REMEMBERING GUS: Oriole Great Passes at age 82

As Orioles fans, young and old, eagerly prepare for the 2013 season, long-time fans received some bittersweet news this past week. Gus Triandos, one of the best major league catchers of the mid-50’s to mid-60’s, and a long time Oriole fan favorite, passed away in California late last week.

Gus Triandos was one of what I may call the “original Orioles,” coming to town to reintroduce Major League Baseball to Baltimore after an absence of 50 years.

Orioles fans today don’t realize how starved the fan base was back in those days for a team and players to root for. Baltimore was home to the International League Orioles for decades, and the current team was just a year earlier the St Louis Browns and, as you might expect, one of the worst teams in the major leagues.

I can still remember (barely) that the city threw a parade on Opening Day for the newly arrived ball club with players riding on the back of convertibles through downtown Baltimore. In fact, they rode all the way to the newly updated Memorial Stadium to open the 1954 season!

If you think the crowd to greet the Ravens on their recent Super Bowl parade was large, get this: It was estimated the crowd lining downtown streets on that opening day to greet their new MLB club exceeded 350,000!

Gus came up through the Yankees farm system but, since nobody was beating Yogi Berra out of a job in those days, he became part of one of the biggest trades ever in MLB history, a monster 15 player deal that sent Orioles Bob Turley and Don Larsen (of World Series No-Hitter fame) and others – to the Yanks.

Triandos came to the Orioles along with other so-to-be fan favorites such as Gene Woodling and Willie Miranda.

Gus brought his big bat, easy smile, and towering presence behind the plate. Orioles’ fans were won over in no time. He never turned down an autograph request or a chance to meet fans at social gatherings like bull roasts or store appearances.

Triandos, a four-time All-Star, also held some major achievements in his MLB history. For readers not familiar with his achievements here are just a few:

• Gus hit 30 home runs in 1958, which then for decades stood as the benchmark for American League catchers and wasn’t broken until 1982.

• He caught two no-hitters, one in 1958 as Orioles knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm blanked the Yankees and another in 1964 when he caught Philadelphia Phillies’ Jim Bunning’s perfect game against the Mets. He thus became the first catcher in Major League history to catch no hitters in both the American and National Leagues

• Notoriously slow and once called the “slowest player in major league baseball,” Triandos stole exactly one (1) base in his entire major league career. That said, he also had exactly one inside-the-park home run.

It goes without saying that ball parks were not pitcher-friendly in those days!

• Big Gus made his stock in trade as a great defensive catcher. Triandos led American League catchers twice in assists and in base runners caught stealing .In 1957, he threw out 66.7% of the base runners trying to steal a base, the third highest single-season ratio in Major League history.

• In fact, over his career, Triandos threw out 46.62% of the base runners who tried to steal base on him, ranking him 6th on the all-time list.

For me, Gus Triandos was my favorite player then, and remains my all-time favorite to this day. I have a picture of him taken back in the 50’s entering a friend’s house with his usual big grin in place. When I played CYO ball back in the day, I requested and wore – what else – Number 11 – Gus’s number!

One of my prized sports possessions is a ball signed by all the 1955 Orioles, autographed by, among others, Skinny Brown, George Kell, Dick Williams, Tito Francona, Paul Richards, Willie Miranda, and, of course, Gus Triandos.

I also have a cracked batting practice bat Gus threw into the stands after a game against the Yankees way back when, when manager Paul Richards used to make his slumping players take BP after a game.

My uncle, a life-long Yankees fan, took me to that afternoon game which featured Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and Whitey Ford in their prime, and he called Gus over to meet me as he headed for the dugout. He came over to the stands with that big smile of his, and stuck out an equally big hand.

I’ll never forget the handshake he gave to an awe-struck 10 year old.

On Tuesday the Baltimore Orioles will begin a new season, hopefully continuing the magical success of last year. For me, it will again be a reminder of how it used to be, and how a big, brawny guy with a big smile made me a lifelong baseball fan.

Note: statistics and information courtesy of Wikipedia, and the Baseball Almanac.