One of the criticisms of the approach immortalized in Moneyball is that what the Oakland Athletics actually did to succeed in the early 2000s had little to do with underappreciated players like Jeremy Giambi or Scott Hatteberg and everything to do with Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson, and Barry Zito. Those three pitchers, who in 2002 combined for nearly 675 innings of 3.05 ERA baseball, are given surprisingly little time in the book. This despite the A's leading the American League in ERA, and were a close second in total runs allowed, while scoring a just-above-league-average number of runs per game. "Moneyball" the critics say, "is little more than the long-known truth that great teams start with great starting pitching".

Anybody who's taken it upon themselves to follow the Baltimore Orioles and their quest for relevancy knows exactly how true that critique is. Andy MacPhail, the de facto General Manager of the Orioles, has tried to rebuild the struggling franchise around that exact brand of Moneyball. He has preached patience while the O's tried to develop their own championship-caliber rotation of homegrown and cheap arms.

That the MacPhail-led effort seems to be stalling out right now goes to show exactly why good starting pitching is so valuable in this game. In the next couple of years, the O's are probably staring at yet another serious rebuilding effort instead of the pennant races they imagined, and the difference is 100% the failed development of the so-called "cavalry". It was all supposed to begin with the starting pitching. Nothing is more important, and therefore nothing is more difficult to find, especially for a bad team in the toughest division in baseball.

Which is how I arrived at my answer to the question "Who is the most under-appreciated Oriole ever?". Not "the" answer, but certainly mine. This is a guy that was exactly the perfect player for the Orioles, an elite starting pitcher to build around. This is a guy who gave the Orioles a discount on his first trip through free agency and then got lowballed until he walked away from the team, leaving the Orioles desperately searching for someone just like him for the next decade plus (and counting). In my sports watching lifetime, I've never seen a bigger mistake made, and I've never hated a guy more for leaving via free agency.

I'm talking about Mike Mussina, of course.

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2011 marks the twentieth season that Oriole Park at Camden Yards has been the home of the Baltimore Orioles, and despite the product on the field, the park remains one of the most beautiful in baseball. And judging by the number of out-of-town fans I encounter on a regular basis, a desirable vacation spot.

When Camden Yards opened in 1992 it was immediately heralded as a unique and amazing ballpark, and one year later the Orioles got to show their home off to all of baseball as they hosted the 64th annual MLB All-Star Game. But it wasn't just a game, it was a celebration of Baltimore and of the Orioles' gem of a ballpark. There were street festivals and concerts and a fan fests surrounding the main event. It was great.

I was fourteen years old, and while I didn't have a chance to go to the game itself, I did attend the fan fest and all-star workout day that preceded it. After wandering around the fan fest at the convention center in the morning, me, my father, and my friend Jenny Stevenson found our seats in the upper deck on the third-base side. The sun was blazing and by the end of the day we were all sunburned.

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Brooks Robinson participated in a lot of All-Star Games. Fifteen of them, in fact, in fifteen consecutive years beginning in 1960. He put up a number of good performances in those games, but his best game came in 1966, a year the American League lost the game 2-1 in extra innings.

The 1966 All-Star Game, held on July 12th in St. Louis, was your garden variety pitcher's duel. And do you know what's important in a pitcher's duel? Defense. And you know who was awesome at defense? You know where I'm going with this. But not only did Brooks flash the leather during this game, he was also responsible for nearly all of the AL offense that day.

Sandy Koufax started the game for the National League and pitched three innings, giving up just one hit. That hit went to Robinson, who tripled to left field with one out in the second inning. With Robinson on third and the Tigers' Bill Freehan at the plate, Koufax threw a wild pitch that allowed Robinson to score and give the AL a 1-0 lead. That lead held until the bottom of the fourth inning when Ron Santo hit a single off of Jim Kaat to knock in Willie Mays and tie the game.

The score remained 1-1 until the bottom of the tenth inning, thanks in part to Robinson's performance in the field. Robinson played all ten innings of the game and cleanly fielded three pop ups, one liner, and four ground balls in support of his pitching staff. At the plate he did all he could to try and give the AL the lead; in addition to his second inning triple, Robinson singled to lead off the seventh inning but was erased on a double play. He led off the tenth inning with another single and moved to second on a wild pitch, but was stranded as the Giants' Gaylord Perry retired the side.

Finally, in the bottom of the tenth inning, the NL prevailed. Tim McCarver singled with no outs and came around to score the winning run on a hit by Maury Wills. Each team managed just six hits in the ten-inning game, with Brooks Robinson responsible for half the AL's total. That combined with his outstanding efforts in the field earned him the honor of being All-Star MVP despite the fact that he was on the losing team. The All-Star Game MVP was first recognized in 1962, and only twice since then has the losing team gotten the MVP. First with Robinson in 1966, then again when Carl Yastrzemski won the MVP for his efforts in the the AL's 5-4 loss in 1970.

The Orioles would, of course, go on to win their first World Series in 1966. The recognition of their outstanding third baseman in the All-Star Game was just another feather in the team's cap in that outstanding year for Orioles baseball.

As an Orioles fan not old enough to remember the glory days, I've been told stories from many different sources about how Frank Robinson was the glue that finally cemented a championship-caliber team in Baltimore. Indeed, he was only an Oriole for six of his twenty-one years in baseball, but he was on four World Series teams in those six years, and despite a decade with the Reds and stints with the Indians, Angels, and Dodgers, he is mostly remembered as an Oriole. 

1971 would be Robinson's final year with the Orioles and one that would end in a World Series loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, but well before that Robinson was voted into the All-Star Game along with teammate Brooks Robinson, with Boog Powell and Don Buford joining them as reserves and Jim Palmer and Mike Cuellar on the pitching staff. The American League All-Star manager that year was, of course, Earl Weaver, as the Orioles had won the World Series the year before. 

The National League got on the board first that day at Tiger Stadium, taking a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the third. But the AL struck back, scoring four runs in their half of the inning courtesy of home runs from Robinson and the Athletics' Reggie Jackson. 

Palmer and Cuellar came on after that to combine for four scoreless innings to hold the AL's 4-3 lead, a lead extended to 6-3 on a home run by Harmon Killebrew of the Twins. Roberto Clemente added a solo home run late in the game to make the final score 6-4 in favor of the American Leaguers. 

As for the rest of the Orioles on the team, Brooks went 1-3 at the plate, Don Buford went 0-1 in a pinch hitting appearance, and Boog Powell didn't make it into the game. For his two-out, two-run homer that put the AL up 4-3, Frank Robinson was awarded the All-Star Game MVP. 

1991 was a fine, fine year for Cal Ripken. It was the greatest season of his career, and some say it was one of the best seasons ever. He was so good during the regular season that he won the MVP award in a landslide despite the fact that the Orioles finished in 6th place in the AL East with a 67-95 record. That year he also took home a Gold Glove, a Silver Slugger and, for good measure, the All-Star MVP.

Prior to the 1991 All-Star Game held on July 9th in what was then called SkyDome in Toronto, Ripken was invited to participate in the Home Run Derby. He joined fellow American Leaguers Cecil Fielder of the Tigers, Joe Carter of the Blue Jays, and Danny Tartabull of the Royals in the event, along with National Leaguers Paul O'Neill  and Chris Sabo (seriously) of the Reds, George Bell of the Cubs, and Howard Johnson of the Mets.

Ripken wasn't the most prolific slugger in the competition, but he blew every one of them out of the water with a winning total of twelve home runs. I know, that doesn't seem like that many, but what do you want? He wasn't on steroids. O'Neill came in second with just five home runs, so to say Ripken ran away with it isn't an overstatement.

After dominating that event, Ripken went on to make sure the American League won the game as well. In the bottom of the first inning, Ripken singled to put two runners on with no outs, but NL pitcher Tom Glavine struck out fellow derby participants Fielder and Tartabull to end the inning.

Then, in the bottom of the third, Rickey Henderson and Wade Boggs singled and Ripken gave the AL all the runs they'd need to win the game. He cranked a home run off of NL pitcher Dennis Martinez, giving the AL All-Stars a 3-0 lead. The AL went on to win the game 4-2 and Ripken was awarded the MVP for his efforts.

There were a lot of years after 1991 when Ripken was voted into the All-Star Game on reputation, not merit, but in 1991 there was no arguing his place on the team, and with one swing he showed baseball fans across the country (and in Canada!) why he deserved to be there.