RIP Flanny

Some very sad news hit yesterday when we learned that Mike Flanagan was dead at only 59 years old. And now today, multiple news outlets are reporting that it was an apparent suicide. I have no idea what might have caused Mike to take his own life but it just makes the news that much harder to accept.

I'm pretty sad about Mike's passing; I had the chance to meet him a handful of times over the years and he always seemed like a pretty nice guy and was known throughout baseball for his dry, witty sense of humor. For some odd reason, I've never done a post about Mike before today, and that makes me feel like I've done an inadequate job with my Orioles blogging over the past few years.

It's hard to rank Mike's exact spot in the Orioles pitching pantheon, except I would say that he's comfortably in the top five, along with Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, Mike Mussina, and Mike Cuellar. Flanny was the 1979 A.L Cy Young winner and was a member of the '78 A.L. All-Star team. In the all-time Orioles record books, he ranks third with 450 games pitched and 328 starts, fourth with 1,297 strikeouts and 98 complete games, and fifth with 141 wins.

Mike was involved with the Orioles off and on for the past five decades as a player, pitching coach, general manager and broadcaster. He was one of a small handful of former players who have stayed near the team over so many years and meant a lot to the franchise and the city of Baltimore. RIP Mike. You will be missed.

Goodbye Al

 

Sadly, another former Orioles player has died this year when Al Pilarcik passed away on September 20. I couldn't find a cause of death listed, but it's always sad when a former Oriole leaves this world behind. 2010 has been an especially bad year for former O's, as Al becomes the tenth Oriole to pass away this year after Curt Motton (1/21), Bob Chakales (2/18), Frank Bertaina (3/3), Billy Hoeft (3/16), Mike Cuellar (4/2), Robin Roberts (5/6), Morrie Martin (5/25), Billy Loes (7/15), and Bobby Thomson (8/16). I'm guessing that 2010 has seen more former Orioles die than any other year.  It somewhat makes sense as the franchise started in 1954 so many of the guys who played for the team in the mid-50's are getting old nowadays.  With over three months to go in the year, I can't help but feel that Al might not be the last Oriole to die this year the way things have gone so far.

Al played all three outfield positions, but chiefly was a right-fielder, during his 6 seasons in the Majors from 1956-61. He played 517 of his 668 games with the Orioles from 1957-60,  played two stints with the Kansas City A's and finished his career with the White Sox. 

After retiring from baseball, Al spent 34 years as a high school health teacher in St. John, Indiana, where he also coached baseball, football and basketball. In his later years, he taught part-time at Indiana University.  He was inducted into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987.  Here's a link to his obituary. RIP Al.

Monday's Orioles Alumni Autograph Series

Monday's game marked the return of the Orioles Alumni Autograph series to the MASN tent on Eutaw Street. The signings occur prior to every Monday and Thursday home game throughout the season. The alumni players normally sign from 5:30-6:30 and it's a great way to add some autographs of former O's to your collection. Two of the guys who signed at the tent last season, Mike Cuellar and Curt Motton, have passed away in the past year. Which is a good reminder that life can be short and the end can come unexpectedly, so it's probably a good idea to get these autographs while you still can. I hope that didn't come off as morbid, and I'm certainly not implying that death is around the corner for any of the signers!

Anyway, the three former O's who signed on Monday were Rick Krivda (who signed this orange uni card for me, suh-weet), Paul Blair and Tippy Martinez. Honestly, they were all good players, especially Blair and Tippy, but it was an uninspiring start to the alumni auto season. All of those guys signed last year and have been around at multiple O's events over the years. Selfishly, I have multiple autographs from all three of them and I was hoping for someone new to add to my collection.

Unpossible Autograph- Dave McNally

Dave McNally 1962-74 (died 2002)

It's about time that the greatest left-handed pitcher in Orioles history makes an appearance on my blog! Dave's 181 wins are the second most in team history, behind only HOFer Jim Palmer's 268 and are by far the most by a lefty.

He won 20 or more games in 4 consecutive seasons from 1968-71, and was one of 4 O's starters to do so in 1970, along with Palmer, Pat Dobson and Mike Cuellar. As far as modern Orioles records go, he has made the second most starts (384) again behind Palmer, has the third most complete games (120), second most shutouts (33), and sixth best ERA (3.18) (among pitchers who started at least 100 games for the O's).

He also made 3 All-Star teams, came in the top 4 of Cy Young voting in three consecutive years ('69-71) and received MVP votes four times. His best season was probably 1970 when he led the league in wins and games started.

Dave also contributed to the O's World Series Championship seasons in 1966 & '70. In his only start of the '70 WS, he even hit a grand slam and won the game for himself! And yes, that bat is in the HOF since that's the only time a pitcher took care of everything in a World Series game.

Over his career, he won 12 decisions in a row three different times including once when he made it all the way to 17 straight winning decisions. That's amazing! Roger Clemens is the only other pitcher to have ever done that. Crazy stuff. I don't think I appreciated just how good Dave was until researching this post.

Very, very impressive stuff. I definitely say that he is the second best Orioles pitcher of all-time behind Cakes.



Dave also did something to clear the way for today's players in every sport to make the money that they do. He, along with Andy Messersmith of the Dodgers, challenged the Reserve Clause,
which basically said that once a player's contract ended, they were still property of that team unless they negotiated a new contract with that same team or asked to be traded or released. The link explains it in much more detail if you are interested but to sum it up, their challenge led to the advent of free agency as we know it so that all teams could bid for a player's services.

Dave passed away due to lung cancer on 12/1/02 in Billings, Montana, where he had lived his entire life. I wish I had appreciated your career more while you were still with us!

2 game sweep and CAL!

Here are some autographs and pictures from last Thursday's O's-Twins game and alumni autograph signing. I did not have autos from 2 of the 3 Orioles alumni at the game, Curt Motton and Mike Cuellar, so I knew I was going to have a good day.

Larry Sheets, Mike Cuellar & Curt Motton

It also seemed like the Twins were a very good signing team. I just missed out on Brendan Harris and Francisco Liriano (a fantasy baseball crush of mine from 2007 who signed down the line and at the end of the dugout). Luckily, Joe Nathan was an even better signer and I swear the guy signed for 150 fans and took pictures with half of them. That's pretty rare for an elite player like Joe.

Joe Nathan, one of baseball's best closers


Joe signed 2 for me, Scott Baker was also nice


As were Kevin Slowey & Craig Breslow

This game was yet another example of my Berg-itis or the Berg Flu
(Those are my tentative names for the fact that I somehow always see Brad Bergesen pitch, even when it was not my intent, and at times a surprise)

Wiggy & Mauer


And look who decided to make a surprise appearance at the game
That's Cal with his daughter Rachel. He signed for a number of fans before being escorted away by security to avoid a mob scene. I only took a picture from afar since I don't like to bother former players who come as fans, especially when they are with their families. But I will take pictures to prove I was there!