Bill Dillman--1969
Tall and handsome, Bill Dillman was
labeled “a young Wally Bunker--- but
with an even better curveball,” by Orioles
third base coach Billy Hunter in an article
that appeared in the August 1967 issue
of Baseball Digest.
Those were big words, given that Bunker
logged 19 wins in 1964 to establish an
Orioles rookie record that still stands
today.
Naturally, there was excitement in
Baltimore early in Dillman’s rookie
season of ’67, as the right-hander
tossed five innings of no-hit relief in his
major league debut to pick up his first big
league win on April 14. He followed that
with three more scoreless innings of
relief in his next outing on April 22 to log
his first save.
Dillman proceeded to post three more
victories and he moved into the
Baltimore rotation at the end of May as
the Bunker comparisons began to make
their way around the Inner Harbor.
However, Dillman fell well short of the
lofty expectations of his coaching staff by
the close of the’ 67 season. At the time
the article reached the Baseball Digest
readers, the pride of Newtown, PA was
about to endure a rough August that saw
him go winless in four decisions.
Dillman would finish the campaign 5-9,
4.35 in a very un-Bunker-like season.
Sent to Triple-A Rochester for more
seasoning the next two years, Dillman’s
career did have an ending similar to
Bunker’s, as both finished their careers
twirling for expansion clubs in the early
1970s.
(1/4/11)
labeled “a young Wally Bunker--- but
with an even better curveball,” by Orioles
third base coach Billy Hunter in an article
that appeared in the August 1967 issue
of Baseball Digest.
Those were big words, given that Bunker
logged 19 wins in 1964 to establish an
Orioles rookie record that still stands
today.
Naturally, there was excitement in
Baltimore early in Dillman’s rookie
season of ’67, as the right-hander
tossed five innings of no-hit relief in his
major league debut to pick up his first big
league win on April 14. He followed that
with three more scoreless innings of
relief in his next outing on April 22 to log
his first save.
Dillman proceeded to post three more
victories and he moved into the
Baltimore rotation at the end of May as
the Bunker comparisons began to make
their way around the Inner Harbor.
However, Dillman fell well short of the
lofty expectations of his coaching staff by
the close of the’ 67 season. At the time
the article reached the Baseball Digest
readers, the pride of Newtown, PA was
about to endure a rough August that saw
him go winless in four decisions.
Dillman would finish the campaign 5-9,
4.35 in a very un-Bunker-like season.
Sent to Triple-A Rochester for more
seasoning the next two years, Dillman’s
career did have an ending similar to
Bunker’s, as both finished their careers
twirling for expansion clubs in the early
1970s.
(1/4/11)
