1982 Season Finale

[Birds08]

For any of you that may have been there, can you describe what it was like after the game when everyone was going nuts for Earl. Just saw video of it for the first time. Seems like it must have been an incredible experience.

[grady41]

Went to the Friday night doubleheader, S Davis pitched a gem, snuck into the press room between games, think it was D Martinez who pitched the 1st game. (Beer goggles). Then went to the Sunday game, what I really remember from sitting out in RF was Jim Palmer and Don Sutton before the game. Palmer went toward the Brewers bullpen and called Sutton over, they chatted and shook hands. I thought that was a impressive sign of sportsmanship. The game was tight for a while, then Cooper hit the HR (if I remember right) and opened it up.
When the game was over it seemed no one wanted it to end, knowing it was Earls last game. The ceremony was great. I also had the luxury of attending Brook's last game, and the ceremony for him.

[mikezpen]

I'll never forget my rage at Glenn Gulliver getting thrown out at the plate to end the home first with Baltimore trailing 1-0. Turned the whole game around I think.

Fabulous weekend though. It would have been baseball legend if we'd won that Sunday game. But Don Sutton was just better; what can you say?

[MCL1021]

I'll never forget my rage at Glenn Gulliver getting thrown out at the plate to end the home first with Baltimore trailing 1-0. Turned the whole game around I think.

Fabulous weekend though. It would have been baseball legend if we'd won that Sunday game. But Don Sutton was just better; what can you say?


Gives me goosebumps seeing the on-field things going on after that Sunday game. Earl crying, Hagy leading cheers, the crowd staying and cheering hard for the O's after they had lost...and I wasn't even freakin' born to see it live then....I don't care what anyone says, we are the best fans on the planet.

[mikezpen]

..at least the most patient...:D

I recall Howard Cosell being so impressed at the fans' demonstration of love for Earl Weaver and the team. It just went on and on. I'll never forget that.

And we'd just played for all the marbles and gotten hammered 10-2. You're right about the fans. Bandwagon types don't do something like that.

[Nigel Tufnel]

I'll never forget my rage at Glenn Gulliver getting thrown out at the plate to end the home first with Baltimore trailing 1-0. Turned the whole game around I think.

Fabulous weekend though. It would have been baseball legend if we'd won that Sunday game. But Don Sutton was just better; what can you say?

Yeah, and wasn't Jim Dwyer on deck, with his streak of reaching base 12 straight times intact?

[Boy Howdy]

I wasn't in the ballpark that day, but I remember watching live on TV with my family.

The other posters pretty much nailed it, but it was as emotional a moment as Cal's record-breaking night in my opinion. Different kind of emotions, but every bit as powerful.

Indeed, Howard Cosell was moved to comment on how special the love affair between the Baltimore fans and Earl Weaver and his team was proven to be, and Howard had seen it all and prided himself on telling it like it is.

What I'll always remember most about that season is the last glimpses of the true greatness of Jim Palmer. On June 17, Palmer was 3-3 with a 5.26 ERA and people weren't shy about saying he was washed up.

(The Orioles were in fifth place in early June, and 8 games out as late as mid-August)

Palmer went 12-1 over the next three months plus, lowering his ERA to 3.08 before bending in the finale. (It should be remembered that the O's were only down 4-1 when Palmer departed, with two of the three longballs he surrendered having been hit by a fellow Hall of Famer in the midst of a MVP season in Robin Yount.)

[RShack]

I wasn't in the ballpark that day, but I remember watching live on TV with my family.

The other posters pretty much nailed it, but it was as emotional a moment as Cal's record-breaking night in my opinion. Different kind of emotions, but every bit as powerful.

Indeed, Howard Cosell was moved to comment on how special the love affair between the Baltimore fans and Earl Weaver and his team was proven to be, and Howard had seen it all and prided himself on telling it like it is.
What I remember most about Cosell is not so much what he said, but the fact that he mainly just shut-up and just watched in awe. That's not something Howard did often, if ever.



What I'll always remember most about that season is the last glimpses of the true greatness of Jim Palmer. On June 17, Palmer was 3-3 with a 5.26 ERA and people weren't shy about saying he was washed up.

(The Orioles were in fifth place in early June, and 8 games out as late as mid-August)

Palmer went 12-1 over the next three months plus, lowering his ERA to 3.08 before bending in the finale. (It should be remembered that the O's were only down 4-1 when Palmer departed, with two of the three longballs he surrendered having been hit by a fellow Hall of Famer in the midst of a MVP season in Robin Yount.)
He went from being a bum who needed to quit, to finishing 2nd in the Cy Young voting. It was his 2nd time as Cy Young runner-up, to go along with his 3 Cy Young awards. Pete Vuckovich, who lost to Dennis Martinez in the 1st game in that final 4-game series, won it that year. (Sparky Lyle, then of the MFY's, edged Palmer the other time he finished 2nd, in '77 when the O's finished in a tie for 2nd-place with BOS, with "only" 97 W's. AM's daddy had signed Lyle the year after he signed Palmer, but we let him get away in the 1st-year draft.)

Palmer's last great record-book stunt was the next year, when he managed to get a W in the '83 WS, becoming the only guy to notch WS W's in 3 different decades.

[hallmt18]

I was at Game 3 (Saturday) of that series. I was only 10 years old, and it was probably the 2nd or 3rd baseball game I had ever attended. I think the O's won 11-5, Flanagan pitched. I don't remember many of the details, but just remember being completely in awe of the intensity in the stadium.

[hallmt18]

I have not seen video of the end of game 4 in a long time, and couldn't find it on youtube. If anyone else finds it, could you post it?

***It's funny how sometimes the big losses end up being more meaningful and memorable than the big wins. The end of the '82 and '89 seasons both conjure up stirring memories and pride for the o's.