Jim Gentile came to Memorial Stadium in 1961 and brought the fireworks with him.
Gentile was the Orioles' first genuine slugger as he unleased a 46 HR, league leading
141 RBI season while batting .302 to come in 3rd place for the MVP. On the
mound meanwhile, the Orioles brought in two future Hall of Famers� Robin Roberts
(10-9, 2.78) and Hoyt Wilhelm (7-10-14 Saves, 1.94) to give the pitching staff
some stability. By 1963, Baltimore was above .500 as they welcomed their 2nd
future star. Playing behind Brooks Robinson at 3rd base was left fielder Boog
Powell who would hit 25 HR at the age of 21 while batting .265. Powell would
go on to become a 4 time All-Star for the Orioles in his 17 years career, including
winning the American League MVP award when he batted .297 with 35 HR and 114
RBI's in 1970. His best power season came at the age of 22 when in 1964 he hit
39 HR while Brooks Robinson hit 28 bombs as Memorial Stadium became the home
of the Home Run ball. Slowly but surely, the franchise was beginning to come together.
In 1965, 2x All-Star Paul Blair took over in Center Field where he would
remain for the next 14 years. By 1966, Davey Johnson had taken over at 2B batting
.257 with future Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio manning shortstop. Right Fielder
Frank Robinson was brought in to give some protection to Boog Powell and Brooks
Robinson and the future Hall of Famer did just that� slamming 49 League Leading
HR, 122 league leading RBI's and batting a league leading .316 to win the
Triple Crown and become the 2nd Baltimore Oriole to win an American League MVP
award (Powell won his in 1970). Then, there was the pitching... |