1984 Topps Allan Ramirez Caught It All

The right-hander was a career Oriole from top to bottom

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1984 Topps Allan Ramirez (#347) - Card of the Day

The Baltimore Orioles have a long tradition of sporting one-team legends that stand among the greats of the game, and others that almost made it through their career only with the Orioles.

Brooks Robinson, Cal Ripken Jr., Jim Palmer, Scott McGregor (majors) were Orioles only.

Dave McNally, Al Bumbry, and Mark Belanger made it through all but one season each with the O’s.

There are no doubt countless others, some of whom aren’t quite as “household” as far as names go.

Take Allan Ramirez, for example. A standout at Rice University, Ramirez set many school and Southwest Conference records on the mound from 1975 through 1979. In June of 1979, the Orioles selected Ramirez with their fifth-round pick in the June draft.

He probably only lasted that long because of his diminutive size (5’10”, 180 pounds) and the general perception at the time that “small” pitchers were prone to breaking down.

At any rate, Ramirez jumped right into Single-A ball that summer, then climbed steadily over two summers, landing at Triple-A Rochester for part of the 1981 season.

That’s where the right-hander’s train stalled for awhile, and he spent all of 1982 and about half of 1983 at with the Red Wings.

But then, with the Orioles in the midst of a pennant race, Baltimore brought up their 26-year-old prospect in June of 1983 when starter Mike Flanagan injured his knee. Manager Joe Altobelli called on Ramirez to make the start at home against the defending American League East champs, the Milwaukee Brewers, on June 8.

Ramirez responded by pitching seven innings, allowing two runs on five hits and five walks, as the Orioles won 7-3.

That earned Ramirez more work, and he ended up making 10 starts in 11 total appearances the rest of the summer, going 4-4 with a 3.47 ERA.

But when it came time to set playoff rosters, the O’s sent Ramirez back down to make room for trade acquisition Tito Landrum. The righty did get the call again in September, and he made his final appearance on the 13th of that month.

In that game, Ramirez pulled a muscle in his rib cage and had to be shut down for the season.

As it turned out, that injury would also shut down Ramirez’s big league career. No one knew that at the time, though, and Topps bought into his future hard enough to include his rookie card in their 1984 set.

By the time that card debuted, though, Ramirez was back at Rochester, struggling to regain his earlier, more effective form. After a 4-10, 4.36 ERA that summer, he pitched two games with the Double-A Charlotte O’s in 1985, posting a 7.94 ERA.

That was the end of the line as a pro pitcher for Ramirez, and he hung up his spikes as another career Oriole.

Today, Allan Ramirez, a member of the Rice Athletic Hall of Fame, turns 67 years old.

Muscled Out by the Knuckles

One of Ramirez’s teammates with the 1983 Orioles was Mike Flanagan, who went 12-4 with a 3.30 ERA but was limited to 20 starts because of a knee injury that gutted the middle of his summer.

Flanagan had won the 1979 American League Cy Young Awards following his 23-9, 3.03 showing, but had to split space on his 1980 Topps “leaders” card with a pair of brothers who led the National League in wins.

That summer (1979) Joe Niekro went 21-11 for the Astros, while 40-year-old Phil Niekro went 21-20 (!) for the Braves in 44 starts covering 342 innings.

I wrote about that card and Flanagan a bit more over on Wax Pack Gods — you can read that piece here if you’re so inclined.

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Hey, before I forget…Happy May Day!

Do you have your Maypole set up and ready for the day’s festivities? You could make a pretty nifty baseball version by gluing some baseball cards to a stick or something.

Among the guys you might include, depending on how strict you want to be about the “May” piece: Lee May, Lee Maye, John Mayberry, Milt May, Willie Mays, Rudy May, Willie Aikens (if you know, you know), Mayo Smith, Dave May, and many others.

However you choose to celebrate (or not) graduation month, here’s hoping it’s a good one.

Thanks for reading.

—Adam