Gus Triandos was slow - but strong. In 1958, he had a career season, slugging 30 homers as catcher for the O's. He was named the starting catcher for the 1958 All-Star Game held at Memorial Stadium, which ended a streak of eight consecutive starts for Yogi Berra.
Towards the end of the season, Triandos caught a no-hitter by knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm. Triandos homered for the game's lone run. Speaking of Wilhelm, the photo above shows the oversized mitt that Triandos used to catch Wilhelm's knuckleball, and how that compares to the mitt he used against other pitchers. Later in his career, Triandos (catching for the Phillies) caught a perfect game by Jim Bunning in 1964.
In 1960, Triandos faced Dick Stuart in the television show 'Home Run Derby'. I remember watching reruns of this when I was a kid - either on ESPN or HTS, but I do not recall this episode. Fortunately, Hulu has the entire series available free to watch, including Gus Triandos vs. Dick Stuart (http://www.hulu.com/watch/166976). In a candid interview later in life, Triandos admitted he was embarrassed by his appearance on the show since he did not do as well as he hoped.
Gus Triandos would play for the Orioles through 1962, then was traded to the Detroit Tigers. He was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1981, become the 5th Oriole to achieve that honor.
Other recommended links:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/triangu01.shtml
http://www.camdenchat.com/2014/1/1/5262244/orioles-top-40-greatest-gus-triandos
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/29/rip-gus-triandos/
http://www.hardballtimes.com/tht-live/remembering-gus-triandos/
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