Orioles get a double dose of player/manager

By Ernie Long
Of The Morning Call


One of the unique and interesting aspects of area adult baseball leagues is that managers are often also players.

The Quakertown Orioles of the Tri-County League go that one step further with co-player/managers in Tom Hartman and Bob Drumbore.

The duo took over the club last year and have helped it maintain its status as one of the toughest teams in the league, although the Orioles do have to fight a little harder this year to make the playoffs.

"It was just a matter of getting two guys who have been with the team for a while to volunteer," said Hartman who is in his sixth year with Quakertown. Drumbore is in his fifth. The interesting twist is that both Hartman and Drumbore are pitchers, a position that takes the most concentration on game day and doesn't lend itself to worrying about personality conflicts over lineup cards and other day- to-day managerial problems.

Hartman admitted, "When you're playing you can't start thinking about managing, at least not me, and Bob's telling me the same thing - - it's going to hurt his game. If he's going out there with anything on his mind except for hitting the ball, it's going to slow him down and that's the same way I am."

Luckily for both, Quakertown is made up of mostly veterans who know their jobs and simply go out and do them.

"We've all played baseball together for years and they all know the game as well as we do," said Hartman. "When there's a call that has to be made, then we make the call, but everyone is pretty much making their own calls. Once the lineups are made, the game can go on and there's no coaching involved at all."

He continued, "The first thing is we have to play. But when I'm not pitching I can do the coaching. The guys are pretty cool about it too. They're not going to come to me when I'm on the mound and say `Hey, why didn't you put me in the game.' I don't know what I'd say to that. But it works out pretty well."

Hartman had to make a quick decision in a home game against Limeport last week. With one catcher already excused from the game and another a no-show, Hartman decided to don catcher's mask and mitt and receive the pitches of Drumbore.

The move worked out fine. Drumbore went the distance, allowing just four hits, two runs, and no walks while striking out five. The team won 3-2.

For his part, Hartman didn't let any balls get by him and called a good game -- or at least half of one.

"He was shaking me off enough," said Hartman.

Drumbore, who also plays first base and is a splendid hitter, said, "He caught me one other time way back when so he did a good job back there for being a pitcher."

Hartman, who caught during Little League and Connie Mack, said, "The reason I caught was because you can't just go in there and catch Drumbore without knowing how he throws. He has so much different stuff."

Limeport baserunners did take three bases on Hartman unopposed and stole another after a weak throw.

But that's because Hartman had recently pitched and didn't want to hurt his arm.

"I didn't want to be put in a situation where the throws mattered," said Hartman. "And Drumbore did a good job keeping them off the bases."

Despite the possible distractions, Hartman has gone 6-3 on the mound while Drumbore was 7-4 and entered the Limeport game with an ERA 0.99. The team was 14-11.



ernie.long@mcall.com

From The Morning Call -- July 18, 1991

Copyright © 1991, The Morning Call