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They Were Orioles?

ShaneDawg85

By ShaneDawg85
in Orioles History

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ShaneDawg85 Hangout Veteran Council

ShaneDawg85

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He never actually played a game for the team, but Kelly Gruber made a comeback attempt with the O's in 1997, but he ultimately decided to retire. His body took a beating over his last years in baseball. My only memory of him with the team was Fan Fest 1997, in the Warehouse I believe, he was giving an interview there in front of everyone and he seemed like a real nice guy, and I happened to be sitting two seats away from his wife, who was pretty if I remember rightly, not that it's important.

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TGO Hangout Grand Counsel

TGO

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He never actually played a game for the team, but Kelly Gruber made a comeback attempt with the O's in 1997, but he ultimately decided to retire. His body took a beating over his last years in baseball. My only memory of him with the team was Fan Fest 1997, in the Warehouse I believe, he was giving an interview there in front of everyone and he seemed like a real nice guy, and I happened to be sitting two seats away from his wife, who was pretty if I remember rightly, not that it's important.

Roger McDowell is another guy I remember almost solely from FanFest. 1996. He also had his (very pretty, IIRC) wife with him.

He pitched pretty poorly for us but made it through August, when shoulder surgery put him on the shelf. He would try to pitch again in 97 and 98 spring training, both with the White Sox, but never pitched in a game again due to more shoulder problems. Of course he then went on to replace Mazzone in Atlanta after working his way up through the Dodgers organization.

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TGO Hangout Grand Counsel

TGO

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There have been a few players I think I remember us signing in the offseason, but then we cancelled the deals because of injury concerns, Xavier Hernandez (remember him?) and Aaron Sele are two names that come to mind.

Don't forget Jeromy Burnitz, though I think he was the one who called the whole thing off.

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Fan of Newhan AAA

Fan of Newhan

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Ah, yes. How could I forget about Burnitz? I do remember that now because he ended up signing with the Pirates. I talked to him while interning at FOX Sports Net in Pittsburgh during the summer of 2006. He seemed like a great guy and a fun member of the clubhouse. He probably would have retired with the O's had the deal stayed in place.

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RShack Hangout Grand Counsel

RShack

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There have been a few players I think I remember us signing in the offseason, but then we cancelled the deals because of injury concerns, Xavier Hernandez (remember him?) and Aaron Sele are two names that come to mind.

When the team came here from St. Louis, we were supposed to get the great Satchel Paige. He was 46 (at least) but had put up ERA+ of 127 and 119 over the previous 2 seasons in St.L and was on the AS team both times. But they cut him because they were afraid that Baltimore was still too racist at the time.

A few years later, we had Larry Doby, the AL's version of Jackie Robinson, for a couple months in the off-season, but we traded him before the season started, so he never actually played for us.

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BillySmith Major Leaguer Rising Star

BillySmith

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Lou Piniella

Nellie Briles

Wayne Garland

Jim Traber

Fritz Connelly

Juan Bell

Dave Skaggs

Dave Duncan

Elliott Maddox

Jose Morales

Jimmy Haynes

Who was the young infielder who was compared to ARod? I think he had an inside the park homer one spring and for some reason that sticks in my mind. He may have been a contemporary of the great Keith Reed.

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MikeAD Hangout Grand Counsel

MikeAD

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Lou Piniella

Nellie Briles

Wayne Garland

Jim Traber

Fritz Connelly

Juan Bell

Dave Skaggs

Dave Duncan

Elliott Maddox

Jose Morales

Jimmy Haynes

Who was the young infielder who was compared to ARod? I think he had an inside the park homer one spring and for some reason that sticks in my mind. He may have been a contemporary of the great Keith Reed.

Wow, I did not know Lou Pinella. For a lot of the guys in this thread I have the reaction "really, how can someone not remember______' s stint with the birds?" But your list has a couple of "hmmms."

For me, not that hes anything special but Pat Rapp.

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SteveA Hangout Grand Counsel

SteveA

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He never actually played a game for the team, but Kelly Gruber made a comeback attempt with the O's in 1997, but he ultimately decided to retire. His body took a beating over his last years in baseball. My only memory of him with the team was Fan Fest 1997, in the Warehouse I believe, he was giving an interview there in front of everyone and he seemed like a real nice guy, and I happened to be sitting two seats away from his wife, who was pretty if I remember rightly, not that it's important.

Didn't Bob Horner make a similar spring training attempt?

Oh, and I don't think Keith Moreland was mentioned. We picked up that worthless bum for the 1989 pennant drive and he basically phoned it in. He had nothing left, he went to the plate, struck out, sat back down and collected a paycheck for a month.

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