THE BALTIMORE ORIOLES: 40 YEARS OF MAGIC FROM 33RD STREET TO CAMDEN YARDS. By Ted Patterson. Taylor Publishing Co. 230 pages. $36.95
THE CAMDEN YARDS ballpark tour is a logical place to start. But for the Orioles fan seeking the ultimate field trip to the Land of Brooks, Boog and Palmer, here's another idea: Try a visit to Ted Patterson's basement.
Mr. Patterson does not have the usual cellar, the kind furnished with a dart board and a couple of ping-pong paddles. At his house, the emphasis is on Orioles memorabilia. You name it, and chances are he not only has it, but also he has framed it and hung it on a wall.
Wondering where to find a menu from the old Hit and Run Club restaurant at Memorial Stadium? Mr. Patterson has one, complete with eye-catching cover artwork: The Orioles bird about to smash a long drive with a dinner fork.
How about an Orioles stock certificate, the type issued to investors who sank money into the team when it returned to Baltimore in 1954? Mr. Patterson has that, too.
The inveterate collector even has something for Orioles fans who don't mind risking an anxiety attack: A perfectly preserved game program from the infamous 1969 World Series in which the Miracle Mets pounded the Orioles in five games.
For years, Mr. Patterson's vast collection of Orioles memorabilia has been just a subject of rumor around the ballpark. He'd show up with a bundle of old photographs under one arm. He'd get the pictures signed by the old ballplayers who happened to be in town, working as scouts or broadcasters. The next day, he would return with another stack and a felt-tip pen.
But now, Mr. Patterson is going public with his huge store of Orioles collectibles. In time for the Christmas shopping crunch, he is out with this glossy coffee table book.
There's lots to recommend about the book. There's no mention of Bud Selig and Don Fehr. The terms "salary cap" and "good-faith bargaining" do not appear. There's not even a picture of William J. Usery.
Instead, the book is an entertaining and colorful telling of Baltimore baseball history, from the pre-Orioles days to the current players whose work address is Camden Yards.
Mr. Patterson's book consists of two main components. First, there are the photographs, page after page of items taken from his collection and from those of other local collectors, including the Babe Ruth Museum and radio talk-show host Phil Wood.
Interspersed with the photos is a lengthy narrative focusing on the major-league Orioles, but also touching on other ball clubs in Baltimore, from the Elite Giants and Black Sox of the Negro Leagues to the old International League Orioles led by owner and talent scout Jack Dunn.
The text, accurate and informed, reads as if it were written by someone who has spent a lifetime at the ballpark. Mr. Patterson has. For the past 20 years, he has covered the team as a local radio and TV sportscaster. When he wasn't asking the players for autographs, he was pursuing them for post-game interviews.
Mostly, his story-telling is a rehash of statistics and anecdotes that have been published elsewhere. But the author has unearthed some interesting, new tidbits.
Gil Coan, a player on the original 1954 Orioles, recalls the first time team members had a look at Memorial Stadium. Its outfield dimensions were ridiculously long. Mr. Coan tells Mr. Patterson: "We just stared at it. The outfield especially was so vast, we needed five outfielders, not three."
Anecdotes won't sell this book, especially at $36.95. Most fans will enjoy the simple pleasure of thumbing through the pages, studying the history of the Orioles in pictures.
There are the magazine covers, one from the 1960s featuring Orioles manager Paul Richards, another, under the headline, "The Hotshot Kids," showing Andy Etchebarren taking a full cut.
There's a page of Baltimore All-Star memorabilia. One photo features real rarities -- pennants, programs and a game ticket from the 1958 game at Memorial Stadium. Below it, there's a similar collection of items from the 1993 midsummer classic at Camden Yards.
Maybe best of all, Mr. Patterson manages to keep his facts straight. On first reading, only one error was apparent. (On page 17, Dick Hall will be amused to find his name beneath a photo of an Orioles player who looks a lot like a youthful Moe Drabowsky).
Mr. Patterson shouldn't feel too badly about that. As he well knows, even Brooks Robinson committed an error now and then.
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Mark Hyman is a sportswriter for The Evening Sun.