1966 was a great year to graduate from Aberdeen’s Central
High School and it was a great year for the Aberdeen Pheasant's Major League Baseball affiliate, the Baltimore Orioles. In 1966, the Orioles
won baseball’s World Series in a stunning upset over Sandy Koufax’s Los Angeles' Dodgers. In that championship series, several former Pheasant players made important contributions.
Growing up in Aberdeen, especially during our high school
years, left many of our Class of '66 with captured memories, including spending Summer
evenings at the former Pheasants’ Municipal Ball Park. We saw some good baseball as well as having
fun being with our friends. As players
moved up through the Orioles farm system, we followed their progress and felt
connected when they made the majors.
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| 1964 Northern League Champions - Aberdeen Pheasants |
There were seven former Pheasant players on the 1966 Oriole
team, although only two were at the anniversary game, Jim Palmer and Eddie
Watt. Both players were star pitchers of
the 1964 Northern League Champion Pheasants. Palmer
starred for the Orioles over 16 years and was inducted into Baseball’s Hall of
Fame in 1990. Eddie Watt was the star
pitcher for the ’64 Pheasants with a 14-1 win-loss record and spent 10 years in the majors. The remaining former Pheasants on
the 1966 Oriole team included Steve Barber, Mark Belanger, Frank Bertaina, Andy
Etchebarren and Tom Phoebus.
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| Jim Palmer's 1966 Rookie Card |
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| Eddie Watt's 1966 Rookie Card |
and please don't forget..Let's Go O's
1 comment:
Great recollections of Aberdeen baseball. I remember seeing "the stars of tomorrow" at Pheasants games. Most of the former Pheasants on the 66 Orioles, along with players such as Boog Powell, were managed in Aberdeen (and later in Baltimore) by Earl Weaver. Loud and belligerent to make up for his 5-foot-6 frame, Weaver was the bane of the umpire crews, which he baited and berated. When we were in junior high, I had the good fortune to live near the Weavers and played baseball with Earl Junior in the vacant lot next door to their house. Earl Senior also let us shag balls for the Pheasants during batting practice, so I got to know the players pretty well. When the players visited the Weavers' home, they always got a kick out of the scoreboard that we kids had erected on the next-door field. It listed scores for "Visitors" and the "Peasants."
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