1985 Orioles Debuts, #397-408

Compared to the few following seasons that I recently profiled, the Orioles debuts during the 1985 season  saw a few bigger names and/or players that actually stuck around Baltimore for at least a few seasons.  The highlights were probably Fred Lynn, and Alan Wiggins, but a few of these other guys had some decent success in Baltimore as well. 

Here's my older posts in the series...
(2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987, 1986)

Fred Lynn #397, 4/8/85 (1985-88)

Don Aase #398, 4/8/85 (1985-88)

Fritz Connally #399, 4/10/85 (1985)

Lee Lacy #400, 5/13/85 (1985-87)

Al Pardo #401, 7/3/85 MLB Debut (1985-86)

Alan Wiggins #402, 7/5/85 (1985-87)

Phil Huffman #403, 7/13/85 (1985)

Brad Havens #404, 9/8/85 (1985-86)

Brad pitched eight seasons in the Majors between 1981-89 for five different teams and never was able to find much prolonged success at the MLB level. He was the Opening Day starter for the 1983 Twins and he was once involved in a trade for Rod Carew.

He also has a long-standing tradition of not signing TTM requests, dating back at least a decade, so I'm very happy to have his autograph in my collection.

Tom O'Malley #405, 9/8/85 (1985-86)

Tom's career was similar to that of Brad's in a few ways. He played nine seasons in the big leagues for six different teams, also including two with the O's, but never was able to get in a groove and spent much of his MLB in a back-up role. Their paths split when Tom went on to play six seasons in the Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league following his time in the Majors. He found consistent success in Japan and was one of the league's better players during much of his time there, even winning the Central League MVP award in 1995. He hit over .300 over every season that he played in Japan.

Kelly Paris #406, 9/18/85 (1985-86)

Eric Bell #407, 9/24/85 MLB Debut (1985-87)

John Habyan #408, 9/29/85 MLB Debut (1985-88)

One of Those Orioles Crown Cards That Doesn't Picture the Player Wearing an Orioles Uniform or TTM Success: Phil Huffman

Phil Huffman 1985

I've brought this up before and I try not to complain too much on my blog, but I really don't like how some of the cards in this Crown set show a guy wearing something other than an Orioles uniform. Phil was only an Oriole for a short amount of time but I feel like someone with the club would have taken a picture of him in the O's uniform either during a game, on a picture day or in spring training. He was in the organization for three seasons! And that's all I have to say about that.

Moving along; Phil had a very interesting career arc. He was drafted in 1977 by the Giants and was traded to the A's along with others for Vida Blue prior to the '78 season. Later in 1978, he was traded to the Blue Jays, with whom he made his MLB debut in 1979. He pitched the entire season for Toronto and unfortunately led the league with 18 losses in his only complete season in the Bigs. He made 31 starts that year and had a 5.77 ERA, going 6-18 with 2 complete games including a shutout. He wouldn't make it back to the Majors for another 6 years.

After his disappointing 1979, he toiled in the Jays minor league system for 2 seasons before being traded to the Royals prior to the '82 season. The Royals eventually released him and he signed with the Mets but he didn't see any Big League action for either of those teams.

On July 13, 1984, the Orioles purchased him from the Mets. He finally made it back to the Majors in 1985 with the Birds and appeared in only two games but earned a decision in both games (a win and a loss). I doubt that many pitchers earn a decision in their only two appearances of a season. He earned the loss in his relief appearance but got the W for his one start.

Phil continued to pitch in the Minors for the O's and then Twins organizations until retiring after the 1987 season. I think that's quite an interesting path in the baseball world and I'm sure he earned some frequent flier miles over his 10 years around the show.