July 25: Happy Birthdays
On a daily basis, Fatpickled recognizes the birthdays of the men who have played, and currently play for, my favorite teams. The Redskins, Orioles, Wizards, and Terps.
Happy birthday Tracy Murray. Tracy played 4 seasons for the Bullets/Wizards from 1996-2000. He was a solid 6th man for them and enjoyed the best years of his career in DC. He appeared in 280 games and averaged 11.1 PPG. On a glorious night in Feb of 98’, Tracy dropped 50 points on the Warriors. Also, during the 1997 season and just a couple of months after the Stephen Davis/Michael Westbrook fight, Rod Strickland and Murray got into a fight. The same thing triggered both fights; in this case Tracy called Rod the derogatory slang name for a gay man. The results of the fight left Tracy with 7 stitches and a horrible black eye and Strickland with a bruised hand originally thought to be broken. Tracy retired after 12 seasons in the NBA and now works as an analyst for UCLA Bruins basketball games. He also has a website where you can see more photos and highlights of his career. Happy 38th birthday Mr. Murray.
Happy birthday Doug Drabek. Doug finished spent one season with the Orioles in 1998; it was his last MLB season. Like the Orioles 98’ season, 98’ was a huge disappointment for Doug. He went 6-11 with a 7.29 ERA, ouch. The Orioles stumbled to a 79-83 season under Ray Miller after leading wirer to wirer and going to the ALCS in 1997. Overall, Doug had a decent career going 155-134 with a 3.73ERA over 13 seasons. He won the CY Young award in 1990 while playing for the Pirates. Doug’s son Kyle was a 1st round pick of the Phillies 2006 and is currently rumored to be traded in a possible deal for Roy Halladay. Happy 47th Mr. Drabek.
Happy birthday Jose Bautista. Jose was a pitcher for the Orioles for 4 season from 1988-1991. Over 75 games Jose went 10-20 with a 4.79ERA, including an awful 6-15 season in 88’, the year the O’s started the season 0-21. He did however rock the jheri curl and let his soul glo! He bounced around the majors 9 seasons before retiring and getting into coaching. He is currently the manager of the Single A Great Falls Voyagers in the White Sox organization. Happy 45th Mr. Bautista.
Cheers and Hail
