Page "Baltimore Orioles" Paragraph 14

For the remainder of the 1950s, the Orioles crawled up the standings, reaching as high as fifth place with a 76 – 76 record in 1957.

Richards succeeded in stocking the franchise with a plethora of young talent which included Dave Nicholson, Pete Ward, Ron Hansen ( 1960 AL Rookie of the Year ), Milt Pappas, Jerry Adair, Steve Barber ( 20 wins in 1963 ), Boog Powell, Dave McNally and Brooks Robinson.

Unfortunately, Richards also had the tendency to recklessly spend money on individuals with dubious baseball skills.

This became a major problem as bidding wars between the ballclubs to land the best amateur players escalated signing bonuses.