Hitchcock’s Perspective Sheds Light on the Orioles

Billy Hitchcock, perhaps the finest gentleman ever to wear an Orioles uniform, is on a rare visit to Baltimore this weekend to take part in the Orioles’ Hall of Fame ceremonies before Saturday night’s game with Toronto.

Hitchcock, a pipe-smoking Auburn grad, was hired by Lee MacPhail to manage the Orioles in 1962. They finished seventh, and the following year, when they wound up fourth with a record of 86-76 -- a higher winning percentage (.531) than today’s first-place Orioles, by the way -- Hitchcock was replaced by Hank Bauer.

Both men are here for the ceremonies at which Stu Miller, Dick Hall and Jim Gentile will be enshrined. Hitchcock managed all three.

“I was just sitting here looking at a picture of No. 4,” Hitchcock said from his Alabama home this week.

To a generation of Orioles fans, No. 4 is Earl Weaver, who replaced Bauer in 1968.

“In my day, No. 4 was Jim Gentile,” Hitchcock said. “He was some kind of home-run hitter and RBI man. He could catch that ball at first base, too.”

To this day, even after the exploits of sluggers like Frank Robinson, Boog Powell and Eddie Murray, the Orioles’ record for most RBI in a season belongs to Gentile.

Gentile had 141 in 1961. The same year, he hit 41 homers. Gentile and Frank Robinson are still the only Orioles to hit 40 or more homers in a season.

“Ol’ Jim was such a temperamental fellow,” Hitchcock said. “He only got mad at himself. He never got mad at me. I saw him four years ago and he was a different sort of fellow. Very low-key.

“Jim expected to hit a home run every time up, and when he didn’t he’d break a bat -- although I never saw him break one over his thigh like Bo Jackson.”

Hitchcock knows a few things about Bo Jackson, who was the MVP in this year’s All-Star Game. Bo went to Auburn, where he won the Heisman Trophy. Hitchcock, who just turned 73, still lives in Opelika, six miles from Auburn, his home for the past 50 years. Hitchcock sees every Auburn home game.

“I’m not surprised at what Bo Jackson has done in baseball,” Hitchcock said. “Everybody knows he’s a great athlete, but a lot of people didn’t realize Bo hadn’t played much baseball when he signed with Kansas City.

“He’s getting better and better. People down here learned long ago that when Bo says he can do something, he’s going to do it.”

Another Auburn alumnus even closer to Hitchcock’s heart is Gregg Olson, who was a two-year All-America pitcher and now is the Orioles’ ace closer.

“Gregg is a great talent,” Hitchcock said. “I saw him pitch a lot in college. Then he was known for his fastball. Now that he’s in the big leagues, all you hear about is his curveball. I know Gregg had a little rough spell there a couple weeks ago at the same time the rest of the club was having one.

“People ask me all the time if the Orioles can hang on and win the pennant, and I tell them there’s an old saying in baseball that flowers that bloom in the spring fade and die in the summer. But the Orioles may prove to be the exception. They’re amazing.”

Being in Southeastern Conference territory, Hitchcock is knowledgeable about the all-time reluctant Oriole, No. 1 draft pick Ben McDonald, from Louisiana State. “I didn’t see McDonald pitch here,” Hitchcock said. “But the last two times he faced Auburn, he got roughed up. The Auburn coach, Hal Baird, tells me he’s a fine pitcher.

“Still, it’s hard for me to believe Ben McDonald can go straight to the American League and be successful. A Heisman Trophy winner can do that in the NFL, but in baseball there’s a big gap between college and the major leagues. Experience is still the best teacher. Ben McDonald needs experience.”

For a man who was fired here, Hitchcock has nothing but good things to say about the Orioles and Baltimore.

“Being fired is part of the game,” he said. “I went right to work in the Oriole farm system for Harry Dalton and Lou Gorman. Now Harry and Lou are general managers for two clubs (Milwaukee and Boston) trying to catch the Orioles.”

Hitchcock has a picture of two Orioles prospects he watched in Aberdeen, S.D.: a fellow named Jim Palmer and a skinny shortstop named Mark Belanger.

When Hitchcock was president of the Southern League, Cal Ripken Sr. was managing the Orioles’ farm club in Asheville, N.C., and his sons, Cal and Billy, were playing Little League.

Billy Hitchcock is part of this organization’s history and it’s good to have him back. It’s good to have Bauer back, too, to help honor three Orioles’ Hall of Famers.