Baltimore Sports Then and Now

You can't have a Baltimore Orioles Dream Team without Brooks Robinson.

The Baltimore Orioles as a franchise has seen outstanding teams in the past, and several players who have been inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame. The Oriole Way was proudly displayed by several players who did the city proud over the years.

We will take a look at some of those terrific Orioles’ players, and select a starting lineup for an all-time Orioles dream team.

Catcher: Chris Hoiles
This may just be the one position where the Baltimore Orioles have never been seriously blessed with great offensive talent. There have been some stellar defensive catchers through the years (Andy Etchebarren, Elrod Hendricks), but very few with the ability to produce consistent offense.

We give the nod to Chris Hoiles. In a ten-year career spent entirely with the Orioles, Hoiles hit 151 home runs with a .262 batting average, and was the anchor behind the plate for the Orioles during their last two playoff seasons in 1996-1997.

First Base: Boog Powell
For the first 14 seasons of his 17-year career, John Wesley “Boog” Powell represented the Baltimore Orioles with class and dignity, and provided an outstanding bat in the lineup. Powell was voted the American League’s Most Valuable Player award in 1970, and was a member of four All-Star teams.

Powell won two World Series during his time with the O’s (1966, 1970), and even today is still a revered figure in the Baltimore area. Read the rest of this entry →

Many consider Johnny Unitas to be the greatest athlete in Baltimore sports history.

Measuring greatness is always a tough challenge. While athletes grow in size, stature and athletic ability, does it mean the athletes of today are greater than those of 30 years ago and were those athletes better than the stars of the 1940s and 1950s?

Through the years, Baltimore has been blessed with many great stars.

From the 1950s through the 1980s, Memorial Stadium was home to some of the greatest athletes in Baltimore sports history. Then since the Orioles moved to Camden Yards and the ravens came to town, there have been more superstars to call the city home

But who is the greatest of the greats?
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