Charlie OBrien´s Legacy

I´m sure growing up that Charlie O´Brien used to hear comparisons to Johnny Bench all the time.   It´s not that he could profess to be Johnny Bench, it´s that there were two very striking similarities.  They both were catchers from Oklahoma, and therein lies the comparison that could not be avoided.  He did 25 home runs in one season in high school.

O´Brien did get a late start, not getting his first minor league experience until the age of 22, and became one my favorite types of players, an almost perrenial back-up catcher skilled at throwing out basestealers.  He had a career caught stealing % of 37% and when he qualified, finished 1st or 2nd in the league three times over his 15 year career.  In 1997, he threw out an obscene 55% of runners attempting a steal, gunning down 31 basestealers in only 69 games.

Alas, the superstar heritage did not extend to O´Brien, though he did enjoy a long and fruitful 15 year career.  He backed up such luminaries Mike Heath, BJ Surhoff, Mackey Sasser, Rick Cerone, Javy Lopez, and Benito Santiago.  But his lasting legacy, the one which he will be remembered for, is showcased on the 1998 Collector´s Choice card above.

Do you see the helmet?  O´Brien was the catcher who came up with the idea and then helped to construct the first ones.  Now, getting hit on the side of the head by a foul tip were incidents of the past.  O´Brien, as a backup catcher and idea man, protected his team and all catchers to come.  If you ever wondered why, catcher masks look so much like hockey helmets, the catcher playing for Toronto in 1997 was the reason why.

Round 0 begins: The Saga of Price Laughton

The Search for a Baseball Team for Willow Cove

Having been newly widowed and the business of Willow Cove languishing without her husband's death, Price Laughton decided that the best way to inject life back into her favorite town was to find a baseball team.  She wanted one with a connection to her heritage (a mixture of Greek and Scottish principally) and set about her quest.  

Her favorite vacation spot was always in the Aegean isles....it's where she and Thomas first met.  She just had to close her eyes and picture the warm swells of the Mediterranean lapping against her feet and intake the sharp salty air through her nostrils to remember times gone by.    She had also begun small investments in olive groves before her husband's demise, but that was business....baseball for Willow Cove was personal. 

She researched each of the team's histories diligently and settled upon the acquisition of the Baltimore Orioles.  They have come upon hard times recently, but she figured that Peter Angelos, the current owner, would want to only sell the team to someone with a deep love for heritage like himself.  The Orioles had also been friendly to players of Greek heritage in both the past and present with Nick Markakis, Milt Pappas, and Gus Triandos having been a part of Orioles history.  She thought it would be easy; play up the commonality in heritage and love for baseball, show a business blueprint for team success with her inheritance and the plans that she and Thomas had discussed and see the Orioles become the Willow Cove rallying point.

The city council already was backing the proposal, having been thrown into chaos by the recent town upheaval and the stadium referendum was passed with little opposition.  She also contributed 50% of the cost herself.  Soon, she had everyone in the town decked out in black and orange to show that there is pre-support and always will be for an Orioles franchise in Willow Cove.  She also enlisted Cal Ripken, Boog Powell, and Chris Hoiles as consultants and boosters for the move.  She knew how much they loved being in Baltimore, but persuaded them with charm and a keen, piercing intellect and foresight abilities.

Alas, it was not to be.  Angelos would not sell or move.  No words could move him.  Price and Willow Cove were distraught but resolved.  It will come to pass even if there were many more olive oil presses in the Greek isles before it was done.