Tales from the Baltimore Orioles Dugout: A Collection of the Greatest Orioles Stories Ever Told

by Louis Berney

For several decades, the Baltimore Orioles were the envy of every Major League Baseball team. Now fans of this indomitable team can walk into the stadium and onto the field with Louis Berney’s newly revised edition of Tales from the Baltimore Orioles Dugout . Individually, these stories are funny, poignant, and eccentric. Collectively, they offer a portrait of a team that is as much a family and a community treasure as it is a professional sports organization. A must have for any Orioles fan.

Genres: Sports, Baseball

224 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2004

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is part of a series of books about various MLB teams. It is a collection of stories gathered from former Orioles players and coaches. 



I found it to be a treat. And I think that any Orioles fan would feel the same way. Compared to the Yankees, Giants, Cubs and many other teams, the history of the American League Baltimore Orioles is fairly short. There are still players alive from those first Orioles teams in the 1950s. For that reason a book like this about the Orioles gives a much fuller account of the team than one about the Yankees or Dodgers ever could.



For someone like me who became a fan after the 1983 World Series, the stories of the legends who won the O's first world series in 1966 were a special treat. Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Boog Powell and Dave McNally — these men stand astride Orioles history like Colossi. Hearing first hand stories of them as people adds humanity to myths.



The same is true of the great Orioles of the 1970s. An excellent example is reading as Earl Weaver describes how hard it was to be the man who had to tell Brooks Robinson that he was no longer going to be the Orioles starter at third base. Revealed a different side of the man better known for screaming at umpires and kicking dirt on their shoes.

Similarly, the descriptions of Cal Ripken jr as a prankster was a revelation about a man who I always thought of as dedicated only to baseball.



If you are an Orioles fan you will enjoy this book even if you are better informed than I am. I only wish it had been written more recently so I could have read about more recent Orioles.



One note. If you are one of those who who listen to their books in audio form, you may find the pronunciation of the names of some Orioles players in the book a little jarring.


[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish. It goes in chronological order from the earliest days in Baltimore up to Mike Mussina's tenure. Each chapter is about a different player from the past and is a mixture of stories told by that player and background information about the player's time in Baltimore. Some of the stories are really funny. They are also moving in certain ways. All of the stories told about Earl Weaver are really funny. And then the chapter about Earl Weaver is moving. I see him in a different light after reading his words about his struggles during his time as the Orioles manager. This dude had a huge heart! I would give this 5 Stars except there is no dedicated Eddie Murray or Frank Robinson chapters. There are lots of chapters from players I would have never known a thing about from the 60s and 70s that are gold mines the information about the Orioles and baseball in that time. I would love to see an updated version of this book released as a second volume. Interviews with Brady Anderson and Rafael Palmeiro, Scott Erickson, Alomar, Albert Belle, Bobby Bonilla, Jamie Moyer, etc. I loved this book though.

And just to clarify... Many of the other players till stories about Robinson and Murray, so they aren't completely missing.

[Michael Ginsberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. The stories are unforgettable and you won't find them anywhere else. The best in the Rick Dempsey fireworks story in Venezuela (I won't spoil it here, but the words "Rick Dempsey" and "fireworks" should be a clue it is very, very funny). All kinds of vignettes like this you won't get from reading "official" histories.

[Chris Schaffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fir die hard Orioles fans. Some of the early ones aren’t that familiar. Great dudes from the 1960s teams through to Mike Mussina. Tito Landrum!!

[Benjamin Plume · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a lifelong O's fan, worth owning or snagging from the library.

[Camden Brannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is one of my favorite books I've read. It looks into the inside of the orioles dugout and it tells you more about the classic oriole player's