orioles that allowed him to be a member of their 1966 & '70 World Series winning teams, even though he spent parts of two seasons with the Royals in between the two Championships. In game 1 of the 1966 Series, he set a still-standing World Series record for relief pitchers by mowing down 11 consecutive Dodgers, and tied the single game record with six consecutive strikeouts. Now that's legitimate domination!

Some other interesting items I read about Moe include how he earned the first win in Kansas City Royals history in 1969, gave up Stan Musial's 3,000th career hit in 1958, and was the opposing pitcher when Early Wynn won his 300th game in 1963. 

And I can't write about Moe without writing about his love of pranks. It sounds like he was the master of the hotfoot; he even managed to give one to baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn! It sounds like there are countless other pranks that Moe was involved with over the years, and while they mostly sound hilarious, they are are too numerous to list here. 

Moe stayed involved with baseball after he retired, and served as a minor league pitching instructor for the White Sox and Orioles for many years. He even served as the AA Bowie Baysox interim manager for a single game in 1996. He passed away in 2006 after a long bout with cancer. RIP Moe. 

The 1983 World Series Champs

As I'm watching yet another Orioles-free World Series, I thought it might be a good time to look back at the most recent O's team that was able to win the championship. It has sadly been 28 seasons since the Orioles last played in and won a World Series. While that accomplishment occurred within my lifetime, I was sadly much too young to understand, appreciate or celebrate the victory at that time.

Since the Orioles have played in a World Series game, 24 different teams have made it to the October Classic, and 18 teams have won it (with the Rangers possibly becoming the 19th if they win this year).

The other teams who haven't played in the World Series since at least 1983 are the Seattle Mariners, Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Chicago Cubs. A few of those teams (Mariners, Nats/Expos, & Brewers) have never made it to the World Series, and as most of you know, the Cubs haven't won it since 1908, so I guess the Orioles have it better than those teams, but it's still frustrating. The Brewers and Cubs have made the playoffs in recent years, so they at least have that going for them.

We all should agree that parity is alive and well in baseball, especially if you don't like any of those six teams.


Without further ado, here are some random never-before-seen-on-my-blog scans of autographs from the '83 Orioles World Series Champs.

"Whacko" was the long-time Orioles second baseman who, like many who play the position, was known more for his glove than his bat. He still holds two A.L. single season fielding records for the position; 86 consecutive errorless games and 425 straight errorless chances, both of which he set in 1978.

Tito's 10th inning home run in the 4th game of the ALCS propelled the O's past the White Sox and into the Series. He appeared in three World Series game as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement but didn't have any plate appearances during the Series.

Sammy was the only middle reliever that the O's needed during the series (ahem Tony LaRussa) and pitched five total innings over three games of the series, allowing zero runs while striking out six. These days, he is much better remembered for his drug use and subsequent jail-time.

 

Joe was the O's back-up catcher and went hitless in two at-bats during the series. Ah 1983, when backup catchers were included in card sets.