[pat]

I was the GM of the St. Louis Browns, now the Baltimore Orioles, since 1950. Two decades have come and go and I have two World Series rings to show up for it. The last one came in 1970. Anyway, here's the next year's story.

1971 season was one of the tightest races in the history of TWB. My team just fell short 2 games, to my rival, New York Yankees.

So, what did I do? Normally, you would just fill the holes and hope you’ll play the same level as last year. But I’m not your normal-type of GM.

I completely did a major overhaul in my lineup and rotation. Since we’re playing half of our games at Memorial Stadium (a hell of a launch pad), I gathered power hitters regardless of age. In my staff, I’ve amassed high movement (at least 8) pitchers.

We started it off with a trade in the off-season in the company of Atlanta Braves.

ATL gets 
OF George Jumper 7/7/5/6 
2B Joe Seiber 7/9/6/3 

BAL gets 
SP Shawn Craven 5/5/8 
2B/SS Renaldo Gre 7/6/4/5

Many criticized the trade on my part. I got a great defensive wizard on the infield. Atlanta got a good leadoff-man in Jumper. After a few days, they’ve traded Seiber to Wayne Utterback a SP which is at the time has 6/8/6 ratings. It has bumped up to 6/10/8 this season. (Dang, how could I miss that)

Next, we made a deal with the lowly Milwaukee Brewers:

MIL gets 
1B Nick Ayes 6/9/5/5

BAL gets 
CF Kent LaFleur 5/6/7/4

I added a defensive CF since Jumper is gone.

We made another trade, this time with the Cincinnati Reds:

CIN gets
LF Ted Walter 7/8/5/6
OF George Jozwiak 5/6/6/8

BAL gets
SS Alexander “Moses” Jones 5/7/10/6

“Moses” is limited defensively but I can’t pass up on his HR potential on my park. He has averaged 21 bombs in eight years with the Reds. Walter, meanwhile, is the center of this deal. He is a gold-glove leftfielder who hits consistently.

I’m not done trading that season, probably around 5 more. Subsequently, we contacted Texas about their starting pitcher.

TEX gets
C Bill Melancon 6/7/2/4
1B Jay Doerr 5/6/3/3

BAL gets
SP John Bass 6/9/8

A veteran ace which we got for a bargain, he’s a top commodity only if he was put on the block. But he never did. And I hunt for deals not search for it.

We hook up with Atlanta one more time, this time it’s a blockbuster.

BAL gets
C Walter “Big Wally” Hanham 7/5/9/6
OF Roger Hanham 4/6/4/7
SP Joe Irvin 5/7/8

ATL gets
C Joe Perez 5/6/7/5
SP Alex Childress 4/9/9
SS Edgar Dillon 7/7/7/8
SP Carl Bonin 7/6/5
OF George Justice 5/6/7/5 (talent)

I must have given a lot more than I should have but “Big Wally’s” power would work well in my park. Childress is already 33.

I’ve hooked up with Houston twice and this is the first of them.

HOU gets 
RF Stew Wilke 5/10/5/1
CF Gil Fadden 5/8/6/3

BAL gets 
RF Leroy "Ears" Darling 6/6/8/6

This deal bolstered my outfield with the acquisition of another veteran OF.

This is the second time working with the Astros:

HOU gets 

SP Shelby Parkhill 4/2/8
C Marlin Lee 6/6/6/5/6

BAL gets 

SP Perry Wanklen 9/9/8

Another addition to my rotation, Wanklen is already in his mid 30’s so I expect two to three years from him. Lee has developed nicely improving his contact and power to 8 this season. While Wanklen is now down to 8/8/7.

The trade deadline for 1972 wasn’t all that provocative. So, we made sure it does. We transact business with California Angels and here’s the result:

CAL gets
SP Joe Emig 4/7/10
SP Bobby Egger 9/5/7
MR Herb Garder 5/6/10 against LHB

BAL gets
RF Dusty Lane 7/10/10/6
SP John Foxx 9/4/9

Lane is struggling hitting for average but we’ll take it. Emig is a consistent winner and will bring his experience to the Angels.

And that’s all the trade I made in the 1972 season. It didn’t help as the chemistry may have been lacking for the team as we finished the season in 3rd place, 10 games back.