60 Seasons, 60 Orioles - 1954: Don Larsen

This season marks the 60th season for the Baltimore Orioles, so I decided to honor the good, the bad, and the ugly over those 60 years by highlighting one player from each season. But first, some quick background information. Prior to the 1954 season, the franchise played in St. Louis, as the Browns, and were pretty lousy. Of the 52 seasons of St. Louis Browns baseball, they had only 12 winning seasons, with their best season during 1944 when they lost the World Series to the crosstown St. Louis Cardinals. After years of declining attendance, the Browns were sold and relocated to Baltimore for the 1954 season.

That first Orioles team continued the Browns' losing ways, finishing 54-100 for the season. One of the first Orioles was pitcher Don Larsen - yes that Don Larsen. Before he pitched a perfect game in the 1956 World Series for a team that shall not be mentioned on this blog, he was a Baltimore Oriole. His sophomore season in 1954 was absolutely terrible, finishing 3-21 with a 4.37 ERA for the 'Baby Birds'. It may be surprising to know he actually had 12 complete games that season, but that was more of a sign of the times.

Larsen was traded prior to the 1955 season to the 'team that shall not be mentioned'. This wasn't an ordinary trade though, this was a 17-player trade! It was essentially Larsen and future 1958 AL Cy Young award winner Bob Turley to the Y*nks, for Gus Triandos, as the other 14 players exchanged between Baltimore and New York were a bunch of no-names. Triandos was a key player for those 50's and early 60's teams, becoming a 3-time All-Star at catcher. So maybe it was a trade that worked out for both teams.

Back to Larsen, he became a reliever late in his career, and during the 1965 season, was traded back to the O's from the Houston Astros. He had a much more respectable season, finishing with a 2.67 ERA in 54 innings pitched. He certainly looked a lot happier, when comparing photos of Larsen from 1954 (above) and 1965 (right). For more information, including an interview with Don Larsen, check out this MASN Sports article from February. Check back this weekend, as I will honor a player from the 1955 Orioles.