O You Beautiful Birds

When Robinson took over for Cal Ripken Sr. after Baltimore had suffered six of a league-record 21 consecutive losses at the start of last year, he inherited a team with such former All-Stars as first baseman Eddie Murray, catcher Terry Kennedy, outfielder Fred Lynn and pitchers Scott McGregor, Don Aase and Mike Boddicker. The Orioles didn't exactly catch fire under Robinson last year, and none of those former stars are still with Baltimore.

The season was dismal in other ways, too. Edward Bennett Williams, the popular owner of the club, passed away last August after a long fight with cancer. A month earlier Ralph Salvon, the Orioles' beloved trainer, had died of complications following heart surgery. The only bright moment came in July, when shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. signed a new three-year contract. "Last year was doubly frustrating for me," says Cal Jr., "because I was both an Orioles player and an Orioles fan. I re-signed because I love this organization, and I felt that eventually we would be back, though not this soon, certainly. Now I'm doubly happy we're in first place. Remember, though, it's only June."

Never in '88 did either the Orioles or their fans give up hope. The front office went ahead with plans to give the uniforms a more traditional look and the hats a more stately oriole. Larry Lucchino, who became president of the team upon Williams's death, says, "I went to EBW just before he died to tell him of the new uniforms. I'll never forget what he told me. 'Let me get this straight,' he said. ' Rome is burning, and you want to change the caps.' " As it turns out, the new hat is the best-selling cap in baseball.

Hemond, a Rhode Islander of French descent with a joie de baseball, took a lot of heat in his first season, but that didn't stop him from making some bold moves. He traded the staff ace, Boddicker, to the Boston Red Sox last July for outfielder Brady Anderson and pitcher Carl Schilling. Although Anderson is struggling at the plate (.208 at week's end), he has played a terrific centerfield and has 14 stolen bases. In Hemond's biggest deal, in December, he swapped Murray, whose unhappiness had become contagious, to the Los Angeles Dodgers for pitchers Holton and Ken Howell and minor league shortstop Juan Bell. Hemond followed that by sending Howell to the Phillies for Bradley, a former Missouri quarterback who has given the O's solid defense in left and leadership by example. "When you have a Cal Ripken in your infield and a Phil Bradley in your outfield, it's not hard to get the younger players working," says batting coach Tom McCraw.

Largely unnoticed in the off-season was Robinson's hiring of McCraw as batting coach and Al Jackson as pitching coach. Both were working with the New York Mets' minor leaguers at the time, and the Mets, who have borrowed so much front-office and coaching talent from the Orioles over the years, returned the favor by giving Baltimore permission to hire McCraw and Jackson.

Both are indefatigable teachers. McCraw, who has worked closely with Tettleton and could, but doesn't, claim credit for Tettleton's stroke of fortune, was found earlier this season studying videotapes of Milligan at nine in the morning after the team arrived from a West Coast road trip at 3 a.m. Jackson studied tapes of the Oriole pitchers in the off-season and came to the conclusion that Ballard would benefit from 1) changing his style from power pitcher to finesse pitcher; 2) turning the ball over to get a good sinking fastball: and 3) moving his right foot toward the third base side of the rubber so that his fastball, which moves away from righthanded hitters, would stay in the strike zone.

The fact that Robinson, McCraw, Jackson, bullpen coach Elrod Hendricks and Calvin Hill, a team vice-president, are all black is a repudiation of those in baseball who have dragged their heels on affirmative action. The Orioles have almost as many black managers and coaches in their minor league system—roving instructors Don Buford, Minnie Mendoza and Deacon Jones, Erie (Pa.) manager Bobby Tolan, Rochester ( N.Y.) coach Curt Motton and Bluefield (W.Va.) coach Jose Soto—as some teams have had in their entire histories.

The Orioles also brought back Ripken Sr. to coach third base. His presence has undoubtedly helped Bill Ripken raise his average from .207 last year to .252 this season. On June 6 in Yankee Stadium there was a nice tableau after Cal Jr. and Bill turned a spectacular double play to end the eighth inning. They ran off the field, holding their gloves the same way, step for step, smile for smile. Heading toward the third base coach's box, Cal Sr. nodded in parental approval as he passed them.

Robinson has done a remarkable job with Baltimore in many ways. He's not afraid to use former Auburn standout Gregg Olson, the O's No. 1 draft pick last year, as his closer. Robinson uses his bench well; nobody can complain about lack of playing time. And he is patient, despite his long-standing reputation to the contrary. "The biggest change in Frank," says McCraw, "is that now he can go to sleep as long as he knows his players did their best." Robinson is also one of the first managers to use a fax machine on the job. That's how he gets up-to-the-minute reports on opponents from advance scout Ed Farmer.

One of the more popular items of apparel in the Baltimore clubhouse is a T-shirt with the inscription FAT BIRDS DON'T FLY. Well, the Orioles are no longer fat. And they're no longer averse to having fun. The other night in New York City, security personnel at the Grand Hyatt were called to a room at 4 a.m. to investigate a disturbance. In the room they found Olson and Traber shouting over a video game. "It's called Gauntlet," says Olson. "Good mental training for the pennant race."