Baltimore Sports Then and Now

Curt Motton spent parts of seven seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, but his biggest moment came in the 1969 ALCS.

“The pitch was away on the outer part of the plate, and I did something I rarely did – I hit it to right field. I just wanted to make good contact and hoped things worked out.”

-Curt Motton, on his game-winning RBI single in the 1969 ALCS

Curt Motton played some outfield, but really he was a career pinch-hitter.

One of Motton’s most famous pinch hits – an 11th inning RBI single against the Twins forty years ago – carried the Orioles to a 1-0 victory in Game 2 of the 1969 ALCS. The O’s won the series 3-0.

A powerful pull hitter, Motton set what was then a major-league record in 1968 when he hit consecutive pinch-hit home runs. Motton’s power earned him his keep with Earl Weaver; however, his game-winning hit in the ‘69 ALCS was an uncharacteristic opposite-field single.

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Hal Brown

“I was ready to go in the game in relief, and this old gal got up and screamed, ‘The more they come the worse they get.’ I think so often of that rather unusual welcome to Baltimore and it always gives me a chuckle.” -Hal Brown

Hector Harold Brown is a perfect fit for this week’s edition of Flashback Friday.

Here’s why:

1. The Oriole Advocates’ 2009 Hall of Fame induction ceremony is on Friday afternoon.

Hal Brown was a 1991 inductee. He played for the organization from 1955 to 1962.
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Willie Tasby was with the Orioles from 1958 until being traded to Boston in 1960.

Baltimore once had its own shoeless baseball player, and his name was Willie Tasby.

On July 19, 1959, the center fielder found himself standing in puddles following a rain delay with two outs in the top half of the ninth inning of a home game against the Tigers. Spooked by a thunderstorm that caused the delay, Tasby removed his spikes and placed them in the Memorial Stadium bullpen.

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Dave Johnson was 21-24 in three seasons with the Orioles. His son, Steve, was acquired by the O's in the George Sherrill trade.

“The 29-year-old right-hander gave a performance that epitomized this entire Orioles season.”

-Tom Boswell
The Washington Post
Oct. 1, 1989

Dave Johnson’s emotional on-air moment after finding out that his son, Steve Johnson, had become an Oriole was, as Steve Melewski writes, “just special, no other way to describe it.” It was a perfect antidote to the renewed cynicism generated by the other big baseball news of the day out of Boston.

O’s fans hope that Steve Johnson will produce some memorable moments in his home town. This week’s Flashback Friday looks at one of his father’s most memorable moments as an Oriole — a seven inning, two-hit, two-run performance against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sept. 30, 1989 that kept the Birds’ fading pennant hopes alive, if only briefly.

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