Stan "The Fan" Charles and Gary Stein talk with Orioles Alumni director Bill Stetka about the 1983 Orioles' magical championship run as well as a couple of tough stretches the team navigated along the way.
Time to right a historical wrong and give Altobelli his Orioles’ due
There are 79 members of the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame, and, sadly, none of them is named Joe Altobelli. Despite being one of only three managers to skipper the Orioles to a World Series championship (Earl Weaver and Hank Bauer are the others), Alto doesn’t have a plaque on the brick wall along Oriole Park’s Eutaw Street walkway.
That’s a darn shame.
And a glaring omission.
According to the Hall’s by-laws, Alto doesn’t qualify because he managed Baltimore for fewer than two-and-a-half years. I understand rules are necessary, but sometimes, they, like records, are meant to be broken. Or at least adjusted to allow for exceptions. Sometimes common sense and the spirit of the law need to prevail.