‘Ain’t the beer cold!’: Thompson retires from Orioles microphone

Nia Clouden

(St. Frances) and Michigan State will host Indiana tonight.

FEB. 14,1988: “I’m really not going to do a darn thing,” says Chuck Thompson, 66, announcing his retirement after 32 years as the Orioles’ play-by-play announcer, most recently on WMAR-TV.

FEB. 16, 1978: In a matchup of girls basketball powers, Archbishop Keough defeats Towson Catholic, 46-45 on the losers’ court. De De Sneeringer (18 rebounds) and Diane Schwartz (12 points) lead Keough (21-0); the Owlettes fall to 20-2.

FEB. 15, 1964: The Orioles sign John “Boog” Powell, 22, their slugging outfielder-first baseman who hit 25 homers and drove in 82 runs in 1963. Powell’s reward? A $4,000 raise to $14,000.

FEB. 12, 1952: Before a standing-roomonly crowd of more than 2,200, Morgan State dedicates its $1 million Edward P. Hurt Gymnasium with a heartbreaking 65-63 basketball loss to Loyola College. With two seconds left, Joel Hittleman scores a layup to give the Greyhounds the win; it’s their only lead of the game.

FEB. 15, 1947: More than 150 hunters from Baltimore City and Baltimore, Carroll and Frederick counties gather at three farm sites near Westminster for a crow shoot sponsored by the Izaak Walton League of America. Hundreds of birds are killed.

FEB, 15, 1936: Loyola defeats coldshooting Johns Hopkins in basketball, 37-25, before about 1,000 fans at the Homewood Gym. The Blue Jays score one basket in the first half, during which “the losers’ basket stood as impregnable as the Chesapeake Bay ice,” The Sun reports.

FEB. 12, 1919: McDonogh’s basketball team overwhelms visiting Park, 92-2. Center Walter Brandau scores 38 points for the winners.

FEB. 13, 1901: Groundbreaking for American League Park, on York Road near 29th Street, draws 400 onlookers. A silver spade bedecked with orange and black ribbons “dislodged a most creditable lump of earth,” The Sun reports, “while a small boy yelled, ‘Diggin’ for diamonds on the York Road!’ ” The ballpark will house the AL Orioles for two years before the franchise moves to New York to become, eventually, the Yankees.

Birthday

FEB. 12, 1939: Jerry Walker, Orioles right-hander who, at 20, became the youngest pitcher to start an All-Star Game in 1959. Walker went three innings, allowed two hits and one run and earned the win.