Remembering 1970: Powell and Buford on World Series win

When the Orioles and Cincinnati Reds met in the 1970 World Series, we didn't know it then but we were seeing something rare: a World Series between two clubs that won 100 or more games. It would not happen again until 2017.

The Orioles have three World Series wins and this was their second one. The 108-win Birds beat the 102-win Big Red Machine, four games to one, winning Game 5 in Baltimore 9-3. For the second time in five seasons, the Orioles were champions.

The Orioles are celebrating the 50th anniversary of that title today and tonight. This evening at 6 p.m., a special roundtable discussion featuring O's alumni from that team will stream on Orioles YouTube. The conversation, which will be hosted by MASN broadcaster Rob Long, will feature Orioles legends Jim Palmer and Brooks Robinson, along with O's Hall of Famer and community ambassador Boog Powell and O's Hall of Famer Don Buford.

Prior to tonight's game, Powell will throw out the ceremonial first pitch. The pitch, which was recently filmed at Powell's alma mater, Key West High School in Key West, Fla., will be shown at Oriole Park as well as on the MASN broadcast. In celebration of the semicentennial anniversary, Orioles players and coaches will also wear a commemorative 1970 World Series patch on their right sleeve during the game.

During a Zoom interview today, Powell and Buford remembered the World Series win. At one point, they swapped stories about Robinson, the 1970 World Series MVP after five games where he hit .429 and made spectacular defensive play after spectacular play. They agreed it didn't surprise them and that excellent preparation led to a great performance.

Buford: "Those plays that he made, I guarantee he practiced those plays 1,000 times from spring training throughout the season In our regular practices every day, he practiced the same thing. He made it look easy, but it was hard. He made it look very easy."

Powell: "That is one of the things that some people didn't know about Brooksie. He took 100 ground balls every single day. Rain or shine."

Buford: "Every day."

Powell: "No wonder he caught everything. If you saw that many ground balls, one of them was going to be like that one he took before the game."

Buford: "So he made it look easy, but it was not. I was like a fan. I really was. I watched him make those plays. Balls were hit down the line, I'd break to go over and get there in time. And I knew I was running hard for no reason."

Powell: "For no reason. He won the MVP of the World Series and he got a new Corvette from Sport Magazine or something. I told him, 'Every one of those plays you made, the ball was in the dirt and I dug it out. If I don't do that, it is E-5. So I want half of that Corvette.' We laughed about that. I was honored and thrilled just to be standing across the field from him."

Powell said they had seen it from Brooks many times before.

"It was kind of just a normal day," said Powell, who hit two homers in that World Series. "He did stuff like that and he did better stuff than that over the course of the year. I've always maintained that if Brooks Robinson would have playing in Yankee Stadium in New York, he could have run for president. He was that special. I was privileged and it was an honor to be over there at first base. I don't care who you were, he got you by one step. He got Frank Howard by one step and he got Rod Carew by one step."

That series featured future Hall of Fame managers in each dugout in the Orioles' Earl Weaver and the Reds' Sparky Anderson.

"From my standpoint, the personality of the manager is very important because he sets the stage for the whole ballclub," said Buford. "Earl tried to motivate the whole team by getting kicked out of ballgames. That was the fun part. Sometimes he would tick off the umpires and they would take it out on the players. Sometimes we had to tell Earl, 'Sit back and enjoy the game and we'll take care of the rest.' "

So there will not be any fans at Camden Yards tonight to give this group of players another big standing ovation. And for now, the group will not be reunited together again.

"These guys are people I went to war with," said Powell. "They are my dearest friends and I trust them explicitly. When you play 162 games in 175 days, you get to know a lot of things about each other. Every relationship wasn't exactly perfect, but our one goal was to win. Period. We were out there to win."

Some believe the real motivation to win it all in 1970 was a result of the Orioles being upset by losing to the so-called "Miracle Mets" in the 1969 Fall Classic. Powell doesn't dispute that notion.

"When we came back to the airport in Baltimore after we lost that last game at Shea Stadium, there were, I don't know, 5,000 people standing behind the fence. They were all standing there with their hands and fingers sticking through the fence. I think all of us - and I know I did - I went over there and touched as many hands as I could and I told them, 'Just wait until next year.'

"To be honest, I didn't dwell on it over the winter that much. I did think about it every now and then. When I got to spring training the next year, there was just an inner knowledge that all of us had. And a feeling that we all had that we were going to make it right. We didn't go public with it. We just knew what we were going to do."

And that was win it all and bring glory to Orioles baseball in 1970.

During tonight's game, Jim Palmer will join the MASN and Orioles Radio Network broadcasts to reflect on the championship. Special digital anniversary and World Series trophy logos will also be displayed throughout the ballpark and on MASN for fans at home.

As part of the celebration, the Orioles will auction items signed by members of the 1970 team. Items will include autographed baseballs from Robinson, Palmer, Powell and Buford. The auction will benefit the Oriole Advocates Charitable Foundation, which is celebrating more than 50 years of giving back to the Birdland community. The auction began Sept. 14, with bidding closing on Sept. 20 at 10 p.m.

To bid on items, fans can visit Orioles.com/Auctions. To learn more about the Oriole Advocates, fans can visit OrioleAdvocates.org.