Each week, The Baltimore Sun will chronicle the Orioles’ march to their first world championship in 1966, along with an archived cartoon of the Orioles bird drawn by the late Jim Hartzell, artist for The Baltimore Sun.
A cartoon drawing of the Oriole bird by Baltimore Sun artist Jim Hartzell. (Baltimore Sun)
Injuries test the Orioles’ mettle. With eight players hurting, including nearly half of the pitching staff, the club struggles to win two of six games — both extra-inning walk-off victories.
In the first inning of a 9-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers, pitcher Moe Drabowsky is struck on the collarbone. Another pitcher in the same game, Steve Barber, retires one batter and leaves with a sore arm. Pitchers Wally Bunker, Eddie Watt and Dick Hall are bothered by elbow problems. Second baseman Davey Johnson nurses a fractured toe, while catcher Andy Etchebarren (pulled muscle) and first baseman Boog Powell (fractured finger) are day-to-day.
Still, the Orioles (82-46) cling to their double-digit lead in the American League. In a 4-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians, Curt Blefary homers in the ninth inning to tie the game, and in the 11th, Paul Blair’s bases-loaded single wins it. Ageless reliever Stu Miller pitches four hitless innings to boost his record to 8-2.
The next game, they rally again. Trailing the Boston Red Sox 2-0 in the ninth, the Orioles pull even on consecutive pinch-hit home runs by Vic Roznovsky and Powell, an AL record. Three innings later, it’s Russ Snyder who hits a bases-loaded single and Blair who scores the winning run.
Another day, another comeback. Down 3-0 to Boston in the ninth, the Orioles score twice. But Frank Robinson, whose 40 homers leads the AL, strikes out to end the game.
Each week, The Baltimore Sun will chronicle the Orioles’ march to their first world championship in 1966, along with an archived cartoon of the Orioles bird drawn by the late Jim Hartzell, artist for The Baltimore Sun.
A cartoon drawing of the Oriole bird by Baltimore Sun artist Jim Hartzell. (Baltimore Sun)
It’s Boog Powell’s week, for better and worse. The big first baseman hits six home runs as the Orioles win five of six games on the road. In a 4-2 win over the Boston Red Sox, Powell hits three homers; his ninth-inning blast ties the game and his two-run shot in the 11th inning wins it.
Afterward, in the clubhouse, Powell takes a razzing.
“You’re not that good, Booger,” says shortstop Luis Aparicio, who’s from Maracaibo, Venezuela.
“Think those balls would have been out of Maracaibo, Looie?” Powell asks.
“Out? They’da landed in the airport,” Aparicio says.
The next game, Powell does it again. His fifth homer in three days — a three-run job — leads the Orioles past the Red Sox, 6-4. Besieged by the media, he shares kudos.
“Ain’t a guy on this club who hasn’t got a key home run or key hit in a late inning,” he says.
In an 8-3 victory over Detroit, Powell hits No. 32, a broken-bat liner that rattles the right-field stands 400 feet away. Next time up, Tigers starter Denny McLain fires an inside pitch that nails Powell on the left hand, fracturing his ring finger. The American League RBI leader misses two games but is never the same, hitting just two home runs in the final six weeks.
Who’ll pick up the slack? Aparicio gets five hits to beat Boston, 8-4. Light-hitting Bob Johnson homers to win another game. And Frank Robinson, the AL home run leader (37), connects twice in a 6-0 win over the Washington Senators. After his first homer, Robinson is decked by a brushback pitch. He gets up and hits the next offering over the fence.
At 80-42, the Orioles lead the 10-team AL by 13 1/2 games.
A cartoon drawing of the Oriole bird by Baltimore Sun artist Jim Hartzell. (Baltimore Sun)
The Orioles learn this week that, for a spell, they can win without Frank Robinson's bat. His glove? That's another matter. Baltimore wins five of eight games with little punch from Robinson (five hits in 33 at-bats). But his fielding saves a 7-5 victory over New York at Yankee Stadium.
With two on and two out in the ninth inning, Roy White drills a liner deep to right field. Robinson races back, stabs the ball and tumbles over the 3 1/2-foot padded fence into the crowd. He reappears holding the ball aloft. Game over. The Yankees argue that Robinson dropped it; he says no.
“People tried to get the ball from me, but they didn't,” he says.
With their big bat silent, other Orioles carry the load. A three-run home run by left fielder Curt Blefary, his 12th, lifts left-hander Steve Barber to a 3-0 shutout of the Yankees. The next day, in a rare start, Sam Bowens hits his second home run of the season to help beat New York. Two days later, Bowens connects again in a 1-0 win over the California Angels. The victory is No. 8 for right-hander Wally Bunker, tying him with Jim Palmer for the team lead. Bunker is 21 years old; Palmer, 20.
To date, the Orioles are a torrid 21-7 in June and 46-24 overall, with a 1 1/2-game lead over the second-place Detroit Tigers. There are even better days ahead.
