I’m a life long Baltimore Orioles fan. I was crushed when they lost the Series in 1969 and 1979 when they should have won. I took my 12 year-old son to Cooperstown this past summer to show him all the O’s in the Hall and to look at what they had prepared for Cal since we went there three weeks before his induction.

As an Orioles fan, I took great interest in the Mitchell Report when it was released. I expected to see a couple of Orioles in the report but not the long list of Oriole players. When I saw that list, I couldn’t help but think HOW DO YOU CHEAT THAT MUCH AND STILL LOSE?! This organization has been so bad the last ten years that they can’t even cheat right.

By the way, I hope everyone took note that there was never a hint that Cal ever did anything wrong. The Iron Man is still iron clad in his reputation.

York, PA has a new minor league baseball team called the Revolution. On June 22nd, my brother got to sing the national anthem before the game. I took my 12-year-old son, Mark, to the game to support my bro and to check out the new ballpark. Late in the game, one of the relief pitchers was warming up the right fielder in between innings. When he was done, he tossed the baseball up to Mark. Mark was thrilled.

A little later, Mark had to go to the restroom but told all of us to leave his baseball alone while he was gone. Being a good father, I swiped the baseball from his glove. As luck would have it, the pitcher that tossed Mark the ball entered the game while Mark was in the restroom. When Mark came back to his seat, I said “Mark, check out who the new pitcher is.” When he saw it was his relief pitcher, he was all excited. Then I told him as he reached for his glove “But there is some bad news.” He saw his glove was empty. I told him “The pitcher needed the ball back.” The stunned look on his face was priceless. After a couple of seconds, I tossed him his ball. He had to admit it was a funny joke.

(originally published in Baseball Ink Vol. 1, No. 3 – December 2000)

By David Quinn

I remember the at-bat like it was yesterday, yet it was 25 years ago when it happened. I was digging into the batter’s box. From seeing this guy pitch to the other guys, I knew he had an incredible fastball. I wanted to start my stride early. The pitcher released the ball and I got started. It didn’t take long to realize the ball was coming right at my head. As I started to bend back out of the way, it broke down and away sharply. All I could do was stand in amazement as the ball went right to the catcher’s mitt for a strike.

It was the scariest and most embarrassing moment I’d ever had in an at-bat. I knew I did not have a future in baseball at that time.

The pitcher’s name was Alfonzo Timmons.

(originally published in Baseball Ink Vol. 1, No. 1 – June 2000)