Favorite Orioles Role Players

[MarylandAaron]

Geronimo Gil :laughlol: Ahhhh, memories of the terrible Orioles baseball of my youth.

Haha, good stuff. I remember those days all too well. Gil, Bynum, Fahey, Bako, Trachsel, etc. Crazy how far we've come since then.

[Aristotelian]

Geronimo Gil :laughlol: Ahhhh, memories of the terrible Orioles baseball of my youth.

You think that was bad? Check out the '88 team from my youth. We didn't have the Rays to beat up on back then. 7th place out of 7 teams in the AL East, 24 games behind the next worst team. 0-21 record to start the season. Can you imagine the feeling of losing 21 games in a row??? Our regulars included Jim Traber, Billy Ripken, Rich Schu, Jay Tibbs, J. J. Bautista, some epically bad Orioles. Yes, we had Curt Schilling and Pete Harnisch, but we traded them for Glenn Davis. 1999-2012 was a long and horrible stretch, but I submit that the low of '88 was the absolute low point of the organization and worse than anything you young'uns have experienced.

[SteveA]

You think that was bad? Check out the '88 team from my youth. We didn't have the Rays to beat up on back then. 7th place out of 7 teams in the AL East, 24 games behind the next worst team. 0-21 record to start the season. Can you imagine the feeling of losing 21 games in a row??? Our regulars included Jim Traber, Billy Ripken, Rich Schu, Jay Tibbs, J. J. Bautista, some epically bad Orioles. Yes, we had Curt Schilling and Pete Harnisch, but we traded them for Glenn Davis. 1999-2012 was a long and horrible stretch, but I submit that the low of '88 was the absolute low point of the organization and worse than anything you young'uns have experienced.

Didn't Wade Rowdon actually start for is at 3B on Opening Day?

Wade Rowdon!

[St. Mikes]

Tom Shopay.

[webbrick2010]

Curtis Goodwin

1995, played 84 games in CF and stole 22 bases in 26 attempts

He could flat out fly

[osfan83]

Jim Traber

Josh Towers

Larry Sheets

[OFFNY]

Jim Traber

Josh Towers

Larry Sheets

I'm not sure that Sheets would be considered a role player as much as he would be a starter whose career didn't last very long.

In back-to-back seasons (1987 and 1988), he had over 500 plate appearances.

His most memorable season as an Oriole was one of those seasons (1987), when he had 31 HR's, 94 RBI's, and batted .316.

The following season (1988), he played just as much as he had in '87, but his offensive numbers regressed considerably, which is why his playing time the following season (1989) diminished to playing only 102 games, and he continued to struggle at the plate before being traded to the Tigers after the season was over.

[ArtVanDelay]

You think that was bad? Check out the '88 team from my youth. We didn't have the Rays to beat up on back then. 7th place out of 7 teams in the AL East, 24 games behind the next worst team. 0-21 record to start the season. Can you imagine the feeling of losing 21 games in a row??? Our regulars included Jim Traber, Billy Ripken, Rich Schu, Jay Tibbs, J. J. Bautista, some epically bad Orioles. Yes, we had Curt Schilling and Pete Harnisch, but we traded them for Glenn Davis. 1999-2012 was a long and horrible stretch, but I submit that the low of '88 was the absolute low point of the organization and worse than anything you young'uns have experienced.

I'm aware of the 1988 team. At least you had the Why Not? 1989 team the very next year, followed by a couple more bad teams, but the Orioles were pretty good throughout the 90s. My earliest Orioles memories are from 1998 when I went to my first game against the Oakland Athletics. The only thing I remember from the 1997 season was watching the Indians and Marlins play in the World Series. I think 1998 was the worst possible time ever to become an Orioles fan. I had no idea what winning Orioles baseball felt like until 2012.

[OFFNY]

o

Geronimo Gil :laughlol: Ahhhh, memories of the terrible Orioles baseball of my youth.

You think that was bad? Check out the '88 team from my youth. We didn't have the Rays to beat up on back then. 7th place out of 7 teams in the AL East, 24 games behind the next worst team. 0-21 record to start the season. Can you imagine the feeling of losing 21 games in a row??? Our regulars included Jim Traber, Billy Ripken, Rich Schu, Jay Tibbs, J. J. Bautista, some epically bad Orioles. Yes, we had Curt Schilling and Pete Harnisch, but we traded them for Glenn Davis. 1999-2012 was a long and horrible stretch, but I submit that the low of '88 was the absolute low point of the organization and worse than anything you young'uns have experienced.

I'm aware of the 1988 team. At least you had the Why Not? 1989 team the very next year, followed by a couple more bad teams, but the Orioles were pretty good throughout the 90s. My earliest Orioles memories are from 1998 when I went to my first game against the Oakland Athletics. The only thing I remember from the 1997 season was watching the Indians and Marlins play in the World Series. I think 1998 was the worst possible time ever to become an Orioles fan. I had no idea what winning Orioles baseball felt like until 2012.

o

Yeah, the 1998-2011 stretch was definitely the longest and the darkest era in franchise history since the Orioles came from St. Louis in 1954 ...... in fact, we actually now know how those St. Louis Browns fans felt throughout the majority of their 52 seasons in St. Louis.

Also, in addition to what you pointed out about the Orioles having had a decent 90's decade overall, the 80's was not horrendous, either.

That 1988 team was only the culmination of a 3-year slide of bad seasons from 1986-1988.

I don't feel that one solitary season as one of the worst teams ever compares to the ongoing nightmare that Oriole fans found themselves in for more than a decade before finally waking from it in 2012 ...... in fact, it was so long and so dark, many of us had to pinch ourselves to make sure that we were not dreaming up that 2012 season.

[Moose Milligan]

I liked Corey Patterson a lot. Dude could fly and steal a base. Could drop a bunt. Had some decent pop.

[Moose Milligan]

You think that was bad? Check out the '88 team from my youth. We didn't have the Rays to beat up on back then. 7th place out of 7 teams in the AL East, 24 games behind the next worst team. 0-21 record to start the season. Can you imagine the feeling of losing 21 games in a row??? Our regulars included Jim Traber, Billy Ripken, Rich Schu, Jay Tibbs, J. J. Bautista, some epically bad Orioles. Yes, we had Curt Schilling and Pete Harnisch, but we traded them for Glenn Davis. 1999-2012 was a long and horrible stretch, but I submit that the low of '88 was the absolute low point of the organization and worse than anything you young'uns have experienced.

Not to derail the thread, but at least 1988 was quickly followed by the magical 1989 year. Of course 1990 was worse and 1991 sucked but the 1992 team rebounded and won 89 games in their new stadium and 1993 was a respectable team, too.

1988 alone doesn't trump the load of absolute crap we had to sit through from 1999-2012. Sure, it was embarrassing but at least the 1988 Orioles had Fantastic Fans night when they sold out Memorial Stadium after coming home with a 1-23 record. Would that happen in 1999-2012? I'd venture to say absolutely not. That was a completely different time, 5 years removed from a World Series title and the only game in town. 1999-2012 seemed to be met with more apathy and more interest in the Ravens (and for good reason).

Losing a game 30-3? It's a football score! I swear the 1999-2012 Orioles figured out insane ways to lose games over and over again. I still remember Miguel Cabrera slapping an intentional walk pitch into the outfield to drive in runs. There's nothing that can top 1999-2012, its not even particularly close.

[Beef Supreme]

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Yeah, the 1998-2011 stretch was definitely the longest and the darkest era in franchise history since the Orioles came from St. Louis in 1954 ...... in fact, we actually now know how those St. Louis Browns fans felt throughout the majority of their 52 seasons in St. Louis.

Also, in addition to what you pointed out about the Orioles having had a decent 90's decade overall, the 80's was not horrendous, either.

That 1988 team was only the culmination of a 3-year slide of bad seasons from 1986-1988.

I don't feel that one solitary season as one of the worst teams ever compares to the ongoing nightmare that Oriole fans found themselves in for more than a decade before finally waking from it in 2012 ...... in fact, it was so long and so dark, many of us had to pinch ourselves to make sure that we were not dreaming up that 2012 season.

1986 -- Orioles were 2.5 games out on August 6. That night, Jim Dwyer and Larry Sheets hit grand slam home runs in the same inning! But lost!! Then they finished 14-42 over the final 56 games played.

[Beef Supreme]

Sam Horn

[HarlowFan]

During my middle / high school eyes, my favorite role players include:

Andres Mora,

Tony Muser,

Tom Shopay,

Billy Smith,

and, of course, Larry Harlow.

I had high hopes for Mark Corey but he didn't pan out nor did he qualify as a role player.

[Beef Supreme]

Chico Salmon, also.