Question: Who do you think is the greatest “one-hit” wonder in Orioles’ history? In other words, they performed well for the Orioles for a short period of time before moving on. From: Timothy Fowler
Answer: Tim, I asked several other longtime Oriole writers for their thoughts on this one, and there were a lot of good choices, but my favorite “one-hit wonder” would be Rich Coggins.
Coggins and Al Bumbry were rookies in 1973, Bumbry won Rookie of the Year and had an outstanding career with the Orioles while Coggins had an excellent 1973 season and then fizzled.
That season, Coggins hit .319 with an .831 OPS, hit seven home runs and drove in 41 runs with 17 stolen bases in 26 attempts.
He slumped to a .243 average and .618 OPS in 1974, and was traded to Montreal along with Dave McNally and minor league Bill Kilpatrick for Ken Singleton and Mike Torrez.
Coggins played 103 games with the Expos, Yankees and White Sox and by July 1976 he was out of the majors.
Jeff Ballard, who won 18 games in 1989, Larry Sheets with 31 home runs in 1987, Wayne Garland, a 20-game winner in 1976, and Daniel Cabrera, who was third in ROY voting in 2004 should also be considered.
Question: I read where the Washington Wizards have a chef that prepares meals for them. Is there something similar for the Orioles? Available for home and road games? From: Frank Bonsiero
Answer: Frank, the Orioles have long had a chef who prepares meals, and I hear the meals are excellent. As part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, nutritious meals must be provided to visiting teams.
Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.