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My most memorable game: 17-inning late-season thriller with the O's up 1/2 game

Palmer

The 1974 pennant race was the best one I remember. This was pre-free agency and the O’s were mostly an old team, and it seemed in 1972 that they were over the hill and doomed to rebuilding, but several of the veterans were having last hurrahs. Brooks Robinson, at 37, had his last good season. Paul Blair, who hadn’t hit the same since being beaned in 1970, went on a hot streak after seeing a hypnotist. Yankees catcher Thurman Munson snapped his fingers at Blair at the plate after the story came out.


The O’s did have some young talent: The underappreciated Bobby Grich, and Don Baylor, who hadn’t yet developed a power stroke. On the downside, in 1973 the O’s had been revitalized by rookies Al Bumbry and Rich Coggins, but both had disappointing seasons in ’74, and Bumbry in particular, a military vet who was already 27, seemed like he might have been a one-year wonder.

The rotation, so similar throughout the glory years, was aging: Dave McNally was league-average in what would be his last season. Mike Cuellar was just above league average (and only got there with the hot finish, which I’m getting to.) Jim Palmer had an ulnar nerve problem; Earl Weaver called it "the year of the ulnar nerve." He was barely above league average; it was his worst year in the middle of a 10-year stretch of excellence.

All of this mediocrity led to a team that was under .500 on Aug. 30. That doesn’t seem shocking for a playoff team now, but back then there were no wild-card teams. When the O’s won on Aug. 30 to get back to .500, they were in 4th place, 7 games behind Boston and 3 behind the Yankees, who were having their best season in a decade.

But the O’s in 1974 got hotter than any Orioles team I remember. It might be the hottest finish by record (you could look that up). But when you consider how mediocre they were the rest of the season … the O’s finished the 1974 season with a 28-6 run. They won so many tight games. Early in the run, they swept a doubleheader against the Red Sox, winning each game 1-0. I went to that. That’s not even my favorite memory. If you want to wade through some happy history, go look up the boxscores of Sept. 1974 for the O’s.

I went to the game on Friday, Sep. 27. With six games to go, the O’s were 1/2 game ahead of the Yankees, who were rained out that day (September 1974 had a lot of rainouts and crucial doubleheaders.) It was a night game and I was a kid; it’s amazing I could stay for the whole thing.

The O’s had won a 17-inning game against the Yankees just two weeks earlier, but the stakes were higher, even though the opponent was mediocre Milwaukee. Jim Palmer started; he was my favorite player (this wasn’t as obvious a choice in the early ‘70s as it seems now.) That's probably why I went to the game. He faced Milwaukee’s ace, Jim Colborn.

Nobody scored.

I had to go to the boxscore to look at the details, though I do remember both starters stranding the bases loaded in the 12th inning, with the score still 0-0. I was so hoarse. Palmer pitched 12 innings; Colborn pitched 13. I was so excited when Milwaukee finally took Colborn out of the game only to bring in Tom Murphy, their relief ace, who was even better: he threw 123 innings in relief that year with a 1.90 ERA. He pitched three scoreless innings and came out again for the 17th.

But Murphy was wild in his 4th inning in relief. In the bottom of the 17th, Murphy walked two batters and the Orioles loaded the bases with one out. They had blown chances all game and it was nearly midnight, and I was so hoarse. But I wasn’t hopeful because the hitter was Bob Oliver, a veteran outfielder they had picked up on waivers who was terrible: he entered the game 3-for-16. He pinch hit in the 12th with the bases loaded because he at least made weak contact; Jim Fuller, who he pinch-hit for, was a failed prospect who struck out too much. Oliver popped out to end that threat.

In the 17th, bases loaded, still 0-0, I was hoping Oliver wouldn’t bat into a double play so at least Brooks Robinson, on deck, could bat with the bases loaded. I was rooting for a walk. A hit batsmen would be fine.

I don’t remember the count exactly, but I believe Oliver had two strikes on him. What happened was, he took a mighty swing, an enormous swing that seemed huge even from the upper deck. And he made contact, and the ball dribbled about 10 feet in front of the plate. Nobody could field it; you couldn’t place a bunt more perfectly. The Orioles won 1-0 and took a 1-game lead.

I can still see that swinging bunt by Bob Oliver and I might remember it on my deathbed.

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