The American League
By Johnny Orsino

After the 1962 season the Giants suggested that I consider playing winter ball. I agreed and was assigned to the Aricibo Wolves in the Puerto Rican League. I played up to the Christmas Holidays, but had to go home due to my mother's illness. When I left Aricibo I was leading the league in home runs and runs batted in with a batting average of .368. Very soon after my arrival home, I was notified by the Giants that they had traded me to the Baltimore Orioles along with Mike McCormick and Stu Miller. Mike always said he was the only starting pitcher to get traded and take his catcher and relief pitcher with him.

So began my American League experience. Being a Yankee fan my whole life, I was excited to be in the American League and looked forward to playing the Yankees. Spring training was in Miami. I was very optimistic about my chances to become the Orioles starting catcher, but I also realized I had to have a great spring training. There were three other catchers on the roster, Dick Brown, Charlie Lau, and Hobbie Landrith. I worked very hard and had a good spring highlighted by hitting 5 consecutive home runs against the Dodgers and the Reds. But, we broke camp without a specified #1 catcher and on opening day Dick Brown was in the line up. We alternated most of the first half of the season, Then about the middle of July, Billy Hitchcock, our manager, came to me and said that I was the #1 catcher and that I would be playing regular for the rest of the season. I responded by hitting 15 home runs the second half of the season. I finished the season hitting .275, 19 homers and 85 RBI's. I was named to the season ending American League All-Star team. Billy Hitchcock, the one-time infielder, managed the Orioles in 1962, when the club dropped to seventh place, and in 1963 when the club moved back up to fourth. Billy was the nicest guy you ever wanted to meet, but we didn't play well under him. It was discouraging because we had thought the Orioles were on the verge of catching up to the Yankees.  

The major addition the Orioles made in 1963 was getting Louis Aparicio from the White Sox. Louis was just a sensational player offensively and defensively. He was the era's best-fielding shortstop. He had so much range that our third baseman, future Hall-of-Famer Brooks Robinson, could cheat more to the line. Louis had led the league in stolen bases all 7 years he was with the White sox, and he led the league his first year with the Orioles, stealing 40 bases. His success was easy to understand------he just stole because he took a big lead, got a great jump, and had outstanding speed.  

Stu Miller wasn't a flaky relief pitcher but a very serious man who liked to be left alone. I liked him. He was a nice man. On the mound he was great. There were a few phenomenons that would come along every now and then, and Stu Miller was one of them. No one was like him. Relief pitchers usually threw hard and were overpowering, but he got you on a variety of unusual change-ups-------batters knew what was coming but could do nothing. He could make hitters look funnier than any other pitcher. During spring training with the Giants, I saw him throw a pitch to the great Boston outfielder, Jackie Jensen. Jackie started to swing at the pitch but in the middle of his swing he realized it was a change-up. He tried to hold up and wrenched his back. He had to be helped off the field. I think the funniest was the huge Frank Howard with the Senators. Frank was 6'8" and weighed at least 275lbs. He had tremendous power and was a good fast ball hitter. Stu started him off with his best fast ball, about 85 miles per hour. Frank took the pitch with the idea he would look for the change-up on the next pitch. Stu threw his straight change-up--------Frank swung and missed, being very far ahead of the pitch. I could see Frank was very frustrated trying to compose himself and re-focus. Stu wound up, gave his famous head jerk, and threw a change-curve that started at Howard's head but with the lack of speed continued down the strike zone so that by the time the pitch got to home plate it was about to bounce just short. Frank followed the pitch and felt he had timed it perfectly. His swing was very powerful, but due to the trajectory of the pitch, he hit his bat directly on home plate and shattered it in 4 or 5 pieces. After getting another bat and trying to dismiss his embarrassment, he looked at another Miller fast ball-----------strike three.

Although it was a disappointing season, finishing fourth, it was the beginning of Baltimore's great years.


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