The 100 Most Significant Dates in Modern Orioles History

[SteveA]

It's 45 days until pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota.   Here is the 45th most significant date in modern Orioles history:

#45 July 28, 2000

The Orioles had one of the highest payrolls in baseball in the mid 1990s, and it paid off with back to back trips to the ALCS.   But the Orioles also had a lot of age, and after those two great seasons, everything fell apart.   The Orioles fell under .500 in 1998, and again in 1999.  Ray Miller was fired and replaced by Mike Hargrove, but the Orioles were not doing much better in 2000.   For one of the few times in Orioles history, the general manager Syd Thrift decided to commit to a significant mid-season fire sale, trading veteran talent for young players to try to build for the future as the July 31 trading deadline approached.

On July 28, Mike Bordick, who had taken over shortstop when Cal Ripken moved to 3rd, was dealt to the Mets.  The Orioles got a trio of 26-27 year old players:  super utility man Melvin Mora, pitcher Leslie Brea, and outfielder Mike Kinkade.   Mora would go on to be a mainstay of the Orioles and their starting third baseman for many years, and earn a spot in the Orioles Hall of Fame.   But he would be the only positive return from the July selloff.   Brea and Kinkade never amounted to anything.

The next day, the Orioles sent their starting catcher Charles Johnson (29 years old and in his prime) along with veteran DH Harold Baines to the White Sox.   In return the Orioles got one major leaguer, catcher Brook Fordyce, who was actually slightly older than Johnson, and 3 minor league pitchers:  Miguel Felix, Juan Figueroa, and Jason Lakman.   Fordyce was a servicable catcher for the Orioles for a few years, but none of the three pitchers ever threw a single pitch in the major leagues.

Also on the 29th, the Orioles sent veteran reliable setup man Mike Timlin to the Cardinals for pitcher Mark Nussbeck and OF Chris Richard.   Richard would start for the O's for one year, with a .770 OPS, but was out of baseball a few years later, while Nussbeck never pitched in the majors.

On July 31, just before the deadline, Thrift sent 36 year old Will Clark to the St Louis Cardinals.  Clark would hit .345 for St Louis the rest of the way and help them to a division title, then retire.   In return, the Orioles got a 20 year old 1B/3B prospect named Jose Leon.   Leon would wind up getting 209 at bats for the Orioles, hitting .225 with an OPS of .583.

Also on the 31st, the Orioles sent popular veteran BJ Surhoff, along with young pitcher Gabe Molina, to the Braves for 36 year old OF Trent Hubbard, C Fernando Lunar, and 22 year old pitcher Luis Rivera, who was supposed to be the centerpiece of the deal.   Hubbard and Lunar had a few meaningless seasons on the Oriole bench, and RIvera turned out to be damaged goods and would pitch a total of 0.2 innings in the majors after the deal.

Thrift said the key to the deals was that he was "gathering more good arms" and that he was putting together a foundation for the Orioles' future in the 2000s.   The pitchers acquired (Brea, Felix, Figueroa, Lakaman, Nussbeck, and Rivera) would wind up pitching a total of 11.2 innings in the majors and a double digit ERA.

The Orioles had 6 veterans who were coveted by contenders, and basically managed to get one decent player -- Melvin Mora -- back.   The selloff was a complete failure, and the Orioles would go on to put up losing seasons for the next 11 years.  Oriole owner Peter Angelos had nixed a mid-season selloff four years earlier, saying that he didn't like it because it violated the trust of fans who had bought tickets presuming they would be seeing a team trying to win.   And in 1996, he had been proven right when the Orioles turned it around and made the playoffs, and when hindsight shows that the key prospects Pat Gillick had targeted in the 1996 selloff attempt did not turn out to be that great.   Now with the 2000 selloff being a complete failure, Angelos had yet another reason never to try such a thing again.   (The next year, the O's tried again at a vet-for-prospect deadline deal, sending reliever Mike Trombley for 100 MPH throwing Kris Foster and catcher Geronimo Gil.   While Gil did contribute as a part time catcher to the O's, Foster was another pitching bust).

 

[Moose Milligan]

UGH.  

[OFFNY]

25 minutes ago, SteveA said:

 

It's 45 days until pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota.   Here is the 45th most significant date in modern Orioles history:

 

#45) July 28, 2000

 

The Orioles had one of the highest payrolls in baseball in the mid 1990s, and it paid off with back to back trips to the ALCS.   But the Orioles also had a lot of age, and after those two great seasons, everything fell apart.   The Orioles fell under .500 in 1998, and again in 1999.  Ray Miller was fired and replaced by Mike Hargrove, but the Orioles were not doing much better in 2000.   For one of the few times in Orioles history, the general manager Syd Thrift decided to commit to a significant mid-season fire sale, trading veteran talent for young players to try to build for the future as the July 31 trading deadline approached.

On July 28, Mike Bordick, who had taken over shortstop when Cal Ripken moved to 3rd, was dealt to the Mets.  The Orioles got a trio of 26-27 year old players:  super utility man Melvin Mora, pitcher Leslie Brea, and outfielder Mike Kinkade.   Mora would go on to be a mainstay of the Orioles and their starting third baseman for many years, and earn a spot in the Orioles Hall of Fame.   But he would be the only positive return from the July selloff.   Brea and Kinkade never amounted to anything.

The next day, the Orioles sent their starting catcher Charles Johnson (29 years old and in his prime) along with veteran DH Harold Baines to the White Sox.   In return the Orioles got one major leaguer, catcher Brook Fordyce, who was actually slightly older than Johnson, and 3 minor league pitchers:  Miguel Felix, Juan Figueroa, and Jason Lakman.   Fordyce was a servicable catcher for the Orioles for a few years, but none of the three pitchers ever threw a single pitch in the major leagues.

Also on the 29th, the Orioles sent veteran reliable setup man Mike Timlin to the Cardinals for pitcher Mark Nussbeck and OF Chris Richard.   Richard would start for the O's for one year, with a .770 OPS, but was out of baseball a few years later, while Nussbeck never pitched in the majors.

On July 31, just before the deadline, Thrift sent 36 year old Will Clark to the St Louis Cardinals.  Clark would hit .345 for St Louis the rest of the way and help them to a division title, then retire.   In return, the Orioles got a 20 year old 1B/3B prospect named Jose Leon.   Leon would wind up getting 209 at bats for the Orioles, hitting .225 with an OPS of .583.

Also on the 31st, the Orioles sent popular veteran BJ Surhoff, along with young pitcher Gabe Molina, to the Braves for 36 year old OF Trent Hubbard, C Fernando Lunar, and 22 year old pitcher Luis Rivera, who was supposed to be the centerpiece of the deal.   Hubbard and Lunar had a few meaningless seasons on the Oriole bench, and RIvera turned out to be damaged goods and would pitch a total of 0.2 innings in the majors after the deal.

Thrift said the key to the deals was that he was "gathering more good arms" and that he was putting together a foundation for the Orioles' future in the 2000s.   The pitchers acquired (Brea, Felix, Figueroa, Lakaman, Nussbeck, and Rivera) would wind up pitching a total of 11.2 innings in the majors and a double digit ERA.

The Orioles had 6 veterans who were coveted by contenders, and basically managed to get one decent player -- Melvin Mora -- back.   The selloff was a complete failure, and the Orioles would go on to put up losing seasons for the next 11 years.  Oriole owner Peter Angelos had nixed a mid-season selloff four years earlier, saying that he didn't like it because it violated the trust of fans who had bought tickets presuming they would be seeing a team trying to win.   And in 1996, he had been proven right when the Orioles turned it around and made the playoffs, and when hindsight shows that the key prospects Pat Gillick had targeted in the 1996 selloff attempt did not turn out to be that great.   Now with the 2000 selloff being a complete failure, Angelos had yet another reason never to try such a thing again.   (The next year, the O's tried again at a vet-for-prospect deadline deal, sending reliever Mike Trombley for 100 MPH throwing Kris Foster and catcher Geronimo Gil.   While Gil did contribute as a part time catcher to the O's, Foster was another pitching bust).

 

 

o

o

 

The Bordick-for-Mora trade worked out well for the Orioles.

All of the other trades that you cited, not so much.

 

o

[Frobby]

Great summary.   The only bone I’d pick is calling Timlin a “reliable set up man.”   Maybe that’s what he should have been, but what he was for us was our unreliable closer, who saved 38 games for us while blowing 13 saves.    I was very happy to see him go.   He did go on to have some decent years as a set up guy.

[bird watcher]

48 minutes ago, SteveA said:

It's 45 days until pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota.   Here is the 45th most significant date in modern Orioles history:

#45 July 28, 2000

The Orioles had one of the highest payrolls in baseball in the mid 1990s, and it paid off with back to back trips to the ALCS.   But the Orioles also had a lot of age, and after those two great seasons, everything fell apart.   The Orioles fell under .500 in 1998, and again in 1999.  Ray Miller was fired and replaced by Mike Hargrove, but the Orioles were not doing much better in 2000.   For one of the few times in Orioles history, the general manager Syd Thrift decided to commit to a significant mid-season fire sale, trading veteran talent for young players to try to build for the future as the July 31 trading deadline approached.

On July 28, Mike Bordick, who had taken over shortstop when Cal Ripken moved to 3rd, was dealt to the Mets.  The Orioles got a trio of 26-27 year old players:  super utility man Melvin Mora, pitcher Leslie Brea, and outfielder Mike Kinkade.   Mora would go on to be a mainstay of the Orioles and their starting third baseman for many years, and earn a spot in the Orioles Hall of Fame.   But he would be the only positive return from the July selloff.   Brea and Kinkade never amounted to anything.

The next day, the Orioles sent their starting catcher Charles Johnson (29 years old and in his prime) along with veteran DH Harold Baines to the White Sox.   In return the Orioles got one major leaguer, catcher Brook Fordyce, who was actually slightly older than Johnson, and 3 minor league pitchers:  Miguel Felix, Juan Figueroa, and Jason Lakman.   Fordyce was a servicable catcher for the Orioles for a few years, but none of the three pitchers ever threw a single pitch in the major leagues.

Also on the 29th, the Orioles sent veteran reliable setup man Mike Timlin to the Cardinals for pitcher Mark Nussbeck and OF Chris Richard.   Richard would start for the O's for one year, with a .770 OPS, but was out of baseball a few years later, while Nussbeck never pitched in the majors.

On July 31, just before the deadline, Thrift sent 36 year old Will Clark to the St Louis Cardinals.  Clark would hit .345 for St Louis the rest of the way and help them to a division title, then retire.   In return, the Orioles got a 20 year old 1B/3B prospect named Jose Leon.   Leon would wind up getting 209 at bats for the Orioles, hitting .225 with an OPS of .583.

Also on the 31st, the Orioles sent popular veteran BJ Surhoff, along with young pitcher Gabe Molina, to the Braves for 36 year old OF Trent Hubbard, C Fernando Lunar, and 22 year old pitcher Luis Rivera, who was supposed to be the centerpiece of the deal.   Hubbard and Lunar had a few meaningless seasons on the Oriole bench, and RIvera turned out to be damaged goods and would pitch a total of 0.2 innings in the majors after the deal.

Thrift said the key to the deals was that he was "gathering more good arms" and that he was putting together a foundation for the Orioles' future in the 2000s.   The pitchers acquired (Brea, Felix, Figueroa, Lakaman, Nussbeck, and Rivera) would wind up pitching a total of 11.2 innings in the majors and a double digit ERA.

The Orioles had 6 veterans who were coveted by contenders, and basically managed to get one decent player -- Melvin Mora -- back.   The selloff was a complete failure, and the Orioles would go on to put up losing seasons for the next 11 years.  Oriole owner Peter Angelos had nixed a mid-season selloff four years earlier, saying that he didn't like it because it violated the trust of fans who had bought tickets presuming they would be seeing a team trying to win.   And in 1996, he had been proven right when the Orioles turned it around and made the playoffs, and when hindsight shows that the key prospects Pat Gillick had targeted in the 1996 selloff attempt did not turn out to be that great.   Now with the 2000 selloff being a complete failure, Angelos had yet another reason never to try such a thing again.   (The next year, the O's tried again at a vet-for-prospect deadline deal, sending reliever Mike Trombley for 100 MPH throwing Kris Foster and catcher Geronimo Gil.   While Gil did contribute as a part time catcher to the O's, Foster was another pitching bust).

 

I didn’t start following the Orioles until around 2002 so this was before my time as a fan. I had heard it was a bad rebuild attempt and how awful Thryft had been but WOW.  

This gives more clarity around why Angelos would cringe and balk at the idea of a rebuild.  

[Frobby]

3 hours ago, OFFNY said:

The only thing that was ill-fated about the trade was the fact that Jackson held out for a month early in the season, in which the Orioles started out at 6-9 without him. Perhaps if he had not held out the Orioles would have won a few more games than they did and made the pennant race a little closer than it wound up being, but it hardly would have affected the outcome of the AL East that year ....... it was the Yankees' season from mid-June onwards, as they stomped their way to division title with little doubt in anyone's mind as to whether nor not they would win it, in a very similar manner to what the Orioles did 3 years later in 1979 from mid-June onward.

To me you ignored the key point of POR’s post, which was that the O’s cut the salaries of several other players to pay for Jackson, and that was deeply resented.    But in any event, whether the trade was “ill-fated” is subjective and nobody is going to win an argument over that.

[OFFNY]

6 hours ago, OFFNY said:

o

 

First of all, almost every team to one extent or another did not anticipate what was going to happen in prior to the 1976 season. You are acting as though the Orioles should have known what almost all of the other franchises also did not know, and therefore should have acted differently than they did in terms of the Jackson-for Baylor trade. On one hand you are (correctly) stating that nobody knew what was going to happen, yet at the same time you are asserting that the Orioles did a bad job of anticipating  the ensuing events.

Secondly, there is almost no way that Jackson was going to sign a long-term contract with the Orioles. As the 1976 season was winding down in August and September, there was some talk about the possibility of Reggie staying with the Orioles if Peters had been willing to ante up $1 Million for 4 years, but I believe that that was just lip service from Jackson and the Orioles' front office. I remember when it was all happening at that time, and I remember that while I was appreciating Jackson's solid season that he was having for the Orioles, I also knew in my 10 year-old heart that he was as good as gone, and that my Reggie/Orioles bragging rights historically would only last for that one season ....... the reason being was that as the 1976 season was winding down, it was starting to become more evident as to what actually was going too happen throughout baseball, with commissioner Bowie Kuhn having voided several major trade attempts by Charlie O. Finley to unload some of his star players who were about to become free-agent eligible at season's end. There was even a cover of Sports Illustrated in late August of 1976 in which the title asserted that Jackson himself was "HITTING A MILLION", and was "Baseball's #1 Free Agent."

 

BOWIE STOPS CHARLIE'S CHECKS

https://www.si.com/vault/1976/06/28/618597/bowie-stops-charlies-checks

 

Finally, the 1976-77 offseason was the huge breakthrough season in which hordes of star players became free agents and left their previous teams and signed for money that was  unheard of at that time, including the Orioles' Bobby Grich. So while there is no way of knowing with absolute certainty what Baylor would have done had he not been traded, it would seem much more likely that he would have done what more than a dozen other free agents did who signed for (what was at that time) enormous increases in salary from what their previous pay had been.

 

The only thing that was ill-fated about the trade was the fact that Jackson held out for a month early in the season, in which the Orioles started out at 6-9 without him. Perhaps if he had not held out the Orioles would have won a few more games than they did and made the pennant race a little closer than it wound up being, but it hardly would have affected the outcome of the AL East that year ....... it was the Yankees' season from mid-June onwards, as they stomped their way to division title with little doubt in anyone's mind as to whether nor not they would win it, in a very similar manner to what the Orioles did 3 years later in 1979 from mid-June onward.

 

o

 

 

3 hours ago, Frobby said:

 

To me, you ignored the key point of POR’s post, which was that the Orioles cut the salaries of several other players to pay for Jackson, and that was deeply resented. But in any event, whether the trade was “ill-fated” is subjective and nobody is going to win an argument over that.

 

o

 

Jackson was unquestionably resented by many of his teammates at the time, both when he played for the Orioles that season and especially shortly afterward when he left the Orioles to sign the record-breaking contract with the Yankees. As great of a player as he was, he also made a huge pain in the ass out of himself on several of the teams that he played for (particularly the Orioles and the Yankees), and he would often show signs of extreme selfishness (particularly off of the field, in the clubhouse and in the press.) His comments to the press in regard to asserting that it was he and not long-tenured Yankee Thurman Munson that "stirred the drink" for the Yankees alone were very insensitive, and frankly quite foolish considering how well-liked Munson was by the Yankees' players and fans at-large at the time. Fortunately for the Yankees, Munson was such a team player that he actually WENT TO BAT FOR JACKSON with one of his teammates (Lou Piniella) to try to persuade manager Billy Martin to reinstate Jackson to the clean-up spot in the order as opposed to the 5-spot, where Martin had changed him to.

However, I wouldn't describe the trade  (and the ensuing scenarios that followed) as "ill-fated", other than perhaps some discomfort and anger among teammates in the clubhouse and a lot of resentment by a good number of Oriole fans. The trade didn't affect the outcome of the 1976 pennant race, nor the subsequent seasons from 1977 onward because of the likelihood that the Orioles would not have had either player (Baylor or Jackson) from that point onward. Granted that the Orioles may have erred in their decision in regard to cutting other players' salaries to try to accomodate Jackson and his own salary demands, but in the end it wound up being not much more than (in regard to the fate of the Orioles' as a team from the 1976 season through the early 80's) some angry/resentful feelings and memories from some players on that 1976 Orioles team, as well as a lot of Orioles fans at that time.

 

o

[OFFNY]

o

 

I just learned something that I did not know in the regard to the Orioles in the early through mid-1970's.

According to Bobby Grich, there was no way that he was going to sign with any other team besides the Angels in between the 1976 and 1977 seasons. The Orioles were offering him $1.2 Million, the Angels were offering him $1.5 Million, and the Yankees were offering him $2.2 Million. He chose to go with the Angels' "in-the-middle" offer because it was his dream to play for his hometown team where he went to high school. 

Also, something else of note that I did not know ........ Grich also stated that he and Orioles manager Earl Weaver disliked each other so much that they didn't speak to each other for almost 5 years. They actually got into a physical altercation with each other in the dugout one time. So while Jackson was indeed the selfish, pain-the-the ass that I described him as in my last post, the friction among the Orioles' players/management/front office was not relegated to the mass resentment toward Jackson alone.

 

Catching Up With ... Former Orioles Second Baseman Bobby Grich

(By Mike Klingaman)

http://www.baltimoresun.com/g00/sports/orioles/bs-sp-catching-up-grich-20150710-story.html?i10c.encReferrer=&i10c.ua=1

 

o

[POR]

To recap, I made a post about how the Orioles receiving Ken Singleton and Mike Torrez in a trade from the Expos from practically nothing was one of the Orioles best trades.  In describing Torrez I said after one good season with the Os he was part of the Reggie Jackson trade which I described as ill fated.

OFFNY took offense to this because the centerpieces in the trade Jackson and Baylor became free agents after the 76 season.  I pointed out that the trade was a couple months after the reserve clause was determined to be illegal and no one knew the impact it was going to have.   The idea that it was a foregone conclusion that Baylor was going to leave the Orioles after the season seems very inaccurate.  Baylor was apparently devastated when he was told about the trade.  I was not critical of the Orioles but did point out that they could have signed Reggie to a long term contract when he was holding out if they offered then, what they offered after the season.

At that time the Orioles did a lot more right that wrong. However, the Reggie trade did not work out for the Oriole in my opinion. OFFNY obviously has a different opinion.  Moving on.  

[SteveA]

It's 44 days until pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota.   Here is the 44th most significant date in modern Orioles history.

#44 -- November 8, 2011

After 14 consecutive losing seasons, the Orioles put up a 5 year stretch where they had 4 winning seasons and one .500 season, the best overall record in the American League in the 5 year stretch, and made the playoffs three times.

There were two distinct front office architects of the turnaround, each with differing strategies.   You can argue which one bears the most responsibility for the 5 year stretch of winning, but clearly both contributed in their own way and without both of them, the Orioles might still be looking for their first playoff berth in 2 decades.

Andy McPhail led the Orioles front office from June 2007 until the end of the 2011 season.   His style was deliberate, but most of his deals involved bringing young or in-their-prime talent to the Orioles.  His biggest contribution was trading ace pitcher Erik Bedard at the peak of his value to get foundational pieces for the turnaround in Adam Jones and Chris Tillman, as well as closer George Sherrill.  He got JJ Hardy for practically nothing, and also acquired Chris Davis and Tommy Hunter.  He negotiated hard to get the best he could out of every deal.  But the Orioles did not win while he was here, and he chose to leave after the 2011 season when his contract was up.  There have been a variety of reasons speculated on for his departure, including family issues as well as possibly  the difficulties of working under the strictures of of Peter Angelos.

On November 8, 2011, the Orioles hired Dan Duquette to replace him.  Duquette had made his name with the Expos and then Red Sox over a decade earlier, making many moves that contributed to the eventual first Boston championship in 86 years, which happened after he left.  But Duquette had been out of major league baseball for quite a while, doing things like opening a sports academy and founding a baseball league in Israel.  He attended many winter meetings almost openly begging for a job, but did not get one until the Orioles came calling.  Duquette's strategy with the Orioles was to try to find non-traditional ways to bring talent into the organization without spending a lot of money.  His scouts found Miguel Gonzalez toiling in the Mexican League after being released by two major league organizations; he brought over Wei Yin Chen, one of the very few Taiwanese major leaguers.  He found little known guys like Brad Brach and Steve Pearce who became big contributors.

Duquette signed scores of minor league free agents, and the Orioles under him and Buck Showalter became adept at roster manipulation.  Rather than having jsut 25 guys in Baltimore, Duquette found guys with options that he could shuttle between the minors and majors, especially in the bullpen, so that Showalter always had effectively 8, 9, or 10 man bullpen thanks to the ability to bring up a fresh arm when needed.  He also often traded minor league talent for major league players to fill holes on the team.  While some of these acquisitions contributed, others failed and the overall result was the loss of a lot of Oriole minor league talent that has major implications now and for the future.

McPhail was a big picture guy who probably wouldn't have made a lot of the marginal roster churn moves that Duquette was constantly making to improve the team a tiny bit here and there.  It's hard to say if he would have found guys like Gonzalez, Brach, and Chen, and whether the Orioles would have had 3 playoff teams in 5 years if he had stayed.  On the other hand, McPhail made huge deals that built the foundation for the 5 winning years.  Rather than argue who was more responsible for the turnaround and the 5 year stretch of good baseball, because arguments can be made on both sides, I'll choose November 8, 2011 as the date to commemorate the contributions of both these men to bringing winning baseball back to Baltimore.  The torch was passed that day so Duquette could finish what McPhail started and get the Orioles back into the playoffs.

Note:  Although I feel that both these guys contributed to the Orioles turnaround, I didn't think the hirings of each of them were big enough to merit two top 100 spot (note that the hirings of Harry Dalton, Hank Peters, and Pat Gillick do not make the list either).  So I chose the McPhail-to-Duquette transition date as a way to commemorate the way these two very different GMs both helped end the monumental losing stretch.  Kind of gimmicky, I guess, but hey, it's my list.  After the entire list is posted, I'll post an afterword that notes all the things that I wound up leaving out.

[Frobby]

Duquette gets credit for signing Chen, but shouldn’t get credit for finding him.   During the interregnum between MacPhail and Duquette, Buck Showalter mentioned Chen as a guy the Orioles were following.    O’Day was picked up off waivers during that period, too.   Those were two pretty big contributors to the 2012-15 Orioles at low cost.

[SteveA]

It's 43 days until pitchers and catchers report.   Here is the 43rd most significant date in modern Orioles history:

#43 August 13, 1969

The 1969 Orioles won the most games in a season in the history of the franchise (109), which was the most by any MLB team in the 36 years between 1962 and 1997.   And Jim Palmer is the greatest pitcher in the history of an Oriole franchise that was known for having great pitching.

One of the highlights of Palmer's great career came on August 13, 1969.   After his great success as a youngster in 1965 and 1966, including the famed World Series shutout defeat of Sandy Koufax, Palmer had been plagued with injuries in '67 and '68.   But he came into 1969 healthy.   He started 9-2, then had another stint on the DL, but came into the game vs the A's with a 10-2 record.  At Memorial Stadium, in front of 16,982 fans, Palmer pitched the only no hitter of his career, defeating Oakland 8-0.   He helped his own cause with 2 hits and an RBI.

The no hitter wasn't without drama...Paul Blair and Bobby Floyd (subbing for Belanger at short) both made errors behind Palmer.   Frank Robinson made a great play hauling down deep fly ball, and of course Brooks contributed a defensive gem.   In the 9th, Palmer walked Reggie Jackson, who was leading the majors with 42 home runs, on 4 pitches.   It was Jackson's 3rd walk of the game.   With one out, Floyd couldn't pick up a potential game ending DP ball cleanly and wound up settling for a force at 2nd.  Palmer then had trouble locating the zone, and walked Dick Green and Tommie Reynolds to load the bases.  But Palmer managed to get former Oriole Larry Haney for the last out, on a tough high hop grounder to Floyd.   Palmer had his only career no hitter, and the Orioles expanded their lead to 15 games in the AL East in the first season of divisional play.

Palmer walked 6 in the no hitter, throwing 142 pitches (123 of them fastballs).   He went on to win 268 games for the Orioles, winning 20 7 times, garnering 3 Cy Youngs, and is the only player ever to record a World Series win in 3 different decades.  He has stayed with the Orioles as a broadcaster and is now marking his 53rd year in Baltimore.

[Moose Milligan]

Palmer's the man.  

[SteveA]

It's 42 days until pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota.   Here is the 42nd most significant date in modern Orioles history.

#42 -- December 7, 1984

The Orioles had just completed 17 consecutive winning seasons, and 21 out of 22.  They accomplished this mostly by having a great farm system and making smart trades.

When players gained the right to free agency in the mid to late 1970s, the Orioles for the most part stayed out of the new free agent market, as they felt they could not afford to compete with teams like the Yankees.   But in 1984, facing an aging team and a farm system that had nowhere near the talent that it once produced, the Orioles took their first big splash in the free agent market in an attempt to keep winning.

The 1984 Orioles had a team payroll of just over $9 million, 12th highest in MLB.  In the span of a week, beginning on December 7, 1984, the Orioles signed 3 high priced free agents to contracts that guaranteed $11 million.

First, they signed veteran outfielder Lee Lacy to a 3 year, $1.975m contract.   A few days later, they picked up their biggest acquisition of the offseason:  center fielder Fred Lynn, a great all around player who had won an MVP and was a perennial All Star.   Lynn signed for 5 years, $6.8 million, the biggest contract the Orioles had ever given out to that point.

Finally, on December 13, the Orioles signed Angels' closer Don Aase to a 4 year, $2.425 million contract.

The Orioles payroll jumped to $12.37 million in 1985, which was the 4th highest in baseball behind only the Yankees, Braves, and Cubs.

Lacy would play right field for the Orioles for 3 years, hitting .280 with a .736 OPS (102 OPS+).  Decent production for a guy who was 37-39 years old in that span.

Lynn would man center field for the Orioles for 3 years plus part of a 4th, with a .815 OPS and playing solid defense despite his age.  He brought a lot of excitement to the O's in 1985, hitting 6 9th inning homers including 3 game winners.  But he continued a career trend of being injury prone, missing 150 games to various injuries in less than 4 seasons.  He was traded to the Tigers to get young catcher Chris Hoiles on August 31, 1988.

Aase would play four years for the Orioles, but injuries cost him a lot of time as well.  He was only the fulltime closer for one season, 1986, when he saved 34 games and made the All Star Game.

Despite the new players, the Orioles record declined for the second straight year, to 83-78.  In 1986, they suffered their first  losing season since the Lyndon Johnson presidency, collapsing after a good start, got worse in 1987, and then suffered through the horrific 1988 season that included an 0-21 start.  The free agent spending spree, unprecedented in team history, failed to make the Orioles contenders again, and in fact saw the beginning of the huge slide that ended with the 1988 debacle.

[Frobby]

3 hours ago, SteveA said:

The Orioles went into serious decline starting in 1985. That year, they suffered their first losing season since the Lyndon Johnson presidency, then collapsed after a good start in 1986, got worse in 1987, and then suffered through the horrific 1988 season that included an 0-21 start.  The free agent spending spree, unprecedented in team history, failed to keep the Orioles on the winning side of the ledger.   None of the three players would ever contribute to an Orioles team with a winning record.

The Orioles had a winning record in 1985 (83-78).     The losing didn’t start until 1986.