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Who’s the Oriole Smoking by the Dugout?
By Jamie Mottram | August 4, 2009
I love MLB Network. At night they show highlights and live look-ins, and during days they show classic games, which are so choice. Thankfully, I stopped the dial there recently just in time to see a mystery Oriole puffing away in the shadows of the clubhouse tunnel adjacent to the dugout.
Who is this Cancer Man, puffing away at the 1976 All-Star Game?
Why it’s all-glove no-stick O’s shortstop Mark “The Blade” Belanger, seen just moments before passing Mark “The Bird” Fidrych no less.
The bigger mystery? What Belanger (who slugged – not batted, slugged — .326 that year) was doing in the ASG to begin with. It might have been something to do with the eight Gold Gloves he won that decade. Not sure.
And lest you think smoking is cool, the guy died of lung cancer in 1998.
/cues sad trombone //lights cigarette
R.I.P., Blade. Bird too.
Topics: Orioles, TV Photography, This Is Weird | No Comments »