Kohl’s Orioles, 1993
Our Baltimore Orioles are off to a bit of a slow start this year, but it is ridiculously early to start worrying. This doesn’t mean that many of us won’t start worrying or haven’t already started. It’s a proud tradition of worry we have in Charm City. There are plenty of reasons to keep positive:
- The O’s have solid lineup of starting pitchers: Chris, Ubaldo, Wei-Yen, Miguel, and Bud. If that doesn’t sound deep, I don’t know what does.
- Chris Davis has proved that he is no Brady Anderson, no disrespect to Brady. Crush knocked 33 and 53 dingers in 2012 and ’13 respectively. If Yankee pitchers would stop aiming at his (and Markakis’s) hands, we should continue to see some nice hitting.
- Nelson Ramón Cruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuz Martínez proved that he likes hitting in Camden Yards on Opening Day. Here’s to many happy returns.
- Adam Jones and J.J. Hardy are still Adam Jones and J.J. Hardy. And we like these guys. (If someone would be so kind as to explain J.J.’s choice of Moby for his, we’d appreciate it. Then again maybe it’s better not to know.)
- The venerable New York Times has picked the O’s to go to the Series this year: “… do not be surprised if the Baltimore Orioles turn out to be the best team in the league.” There you have it. From the land of the Yankees.
In the interests of not panicking, this week we’ve unearthed some more of the Joseph Kohl Collection. Last time we checked in with this collection, we touted what a well-rounded trove it is and asked for your help identifying the subjects of Kohl’s photos. There is still plenty of identification work to do. This time out we know the subjects in the shots. They are our 1993 Baltimore Orioles as captured by Joe Kohl in beautiful black & white. While this team was nothing special—they finished the season in third place with 85 wins against 77 losses—it would only be four short years till the season the O’s went wire-to-wire. Or as we like to think of it, the year before that very long dark streak of sadness.
Now let’s take a look at some batting starting with Chris Hoiles, hero of the 1990s.
Remember Jeffery Hammonds? Of course you do.
Remember TV and movie star Jeff Tackett? He was the go to baseball player for presidential movies from 1992-93.
David Segui had two stints with the Orioles. He was fingered as a steroid user by his teammate Jason Grimsley, but it turns out he had a doctor’s note for a diagnosed condition and it does appear to have dramatically improved his performance. He never hit more than 21 homeruns in a season—and never more than 10 for the Birds.
Blink and you would’ve missed Harold Reynolds as an Oriole.
Hate him as a Yankee, but respect him as a classically trained guitarist, and as an amazingly talented player who played his entire 16-year career with one team.
(Joe Tropea)