#120T Mickey Tettleton

IMPACT FACTOR 4/10: Tettleton was good in three years with the Orioles. In his last year in Baltimore, 1990, he batted only .223 but managed an OPS+ of 116, damned impressive for a guy with such a low batting average. For his entire career, he stuck out a ton, but also walked a lot, and hit for a lot of power. In fact, check this out. For players with a career BA of no more than .250 (minimum 3000 PA) Tettleton has the 6th highest OPS+ of all time.

#114T Pete Stanicek

IMPACT FACTOR 2/10: Stanicek played parts of two seasons with the Orioles with mediocre results. His brother Steve was even less successful as a player in the big leagues.

#96T Frank Robinson

IMPACT FACTOR 3/10: Robinson took over the 1988 Orioles from Cal Ripken Sr. but wasn't able to do much with the team. Mind you, they had a terrible roster when he was there, and he helped oversee the development of some young players such as Chris Hoiles, Mike Mussina, Ben McDonald, and Mike Devereaux who ended up being key parts of some playoff teams for Robinson's successor, the late Johnny Oates. I'd like to think that Robinson had some impact on his Orioles teams beyond just wins and losses.

Hall of Fame count: 47

It's been a while since we've had a HOF card, but Robinson surely fits the bill.

#95T Doug Robbins

This card is pretty cool because of the mention of scout Ed Sprague Sr. on the back. Sprague was a major league pitcher and father to a future major leaguer whose card we will be seeing very soon. Stay tuned.

IMPACT FACTOR 0/10: Robbins never made it to the big leagues. Checking out his full minor-league stats, he did hit pretty well, batting over .300 in a few stops and finishing with more career walks than strikeouts.

#78T Joe Orsulak

IMPACT FACTOR 4/10: Orsulak played 5 mostly good seasons for the Orioles. He is well-remembered as an outfielder who made several memorable catches, including a big splashdown or two.

#73T Mike Morgan

In 1988, 26 different pitchers had at least 1 complete game as well as 1 save. That high number surprised me. Morgan had the worst ERA+ of them all. The Orioles moved him around, obviously, try to get some effective pitching out of him.

IMPACT FACTOR 4/10: Morgan pitched one ineffective year with the Orioles, that same 1988 mentioned above. How, then, does he get an impact score of 4? Easy. The Orioles acquired him by trading Ken Dixon to the Mariners, and Dixon never played in the big leagues again after leaving the Orioles. However, when they ditched Morgan a year later, they shipped him to the Dodgers in exchange for Mike Devereaux, who became the Orioles' center fielder for a bunch of years and helped them climb back to prominence.

#10T Jose Bautista

IMPACT FACTOR 2/10: Not to be confused with the current major leaguer with the same name, this Jose Bautista was part of the dreadful 1988 Orioles team, although he didn't pitch that badly for them. Eventually he walked as a free agent after the 1990 season.

#782 Jeff Ballard

Why this card is awesome: Because after his terrible 1987 performance, didn't the Orioles think that Ballard just might contribute to a bad 1988 season? Perhaps, which is why he didn't start with the team until their record losing streak to start the season had ended. And, hey, the Orioles did go 10-15 in his 25 games, which might be better than they did with anybody else.

Cool stat: Ballard's 1989 shows what a bad job the guys who voted for Cy Young awards do sometimes. Ballard won 18 games that year and finished 6th in the CY voting. First of all, neutralized, he should have gone 12-11. Second of all, no 18-game winner in the last 60 years has had fewer strikeouts.

#725 Mike Boddicker

Why this card is awesome: Because I can't see Mike Boddicker without thinking of Jeff Bagwell. Why, you ask? Well Boddicker was a late-season pickup by the Red Sox in 1988, allowing the Orioles to pick up Curt Schilling and Brady Anderson. Hell of a good trade for Baltimore (although Boddicker was great for Boston in the rest of the 1988 regular season.) Two years later, Boston traded another minor leaguer, Bagwell, to pick up Larry Andersen from the Astros. I always think of these two trades together. Bagwell might be the best player ever traded before he appeared in the big leagues, based on his final career numbers. Never thought about it...anybody else come to mind?

Cool stat: Robin Yount had the most homers (5) off Boddicker. He also had the 2nd-most plate appearances. The guy with the most PAs, George Bell, couldn't hit a lick off Boddicker.

#707 Fred Lynn

Why this card is awesome: Because Lynn's hair obscures parts of not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, but 5 different letters from the "ORIOLES" team name. Wow. Also, if you don't look carefully, you won't even notice that he's holding a bat, as it's almost completely behind his name banner.

Cool stat: Starting in the Steroid Era, when handfuls of players started hitting a lot more home runs, it became more frequent for a guy to get an OPS+ as high as 176. But Lynn had one of just 8 seasons in the 1970s, coming in 1979. (Compare that to the last 10 full seasons, when 17 such years have happened.)

Lynn also has the most career seasons with exactly 23 HR, and his came all in consecutive years!

#676 Ken Dixon

Why this card is awesome: Because there's a weird airbrushing on the left. There's a pitcher in the background but Topps but a blue block over everything. Weird. Why did they feel they need to do that?

This was Dixon's last card.

Cool stat: Dixon had a pretty short career, but not too short to avoid giving up 4 homers to Dave Winfield.

#650 Cal Ripken

Why this card is awesome: Because while I'd love to say that this is the classic Ripken batting stance, the truth is that there is no such thing. This guy changed his stance more often than I change my infant daughter's diaper. Frankly, I'd love to see someone (this means you, Kevin) do a study of Rip's different stances as shown by his baseball cards.

Cool stat: I love Cal Ripken and there are tons of positive stats I could call up, but here's a slightly negative one: lowest batting average of anyone with 3000+ career hits. Note that that list goes back only to 1901 so it doesn't catch guys like Honus Wagner. Trust me when I tell you that Wagner's career BA was higher than Ripken's too.

Hall of Fame count: 39

#598 Lee Lacy

Why this card is awesome: Because the first "O" in "Orioles" is heavily obstructed, moreso than any other letter on any other card in the set, I think. Finishing up with the Orioles in 1987 at age 39, this was Lacy's last card.

Cool stat: Lacy had 42 career triples, with two coming in one game that his team won 10-0.

#571 Mark Williamson

Why this card is awesome: Because now I know why I always confused Mark Williamson and Eric Bell. Previously, I thought Bell's card resembled Chuck Crim's card, but take a look at this:



I mean, seriously, folks. Look at the wall behind these guys. They are in the exact same location, looking in the same direction, wearing the same uniform, and everything.

I've taken the liberty of simply fusing these cards together. I give you late-80s player "Mark Bell":


Cool stat: Williamson's got one of the most recent seasons with an ERA+ of at least 400 (!!), minimum 15 IP.

#544 Jim Traber

Why this card is awesome: Because this photo looks almost like it was taken in front of the ocean. That would have been cool.

Cool stat: Since 1901, just 13 times has a guy had at least 44 RBIs in a season in which he had no more than 240 PAs. Traber did it in 1986.

#521 Jim Dwyer

Why this card is awesome: Because is it just me, or is there just the slightest hint of panic in Dwyer's eyes? Seems like perhaps he soiled himself just before the photo was taken.

Cool stat: Dwyer has almost the fewest RBI in a season with at least 15 HR. Dwyer's another bit of proof that the ball was juiced in 1987. He got 15 dingers that year without ever reaching double digits another season in his career.

#495 Eddie Murray

Why this card is awesome: Because this is one of the most beautiful cards in the set. It's a nice action shot of Murray, and using the orange font and orange border for the Orioles cards is great. But best of all is how Murray's front leg, back leg, and bat are all at the same angle as his name banner, giving the card a real sense of motion. Major kudos to the photographer and the person who chose this photo for the card.

Cool stat: Murray has the 3rd-most seasons all time with at least 17 HR. The only guys ahead of him are Aaron and Bonds.

Hall of Fame count: 33

#467 Don Aase

Why this card is awesome: Because this card leaves little doubt as to which player the Orioles would send to the local hospital dressed like a clown to cheer up sick kids. Aase wouldn't even need a wig.

For those who don't know, his last name is pronounced "AH-see", rhyming with "posse" for example.

Cool stat: Since saves have been recorded as a stat, Aase is one of 22 players to have just 1 season with at least 34 saves. In other words, he's one of 22 guys to get a season with that many saves, and no other seasons with that many again. Aase didn't have more than 14 saves in any other season, primarily because he wasn't used a lot as a closer.

#444 Cal Ripken Sr.

Why this card is awesome: Because right after Ken Griffey's card, we get another famous baseball father. This is one of my most favorite cards of the set because it was very cool when Ripken got to manage both of his sons, Cal Jr. and Billy, with the Orioles. I also like seeing a manager doffing his cap with a smile like that--a much friendlier pose than most managers.

Cool stat: Ripken's managerial career will be remembered for two things and two things only. One was that he managed his boys, and the other was that he lost the first 6 games of the record 0-21 streak that started the 1988 season.

Deceased players and managers: 13

Ripken is the first deceased manager we've seen in this set.

#419 Scott McGregor

Why this card is awesome: Because after Randy Myers, here's another card with closed eyes. What in the hell was Topps thinking?

Cool stat: Scott McGregor was a very average pitcher. He had some seasons with high win totals and/or high W-L%, but that was in large part because he played for good Oriole teams in the early 1980s. His actual career record was 138-108 (.561) but his basic neutralized record was 120-119 (.502.) Like I said: average.