Birds on the Wing; The Story of the Baltimore Orioles

Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1967. Paperback Edition. First Edition [stated], presumed first printing. Trade paperback. Fair. vii, [5], 179, [1] pages. Some moisture signs. Some cover wear and soiling. Slightly cocked. Rear cover says "A story of the 1966 Baltimore Orioles". This edition was made available by The National Brewing Co., Radio and TV sponsors of the Baltimore Orioles. Includes Introduction by Hank Bauer and chapters on The Garden of Eden; The Pennant in August. Frank Robinson--the Leader; Trades and the Draft; Dick Brown--Never Forgotten; Springtime Worries; The Fast Start; The Slump; Birds on the Wing; Drifting and Dreaming; The Long Wait Ends; Dark Days--Sore Arms and Rain; World Series--The Underdogs Sweep; Hank Bauer--Tough but Flexible; Hoffberger--The Rebel Owner; The Press--Play Faster; Oriole Humor--The Full Range; A Proud Heritage; Back to the Majors, and The Future. R. Gordon Beard was an Associated Press sportswriter and well-known author and expert on Baltimorese. After graduating in 1944, Mr. Beard enlisted in the Air Force, where he served as a cryptologist in India, Burma, Cairo and Casablanca. In 1947, he enrolled at the University of Maryland and in 1951 was in its first graduating class in journalism. He began his career in Annapolis with the AP in 1951 and transferred to Baltimore, where he worked until 1988. In addition to covering major sports teams, he also covered University of Maryland basketball and football. Mr. Beard's first book, Birds On The Wing: The Story of the Baltimore Orioles, published in 1967, recounted the 1966 season, when the team won the American League pennant and swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in four straight games in the World Series. Scarce tie-in to the National Brewing Company. In a city known for beer and breweries, perhaps none is as well-known as the National Brewing Company. National built its reputation on two brands of beer: National Premium and National Bohemian. Following a thirteen-year Prohibition-induced shutdown, the brewery was acquired by Samuel Hoffberger, who modernized operations and expanded the company's marketing activities. Sales increased dramatically in the 1940s with National's introduction of a new innovation—the six-pack of canned beer—and again in the 1950s when it became an official sponsor of the revived Baltimore Orioles major league baseball team. The National Brewing Company was an American brewing company that was founded in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1885. Its Baltimore brewery was located in the city's Highlandtown neighborhood. After World War II, it grew to be the largest brewer in Baltimore history and its advertising, including one-eyed mascot "Mr. Boh" and its slogan "From the Land of Pleasant Living", became part of the folk culture of the Baltimore area. In the early 1930s Samuel H. Hoffberger, in anticipation that Prohibition would be repealed, began the process of acquiring the National Brewery. Hoffberger, a lawyer with numerous business and civic interests, revived the National Brewing Company and modernized its brewery. The company hired brewmaster Carl Kreitler and president Arthur Deute in the 1930s. While Kreiter was credited with perfecting the recipes for National Bohemian and National Premium beers, Deute was a marketing genius who, with the help of a printer named Webb, created the Mr. Boh mascot around 1936. The one-eyed Mr. Boh, with his handlebar mustache, would be featured prominently in National Bohemian advertising for many years. National Bohemian gained increased prominence in 1954 after Hoffberger played a key role in the successful effort to move the St. Louis Browns to Baltimore where they became the Baltimore Orioles. "Natty Boh" was sold at Memorial Stadium and would ultimately become the official sponsor of the Baltimore Orioles.