Al Pilarcik

The Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week was an early standout for the Baltimore Orioles during the 1950s.

Originally signed by the New York Yankees, Al Pilarcik made his major league debut for the Kansas City Athletics in 1956.

Following the season, Pilarcik joined the Orioles as a “Player to be Named Later” from an earlier trade in which the Athletics had acquired Jim Pisoni.

Pilarcik made an immediate splash for the Orioles. Capable of playing any of the three outfield positions, he primarily played rightfield for the Orioles. He also was known as a contact hitter. In 1860 career plate appearances he had 185 walks and 150 strikeouts.

In 1957 he played in a career-high 142 games and hit .278 with a career-best nine home runs and 49 RBI. He also scored 52 runs and had 16 doubles. His 14 stolen bases were the fifth best in the American League.

The following season, Pilarcik registered a career-best 21 doubles while again seeing action at all three outfield positions.

After starting his first two years in Baltimore, Pilarcik was more of a platoon played during his final two seasons in Baltimore. He did hit a career-best .282 during the 1959 campaign.

Following the 1960 season, Pilarcik was sent back to Kansas City in a trade. He split the 1961 season between Kansas City and the Chicago White Sox before retiring.

Pilarcik finished his major league career with a .256 batting average, 22 home runs, 66 doubles and 143 RBI.

Interestingly, he holds the distinction of having worn the number two longer than anyone else in Baltimore Orioles history.

After retiring from professional baseball, Pilarcik spent 20 years as a high school varsity coach and is in the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame.

Each week you can help decide which former sports great is recognized as the Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week by nominating your favorite athletes from the past. Gary Bell nominated Al Pilarcik to be this week’s pick. If you would like one of your favorites of the past to be honored as the Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week, please send me you nomination by e-mail.

Bob Boyd

The Baltimore Vintage Athlete of the Week is the first in a long line of great first basemen for the Baltimore Orioles.

The first player in the modern history of the Baltimore Orioles to hit over .300 in a season, Bob Boyd was a solid line-drive hitter and defensive standout.

A member of the Memphis Red Sox in the Negro Leagues from 1947-1949, Boyd became the first black player to sign with the Chicago White Sox in 1950 and made his major league debut in 1951 at the age of 31.

He joined the Orioles in 1956 and in his first season with the Orioles played in 70 games and hit .311.

Unlike some of the great first basemen that would follow him in Baltimore, Boyd was not known as a power hitter. Nicknamed “Rope” for his line drive hitting, Boyd had only 19 major league home runs. A great contact hitter, he struck out only 114 times in his career.

In 1957, at the age of 37, Boyd finished fourth in the American League with a .318 batting average and was 16th in the American League MVP voting. He had a career-high 154 base hits with 16 doubles, eight triples, four home runs and 34 RBI.

Boyd again eclipsed the .300 mark in 1958 with a .309 average while registering career-highs of 21 doubles and seven home runs. His average dipped to .265 in 1959, but he did register a career-high 41 RBI in his final year as the regular first baseman for the Orioles.

In 1960 the Orioles brought in Jim Gentile as the regular first baseman and the 40-year-old Boyd was relegated to part-time duty. He did, however, hit .317 in 82 at bats.

Boyd last played in the majors in 1961, ironically splitting the season between two teams that would be moving from their respective cities before the end of the decade, the Kansas City Athletics and Milwaukee Braves.

He did, however, continue playing at the minor league level. In 1962, at the age of 42, he hit .326 with 42 RBI while splitting his season between Louisville and Oklahoma City at the AAA level. The following year, the 43-year-old hit .294 with 29 doubles and 48 RBI while splitting his season between AA San Antonio and AAA Oklahoma City in the Houston organization.

During his five seasons with the Orioles, Boyd hit .301 with 16 home runs and 131 RBI. His career average was .293 with 19 home runs and 175 RBI.

He passed away in 2004 at the age of 84.

Each week you can help decide which former sports great is recognized as the Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week by nominating your favorite athletes from the past. Byron Thomas nominated Bob Boyd to be this week’s pick. If you would like one of your favorites of the past to be honored as the Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week, please send me you nomination by e-mail.

Paul Blair

This week the Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week is an outfielder that patrolled centerfield with grace while also providing the Orioles with timely hitting for more than a decade.

On a team that built its strength through pitching and defense, Paul Blair fit perfectly. He is one of seven members of the Orioles from that era who won at least three Gold Gloves and is tied with Mark Belanger for the second most in team history.

Arguably the best defensive outfielder of his generation, Blair won eight Gold Gloves during a nine-year stretch, a total eclipsed by only five outfielders in baseball history. Possessing great speed, he could play shallow to swallow-up short balls and then use his speed to track down deep flies.

After playing briefly late in the 1964 season, Blair became the starting centerfielder for the Orioles in 1965 and quickly established himself as a defensive standout.

In the 1966 World Series, Blair used both his glove and bat to help the Orioles sweep the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Blair provided the only run of game three with a solo home run off pitcher Claude Osteen in a 1-0 Baltimore victory. In game four, he preserved a shutout and secured the series sweep by robbing Jim Levebvre of what appeared to be a sure home run in the eighth inning.

The following season, Blair earned his first Gold Glove and also displayed his offensive prowess. He hit a career-best .293 with 72 runs scores, 27 doubles, 11 home runs and a league-best 12 triples.

In 1969 Blair showed even more offensive pop by blasting a career-high 26 home runs. He also scored a career-high 102 runs, earned his first All-Star appearance and began a streak of seven straight Gold Gloves. Blair finished 11th in the American League MVP voting, the highest finish among the four years in which he received MVP votes.

Blair was a key component of an Orioles’ team that won four American League pennants, two World Series titles and two additional American League East division titles between 1966 and 1974.

In 13 seasons with the Orioles, Blair earned two All-Star appearances and hit .254 with 126 home runs and 567 RBI.

Following the 1976 season he was traded to the New York Yankees. Blair was part of two World Series Champions while with the Yankees.

During his career, Blair appeared in six World Series, winning four, with a .288 batting average. In seven American League Championship Series he hit .238 and drove in 10 runs.

Blair retired following the 1980 season with 134 career home runs, 620 RBI and a .250 batting average.

If you had a favorite athlete growing up that you would like to see featured as the Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week, send me a nomination by e-mail.

Mike Cuellar

We recognize as the Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week one of the key pitchers for the Baltimore Orioles during their championship run of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Sometimes timing is everything. After toiling away in the minors and on primarily losing teams for a decade, a seemingly insignificant trade following the 1968 season proved to be all that Mike Cuellar needed to become one of the top pitchers in baseball.

A native of Cuba, Cuellar originally signed with the Cincinnati Reds in 1957 after originally drawing attention for a no-hitter he pitched in 1955 while serving in the Cuban army.

He made two relief appearances for the Reds in 1959, but quickly returned to the minors and bounced around before finally earning a shot with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964.

Being used primarily in relief, Cuellar pitched in 32 games for the Cardinals and registered a 5-5 record and 4.50 ERA. He did not pitch in the World Series as the Cardinals defeated the New York Yankees.

Following the season, Cuellar was sent from the World Champions to the baseball basement as he joined the Houston Astros for their fourth season in the league.

During his four seasons in Houston, the Astros never won more than 72 games and finished no better than eighth out of 10 teams in the National League.

Cuellar became a starter in 1966 and posted a 12-10 record and a 2.22 ERA. The following season, he made his first All-Star appearance while winning 16 games with a 3.03 ERA.

In 1968 Cuellar posted a 2.74 ERA, but won only eight games as the Astros again struggled.

After the season, Cuellar was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for outfielder Curt Blefary. It proved to be an amazingly one-sided trade as Blefary spent just one season in Houston and was out of the league by 1972.

On the other hand, it was quickly obvious that all Cuellar needed was to be part of a team with enough offense to compliment his assortment of screwballs and changeups.

In his first season with the Orioles, Cuellar shared the Cy Young award with Dennis McLain while registering a 23-11 record and 2.38 ERA. The Orioles lost the World Series to the New York Mets, but Cuellar earned the only Baltimore win in the series and had a 1.12 ERA in 16 innings.

The following season, Cuellar went 24-8 with a 3.48 ERA and finished fourth in the Cy Young voting. He was the winning pitcher of the World Series-clinching fifth game as he allowed three runs in earning a complete game victory.

Cuellar teamed with Jim Palmer and Dave McNally to give the Orioles one of the most dominant starting pitching threesomes in baseball history. In 1971 that trio became a quartet as Pat Dobson joined the staff and they became the first team in more than 50 years to feature four 20-game winners.

After winning 18 games during both the 1972 and 1973 seasons, Cuellar registered his fourth 20+ victory season in 1974 as he went 22-10 with a 3.11 ERA.

That proved to be his final big season as Cuellar went 14-12 in 1975 and then struggled with a 4-13 record and 4.96 ERA in 1976.

Released by the Orioles following the 1976 season, Cuellar signed with the California Angels. He allowed seven earned runs and pitched only 3.1 total innings for the Angles before being released in May 1977.

Cuellar finished his career with a record of 185-130 and a 3.14 ERA. In eight years with the Orioles, Cuellar went 143-88 with a 3.18 ERA. He ranks fourth in Orioles history in wins and fifth in winning percentage.

If you had a favorite athlete growing up that you would like to see featured as the Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week, send me a nomination by e-mail.

Lenny Moore

In preparation for the start of the NFL season, we recognize as the Baltimore Sports Then and Now Athlete of the Week one of the most exciting players ever to call the city of Baltimore home.

For 12 seasons with the Baltimore Colts, Lenny Moore was one of the most versatile and explosive players in the game.

A double threat as both a runner and receiver, Moore was a perfect offensive compliment to quarterback Johnny Unitas and receiver Raymond Berry.

After playing collegiate football at Penn State, Moore became an immediate Pro Bowl player for the Colts as he and Unitas both made their debut for the Colts in 1956.

Moore rushed for 649 yards and led the NFL with an average of 7.5 yards per carry.

After leading the NFL in yards from scrimmage in 1957, he took it to an even higher level in 1958 as Moore helped lead the Colts to the NFL Championship. He rushed for 598 yards and seven touchdowns and caught 50 passes for a career-high 938 yards and another seven scores.

In the famous 1958 NFL Championship Game against the New York Giants, Moore rushed for only 23 yards, but caught six passes for 101 yards.

Lenny Moore was a threat both as a runner and receiver.

The following season he caught a 60-yard touchdown pass to start the scoring as the Colts claimed their second straight NFL title with a 31-16 victory over the Giants.

Moore was named a first-team All-Pro every season from 1958-1961 as he ranked in the top three in yards from scrimmage each season.

After being limited by injuries in 1962 and 1963, Moore returned with a vengeance in 1964 as he was named the NFL MVP while scoring a then-NFL record 20 touchdowns.

Beginning in the 1963 season and continuing into the 1965 season, Moore scored a touchdown in 18-straight games, a mark that was not matched for 40 years until being equaled by LaDainian Tomlinson.

Moore retired following the 1967 season with 5,174 yards rushing, 6,039 yards receiving and 113 career touchdowns. At the time of his retirement, his 11,213 career yards from scrimmage were the third most in NFL history.

For his career, Moore was a seven-time Pro Bowl selection and earned first-team All-Pro honors five times. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1975.

If you had a favorite athlete growing up that you would like to see featured as the Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week, send me a nomination by e-mail.

Randy White

In recognition of the start of college football season, we have selected a two-time All-American from the University of Maryland who went on to earn a spot in both the College and Pro Football Hall of Fames as our Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week.

Randy White actually came to the University of Maryland as a fullback, but as a sophomore new head coach Jerry Claiborne recognized that he had the skills to be a great defensive lineman and quickly moved him to defense.

As a junior, White earned first team All-American honors from the Associated Press. The Terrapins posted an 8-4 record and made their first appearance in a Bowl Game since 1956.

Maryland lost a heart-breaker to the University of Georgia 17-16 in the Peach Bowl, but were still ranked 20th in the final AP Poll.

The following season, White was unquestionably one of the best defensive players in college football.

He was a consensus first team All-American and received many honors including the Outland Trophy, Lombardi Award and ACC Player of the Year. He also finished ninth in the Heisman Trophy balloting.

Maryland swept through the ACC with a 6-0 record and finished the year with another 8-4 mark and ranked 13th in the final AP Poll.

The Terps controlled the action against Tennessee for most of the Liberty Bowl, but a special teams miscue in the final minutes led to a touchdown as the Volunteers won 7-3. Despite the loss, White was named the game MVP.

The Dallas Cowboys made White the second pick in the 1975 NFL Draft.

After initially being looked at as a linebacker, White moved to defensive tackle and quickly took over where Hall of Famer Bob Lilly had left off as the anchor of the Dallas defense.

White made the first of nine consecutive Pro Bowl appearances in 1977.

During that season, the Cowboys reached the Super Bowl and White joined defensive end Harvey Martin as co-MVP of the Super Bowl.

In 1978 he became a first team All-Pro for the first time, an honor he would receive seven times over the next eight seasons.

Though sacks were an official NFL statistic only for a portion of his career, White’s unofficially totaled 111 sacks during his 14 seasons with the Cowboys.

In 1994 White was named to both the Pro Football and the College Football Hall of Fame.

If you had a favorite athlete growing up that you would like to see featured as the Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week, send me a nomination by e-mail.

Mark Belanger

The Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week for this week is a former member of the Baltimore Orioles who may not have given the team a significant amount of offensive production, but was one of the best ever at fielding his position.

Mark Belanger was such a valuable player for the Orioles in the late 1960s and 1970s that he knocked a future Hall of Famer out of the Baltimore lineup and twice finished in the top 30 in the American League MVP despite hitting below .230 for the season.

Standing 6-foot-1 and barreling tipping the scales at 170 pounds, Belanger was known as “The Blade.”

After seeing limited duty over parts of three seasons, Belanger became the starting shortstop when the Orioles traded future Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio to the Chicago White Sox for Don Buford following the 1967 season.

In his first season as the starter, Belanger struggled offensively with a .208 batting average, but began to establish himself as a great defensive shortstop.

The following season, he had what would end up being the best offensive season of his career with career-high totals of a .287 batting average, 50 RBI and 76 runs scored.  He claimed his first Gold Glove and finished 29th in the voting for the American League MVP.

Belanger again won the Gold Glove in 1971 and beginning in 1973 claimed the award for six straight years.

In 1973 he finished 21st in the AL MVP balloting despite hitting .226 with no home runs and 27 RBI. The following season, he was 26th in the voting while hitting .225 with five home runs and 36 RBI.

In 1976, Belanger was selected to the All-Star team for the only time in his career and hit .270 with a career-high 27 stolen bases.

He remained the regular shortstop for the Orioles through the 1978 season.

In 1979 he shared duties with Kiko Garcia as the Orioles reached the World Series for the first time since 1971.

Belanger’s final season in Baltimore was 1981 and he completed his career with a season playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

His career offensive statistics were quite pedestrian with a .228 batting average, 1,316 hits, 20 home runs and 389 RBI in 2,016 career games. However, his .977 career fielding percentage was tops among American League shortstops at the time of his retirement. Also, among shortstops only Ozzie Smith, Omar Vizquel and Luis Aparicio exceeded his total of eight Gold Gloves.

Belanger passed away following a battle with lung cancer in 1998.

If you had a favorite athlete growing up that you would like to see featured as the Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week, send me a nomination by e-mail.

Gus Triandos

This week’s Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week is the only catcher in Baltimore Orioles history to appear in more than one All-Star game.

Baltimore faithful are hopeful that phenom Matt Wieters will one-day exceed the total of four All-Star selections totaled by Gus Triandos during his tenure with the Orioles.

But for now, Triandos is the most decorated catcher in the history of the Orioles.

He joined the Orioles as part of a 17-player trade that among others sent Don Larsen and Bob Turley to New York following the 1954 season.

After playing in only 20 games over two seasons playing behind Yogi Berra for the Yankees, Triandos immediately became the starting catcher for the Orioles.

He hit .277 with 12 home runs and 65 RBI in his first season with the O’s and received MVP votes. He was even better in 1956 with a .279 average 21 home runs and a career-high 88 RBI.

After earning his first All-Star appearance in 1957, Triandos was the starting catcher for the 1958 All-Star game.

That season, he tied an American League record for most home runs in a season by a catcher with 30 blasts. He also drove home 79 runs and finished 11th in the MVP voting.

In 1959 he started the first of two All-Star games that season and drove home two runs.

In eight seasons with the Orioles, Triandos hit .249 with 142 home runs and 517 RBI. He completed his career with stints with the Tigers, Phillies and Astros.

If you had a favorite athlete growing up that you would like to see featured as the Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week, send me a nomination by e-mail.

Lee May

Our selection for the Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week is one of the forgotten sluggers of baseball history.

For more than a decade, including six seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, Lee May was one of the most feared sluggers in baseball.

He blasted 20 or more home runs and drove in 80 or more runs for 11 straight seasons while playing for the Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros and then the Orioles. His best season was in 1969 when he hit 38 home runs and drove home 110.

Baltimore fans were first exposed to May during the 1970 World Series when the 6-foot-3 inch slugger was basically the offense for the Reds. He hit .389 with two home runs while driving home eight of Cincinnati’s 20 runs during the five-game series.

May was part of the trade that sent Joe Morgan from Houston to Cincinnati in 1972 and spent three seasons with the Astros before joining Baltimore in 1975.

Replacing popular, but aging, slugger Boog Powell at first base for the Orioles, May ranked among the top sluggers in baseball for his first four seasons in Baltimore.

After blasting 20 home runs and driving home 99 runs in 1975, May had his best season with the Birds in 1976 when he led the league with 109 RBI while hitting 25 home runs.

In his first four seasons with the Orioles, May averaged 24 home runs and 97 RBI. He played first base for the first three years, but the emergence of Eddie Murray necessitated the move to designated hitter in 1978.

May slowed slightly in 1979 with 19 home runs and 69 RBI as the Orioles won the AL East and reached the World Series.

He left Baltimore after the 1980 season and finished his career with two seasons in Kansas City.

For his career, May hit 354 home runs with 1,244 RBI. He is one of only 11 players to have a 100 RBI season with three different teams.

If you had a favorite athlete growing up that you would like to see featured as the Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week, send me a nomination by e-mail.

Jim Parker

In recognition of the Baltimore Ravens signing first round pick Michael Oher to help protect quarterback Joe Flacco, the Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week is a player who spent a decade protecting quarterback Johnny Unitas.

Jim Parker did not miss a game for 10 straight seasons as he helped turn the Baltimore Colts into a perennial NFL Championship contender. The Colts did not have a losing record during his career and claimed back-to-back NFL Championships in 1958 and 1959.

Having played both offensive and defensive line at Ohio State and received the Outland Trophy as the top lineman in college football, Parker could have played on either side of the ball in the NFL. Baltimore Colts head coach Weeb Ewbank saw him as the perfect protector of star quarterback Johnny Unitas and entrenched him at the left tackle position during his rookie season.

He played left tackle for the next five and a half years and earned Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors four times. Midway through the 1962 season Parker was switched to left guard and earned All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors at that spot four times. He finished his career playing right tackle.

In 1973 Parker became the first full-time offensive lineman named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was a member of the NFL All-Decade Team for the 1950s and also selected to the NFL’s 75th Anniversary Team.

He passed away in July 2005 at the age of 71.

If you had a favorite athlete growing up that you would like to see featured as the Baltimore Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Week, send me a nomination by e-mail.