Andy Etchebarren passed away

[Legend_Of_Joey]

 

[Frobby]

I’m very sad to hear this.   A true Oriole who bled black and orange.   And possessor of an amazing unibrow.   RIP, Mr. Etchebarren.

[UpstateNYfan]

Quote

Fun times for the O's!! 

[Legend_Of_Joey]

1 hour ago, UpstateNYfan said:

Brooks looks like he is about to drop kick Etch...

[24fps]

46 minutes ago, Legend_Of_Joey said:

Brooks looks like he is about to drop kick Etch...

What I always notice first about this picture is not Brook’s complete disregard for gravity but the size of Etch’s hand. Could he ever have been anything other than a catcher?  RIP. 

[TonySoprano]

 

[OFFNY]

o

 

When I was visiting my cousins in West Springfield, VA in 1977, they used to get the Washington Star newspaper. There was a picture of some game action when the Orioles were playing the Angels in early August, and the caption stated that Andy Etchebarren was the catcher for the Angels. When I saw that picture and the caption, I thought to myself, "Hey, that's our guy. It's good to see that he is still in playing in the Majors."

 

o

[Tx Oriole]

13 hours ago, Legend_Of_Joey said:

 

That’s sad. He was among the first players I tried to keep up with. Prayers to his family and friends.

[weams]

11 hours ago, Frobby said:

I’m very sad to hear this.   A true Oriole who bled black and orange.   And possessor of an amazing unibrow.   RIP, Mr. Etchebarren.

He was quite friendly to to fans both in Baltimore and in York. It was hard however to place second fiddle to Elrod with fan interaction.  

[Barnaby Graves]

Didn't he save Frank Robinson from drowning at a pool party?  Might be misremembering some detail there but I thought that was the story.  RIP to a great Oriole.

[OFFNY]

1 hour ago, Barnaby Graves said:

 

Didn't he save Frank Robinson from drowning at a pool party ???

I might be misremembering some detail there, but I thought that that was the story. 

RIP to a great Oriole.

 

o

 

Yes.

I googled it, and came up with an article from May of 2012 ........ Etchebarren and Davey Johnson together saved Robinson after he accidentally fell into the pool.

 

 

The Time Davey Johnson Saved Frank Robinson from Drowning

(By Dan Kolko)

https://www.masnsports.com/nationals-pastime/2012/05/the-time-davey-johnson-saved-frank-robinson-from-drowning.html

 

o

[Frobby]

Nice tribute from Melewski:  https://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2019/10/remembering-two-seasons-spent-working-with-andy-etchebarren.html

I was somewhat surprised to learn that Etchebarren is not in the Orioles Hall of Fame.   

[WillyM]

I was lucky enough to be in the stands at Yankee Stadium the day Andy hit his first major league homer.  Sept. 6, 1965, second game of a Labor Day doubleheader.

Etch had just been called up from the minors and was not listed in the Yankee Stadium scorecard.  They had to post his name on the message board on the old scoreboard there.  The message board was only eight characters wide, so it showed up as

ORIOLES
CATCHER
# 8
ANDY
ETCHE
BARREN

Andy came to bat in the fifth inning with Jerry Adair on third base, Paul Blair on first, and the Orioles trailing, 2-0.  He ripped one down the left-field line and into the corner.  Mickey Mantle, suffering from a sore arm, was playing left field instead of his customary center.  Unaccustomed to the tricky left-field corner, he failed to stop the carom, which rolled past him and way out to the bullpen gate, 402 feet from home.  By the time the Yankees got the ball back in, Etch was on his way home, where he slid in safely on a close play for a three-run inside-the-park (and, as it turned out, game-winning) home run.

I heard some time afterward that the next time Etch came to bat, the Yankees' veteran catcher, Elston Howard, growled at him, "We had you at the plate, rookie."

Not intimidated in the least, Etch shot back with "Ellie, I had my hand in there."

He was only a rookie, but he knew that he belonged in the big leagues.

I wish I'd had a chance to meet Andy in person, shake his hand, and tell him I remembered that play.

Edited October 6, 2019 by WillyM

[ShaneDawg85]

Any thoughts on why he still has never made it into the team Hall of Fame?  I can only conclude it stemmed from issues with ownership, because a 12 year playing career plus several years later of service in the minor leagues would justify induction to me.

[ShadySideJoe]

A sad day today, I seen many games he caught the best O's pitchers .  RIP