The year Baltimore went ‘major league’
Balanced attack fuels rout for Big Ten leader
Spring training camps have opened, and the world already feels better. Baseball’s a game of memories, and a few geezers like me remember how exciting it was in 1954 (two-thirds of a century ago!) when the
St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Orioles. Baltimore instantly became “major league.”
At the time, I was an 8-year-old, attending Arlington 234. That summer I watched all the games I could on TV — followed by “Bobo Newsom’s Knothole Gang” show — and I went to two. I saw Robert Lee “Bullet Bob” Turley beat the Red Sox 2-1 (Ted Williams went 0-for-4, which made me happy then, but not now) and watched Don Larsen lose to the White Sox 4-1 (Larsen led the American League in losses that year, with 21). Turley and Larsen went on to star with the Yankees, with Larsen throwing that perfect game in the 1956 World Series.
Jimmy Dykes, a baseball lifer, became skipper of the O’s after Browns manager Marty Marion said the team wasn’t any good. Marion was right, of course, but lost his job for saying so. At least the team was engagingly inept.
Catcher Clint Courtney wore glasses, but he wasn’t Mr. Peepers. Scrap Iron was his nickname, and, more than once, he was pictured in a tattered uniform after an on-field fight. On opening day, he hit the first homer at Memorial Stadium, with another streetfighter, Vice President Richard Nixon, in attendance.
First base was handled by Dick
Kryhoski (a journeyman, but he had a 19-game hitting streak) and Eddie Waitkus — best known for being shot by an obsessed female “fan” when he was with the Phillies in 1949. That shooting became part of baseball lore, incorporated into the move “The Natural.” Waitkus wasn’t Roy Hobbs, however, nor did he look like Robert Redford.
At second was smooth Bobby Young, the only Baltimorean on the squad. Another native, Al Kaline, became a major league regular that year but, alas, with Detroit. He would’ve looked good in an Orioles uniform.
The shortstop, slick-fielding Billy Hunter, unfortunately couldn’t hit a lick. He went to New York with Turley and Larsen, remained inoffensive, and later became a manager. Mr. Hunter, 92, may be the only 1954 Oriole still alive.
Vern “Junior” Stephens was at third much of the time. He had driven in an amazing number of runs for the post-war Red Sox (159 in 1949!). In 1954, however, he led the Orioles with eight home runs and 46 RBIs. Wonderfully pitiful.
The outfield often consisted of Jim Fridley (who had both RBIs in my first game), Chuck Diering (who glided across center field) and Cal Abrams. (Strongarmed Bob Kennedy and one-time speedster Gil Coan, both grizzled veterans, also made appearances.) Abrams hit .293, the top batting average on the team, but that understates his quality. Nobody paid attention to on-base percentage in the pre-Moneyball era, but Abrams’ was terrific: .400.
Some guys on the roster for part of the season saw little action in Baltimore but found places in baseball history.
Vic Wertz played 29 games before he was traded, on June 1, to the Indians, who won 111 games that year. Wertz hit the shot in game one of the series that Willie Mays tracked down in deep center field in the Polo Grounds — maybe the best catch ever — helping the Giants sweep the seemingly invincible team.
Ryne Duren — who threw bullets, had no control and wore Coke-bottle glasses — pitched in one game. With other teams he became famous by rattling the backstop with 95-plus mph warmup pitches. No hitter was going to dig in with an apparently blind flamethrower on the mound.
Frank Kellert, a first baseman, played in only 10 games. But if you’ve seen the video of Jackie Robinson stealing home in the 1955 Series, with Yogi Berra going berserk (Yogi swore he made the tag), you saw Kellert. Then a Dodger, he was at bat, staring at the play. His greatest baseball moment was as an observer.
Oh sure, the won-lost record for the
1954 Orioles was horrible (54-100) — as Marion predicted — and, by modern standards, few attended the games (slightly over a million). For us old-timers, however, that was a magical time.
Coach Brenda Frese certainly wouldn’t want to oppose her Maryland women’s basketball team the way it’s playing right now.
The No. 9 Terps boosted their winning streak to five games with a dominant 94-62 win over Minnesota on Saturday, cementing their solitary position atop the Big Ten standings (12-1) and completing the season sweep of the Golden Gophers.
With just four regular-season games and one home game remaining, Maryland couldn’t be in a better spot. After playing twice in the past three days, the Terps (16-2) continue their busy stretch with games Tuesday and Thursday.
“We need to have these kind
IOWA@NO. 9 MARYLAND Tuesday, 1 p.m.
of games because this is what you’re going to play in the Big Ten tournament as well as the NCAAs, where it’s back-to-back games or play a game, a day [off ] in between and play again,” Frese said. “We need to be built for this. This timing is right.”
With sophomores Ashley Owusu (24 points) and Diamond Miller (20) leading the charge, four Terps — also including Katie Benzan (17 points) and Chloe Bibby (10) — scored in double digits Saturday.
Owusu, the team’s assists leader, also had a team-high eight assists and six rebounds to match sophomore Faith Masonius.
“Ashley continues to run this team,” Frese said.
Minnesota guard Jasmine Powell, who scored 22 points in the first meeting with Maryland, hit a 3-pointer, to give the Gophers and early lead. But Maryland quickly took control thanks to its Diamond on the floor.
In the first quarter, Miller stacked up nine points — one from long range — two more assists and two connections from the freethrow line. Owusu’s make off Minnesota’s turnover sent the visitors reeling into a timeout trailing 10-5. Coming out of it, Miller still wielded the power, firing from the perimeter to highlight a period in which the Terps outscored their guests 16-2.
“Diamond, we’ve really been working through trying to improve her game on so many levels, just the ownership,” Frese said. “By far [she’s] the most improved player in the league when you talk about what she brought to the table defensively, getting on the glass, the assists she’s making on top of her scoring.”
The 6-foot-3 sophomore feels more self-assured than she did in December. In earlier games, Miller struggled with fouls before halftime and having to sit for longer periods because of it.
On Saturday, Miller had just three fouls overall, the majority of which were taken late.
“I think I’m developing to be a really good player [and] I’m going to continue to grow,” Miller said. “I’m more confident in my abilities, playing really hard, not letting little things get to me.”
Minnesota made 41.7% of its first-quarter shots, but its defense simply couldn’t move fast enough to keep up with the Terps offense. The Terps, 10-for-16 on field goals, led Minnesota 24-11 after one.
Maryland continued to be more assertive rebounding in the second quarter, holding a 21-11 edge in rebounds in the first half.
The Gophers mostly stayed with man-toman coverage but ramped up their aggressiveness. While the Terps’ offensive
production (54.8%) dipped, they earned more chances at the charity stripe (12-for13 at halftime).
Miller and Benzan put up perfect numbers at the foul line, shooting 6-for-6 and 2-for-2, respectively. Owusu hit a team-high 10 of 11 free throws.
Down 49-25 at the half after a three-minute dry spell, Minnesota needed desperately to jump-start its offense. Instead, the Gophers’ production plummeted with only five baskets and they fell behind 70-40.
Maryland’s progression on defense is something Frese said separates them into an “elite level.”
“That’s where I’m really, really excited,” Frese said, “because now we’re playing both ends of the floor, which is what you’ve got to have for March.”
Minnesota mostly floundered beyond the arc, finishing 5-for-19 from 3-point range.
Maryland made nine 3-points, with freshman guard Taisiya Kozlova going 2-for-2.
But the third quarter wasn’t all kind to Maryland. Starter Mimi Collins left the floor after suffering an injury to the forehead. The 6-foot-3 Waldorf native averaged 10.1 points before Saturday’s tilt.
The Terps already lost two starters, guard Channise Lewis and freshman Angel Reese, to serious injuries this season that sidelined one, potentially both, for the year. Frese said there are no concussion worries at the minute, but Collins will “continue to be evaluated.”
“She’s a tough kid,” Frese said. “It was a tough play, but we know she’ll be back.”
The University of Maryland canceled in-person classes for a week Saturday and installed a “sequester-in-place” due to rising coronavirus numbers on campus.
“Credit our players and our staff: They’ve kept their bubble tight,” Frese said. “They’ve committed to one another. You can see that chemistry on the court because they spend so much time together.”
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