That four decades have passed since the Orioles won their first world championship is staggering. The surviving members of that 1966 club will be honored tomorrow evening at a cocktail reception at Morgan State University, sponsored by the Babe Ruth Museum.
I suspect most of us have that image etched into our collective brains of Brooks Robinson leaping in the air after the final out in Game 4 against the Dodgers. Brooks is facing the camera, and lefty Dave McNally, who had shut out Los Angeles, 1-0, on four hits, is facing Brooks. The photo of Alan Ameche?s game-winning touchdown plunge in the 1958 NFL championship game and Brooks? leap skyward represent the two biggest moments in Baltimore sports history ? yes, bigger than the Ravens? Super Bowl victory.
Dave McNally, sadly, passed away nearly four years ago, and Moe Drabowsky, who relieved Dave in Game 1, striking out 11 in a 5-2 win, died earlier this year. Manager Hank Bauer, who will be at tomorrow?s event, said later he thought Moe?s performance psyched out the Dodger bats for the rest of the series. They had seen Drabowsky many times during his earlier incarnation as a mediocre National League starter with the Cubs. Whether that was the reason or not, Dodger bats went stone cold, managing only 14 hits off Moe and the next three Oriole starters, who threw 33 innings of shutout ball.
Jim Palmer, a Series starter just days before his 21st birthday, and Wally Bunker, at 21 already a veteran, kept the Dodgers off the bases, which was critical when you consider that the Orioles were having little success against Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax and Claude Osteen. The underdog Orioles hit like underdogs, batting only .200 for the series, the lowest average ever for a team winning a series in a sweep. The Dodgers batted a pathetic .142.
It?s the results that count, however, and the Orioles celebrated the franchise?s first-ever World Series triumph, keeping in mind that their predecessors, the St. Louis Browns, played in the postseason only once, losing to the Cardinals in 1944. Sure, the minor-league Orioles won championships along the way, but this was the big one.
In a world where many fans feel if they didn?t see it on “SportsCenter,” it must not have actually happened, the Orioles? success for the quarter-century that began in 1960 must seem like science fiction, based upon their struggles over the last decade. Baseball teams were put together differently prior to free agency. The amateur draft was only a year old in 1966 ? a year which, in retrospect, showed from opening day until Brooks jumped, how far pitching was ahead of hitting.
Tomorrow night?s reunion is a rare opportunity for local fans to breathe the same air as some genuine champions one more time. The years fall away, and despite a few bulging waistlines and graying ? or disappearing ? hairlines, the 1966 Orioles stand as Baltimore?s benchmark baseball moment. You may argue the point, but I firmly believe that, in sports, your first is always the best.
Phil Wood has covered baseball in the Washington/Baltimore market for more than 30 years. You can reach him at [email protected].
