When the Orioles bus down to D.C. on Friday, they?ll be making a trip they haven?t made during the regular season in quite some time. Other than an in-season exhibition at RFK Stadium against the Pirates in 1972 (billed as the “8th game of the 1971 World Series”), the Birds will play their first three-game series against a Washington team at RFK since Labor Day weekend 1971.
It was the first year that federal non-secular holidays were scheduled for Mondays to create the 3-day weekend. The Orioles, on their way to their third straight Eastern Division title and four 20-game winners, came down the Parkway on Sept. 3, and behind southpaw Dave McNally, beat the Senators, 4-2.
Slugger Frank Howard, who absolutely loved to face McNally, hit his 23rd home run for Washington, but in the end, McNally won his 17th (against four losses), Pete Broberg lost his sixth (against five wins) and Eddie Watt notched his eighth save. Broberg, you may recall, had gone straight from the Dartmouth campus to the big leagues, and his performance for a dreadful club had been impressive, which goes to show that first impressions can be deceiving.
Saturday, Sept. 4 featured what should have been a marquee pitching matchup: Jim Palmer, a future multiple Cy Young winner, against Denny McLain, a past multiple Cy Young honoree. Palmer?s star was on the rise and McLain?s in descent, however, and the final score of 6-2, Orioles, reflected it. Palmer won his 17th and McLain lost his 18th, en route to 22 defeats. Davey Johnson homered for Baltimore, and Del Unser for the Senators.
The series concluded on Sunday with Senators? ace Dick Bosman, later a pitching coach for the Orioles, facing Baltimore lefty Mike Cuellar. It was Washington?s turn to win that day, as catcher Rich Billings? three-run homer keyed a 5-3 victory for the home team. Brooks Robinson homered for the visitors.
Only Nationals skipper Frank Robinson, an Oriole in 1971, obviously, will have been in uniform for both series, and it?s interesting to point out that what was the visitor?s dugout and clubhouse then is todaythe home team?s territory. Total attendance for that series at RFK Stadium, well before it achieved “dump” status, was 25,293. Expect each game this weekend to top that, as advance sales have reportedly been brisk.
But how will the Orioles be treated by the fans of the new Nationals, inasmuch as many of them likely counted themselves as Orioles fans prior to 2005? Also, how many Baltimore-area residents will venture down Route 295 to see the games? I doubt we?ll see anything along the lines of the number of Red Sox and Yankee fans who trek to Camden Yards, but who?s to say that kind of thing doesn?t develop eventually?
That?s precisely what venerable Nats? owner Clark Griffith had in mind when he wrote a letter to Baltimore News-Post sports editor Rodger Pippen on Jan. 22, 1949, stating: “Between you and me, we will have Baltimore in the big leagues yet ?” A true rivalry never really happened when both clubs were in the same league.
Maybe it?s inevitable the second time around.
Hear Phil Wood every Saturday at 11 a.m. on ESPN Radio 1300.
