Wood vs. Wood #272

Last time it was an easy 8-1 win for 1987. Will this be closer?

Two right-handed batters at spring training. Earl Robinson poses with the cartoony old Orioles logo. Robinson, the first Black player to get a signing bonus, had a brief stint with the Dodgers in 1958, then returned to the majors with the Orioles in 1961. He was a platoon outfielder that season, but injuries and ineffectiveness limited him to a couple of brief stints in 1962 and 1964. Overall in 170 games he hit .268 with 12 HR and 44 RBI. After his career he returned to his hometown of Oakland, CA, where he had been a substitute teacher in the offseason. Robinson earned a doctorate in education, taught English at Castlemont High School, and ended up as Department Chair for Speech and Communications at Laney Junior College. He was also Director of Special Projects, a community relations role, for the Oakland A's. In 2014, Rickey Henderson, needing help with his upcoming Hall of Fame induction speech, audited Robinson's speech class. He died of heart failure in 2014.

Andres Galarraga waits for a pitch in what must have been a Braves home game at the teams' shared spring home at West Palm Beach. Galarraga was known as "El Gran Gato" - the Big Cat. I learned both of those Spanish words from this card. Galarraga was a powerful first baseman with a big swing who had some big years with the Expos, but seemed to be a fading star when he signed with the expansion Rockies in 1993. The thin Colorado air brought new life to Galarraga's bat, and over the next five years he won a batting title, a home run title, and two RBI titles. He signed with the Braves in 1998 and was just as good as he was in Colorado, hitting .305 with 41 HR and 121 RBI. He was diagnosed with cancer in 1999 and missed the season. He returned in 2000 and had a good season at age 39, and hung around until another cancer diagnosis in 2004 effectively ended his career. Overall in 2,257 games over 19 seasons, he hit .288 with 399 HR and 1,425 RBI. He did some coaching for Venezeula in some WBCs but is now retired and living in Florida, where his grandson known as "Little Cat" is a rising youth baseball player.