The 100 Most Significant Dates in Modern Orioles History

[Number5]

3 hours ago, SteveA said:

Future Oriole Koji Uehara pitched a perfect 8th

Great day.  One note, I think you meant to say former Oriole Koji Uehara, as Texas received Koji in trade from us in 2011.

[Moose Milligan]

I can't believe it's been 11 years since 30-3.  Been on here with you guys for a long, long time.

[SteveA]

It's 26 days until pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota.  Here is the 26th most significant date in modern Orioles history.

#26 October 3, 1982

Oriole manager Earl Weaver had announced he was retiring at the end of the 1982 season.  It looked like the Future Hall of Famer would go out with a disappointing season, as the Orioles stood at just 61-57 on August 20, 7.5 games back of the Brewers in the AL East, in the days before wild cards.

But Weaver teams always finished strong, and 1982 was no exception.  The Orioles won 27 of their next 32 games to pull to within 2 games of the Brewers with 12 to play, including 7 between the two teams.  The Orioles had been involved in so many great pennant races, but few were as exciting as this one.

Then the Orioles stumbled a bit, losing the last two games vs the Tigers and the opening game in Milwaukee, a 15-6 blowout.  But well pitched games by Jim Palmer and Dennis Martinez gave them 2 of 3 in Milwaukee, and they were back to within 2 games.

The Orioles travelled to Detroit, and lost the first game 9-6.  The Brewers beat the Red Sox, and the Orioles were 3 back with just 6 left.

The next night, the Brewers won in Boston.  In Detroit, Tippy Martinez allowed a walkoff home run to John Wockenfuss in the bottom of the 9th, and the Orioles were now 4 back with 5 to go.

On Thursday, Dennis Eckersley and the Red Sox finally salvaged a win vs the Brewers, but it didn't look good for the Orioles.  They trailed 5-2 in the top of the 9th, and it looked like they would go home to Baltimore needing 4 wins in 4 games just to force a playoff.  Dave Tobik of the Tigers was on the mound; Oriole fans remember him well as the guy that gave up Doug DeCinces memorable walkoff home run in 1979.

Al Bumbry singled, and two walks loaded the bases.   Eddie hit a sac fly to make it 5-3.  Benny Ayala struck out, and the Orioles were down to their last out.  Rookie of the Year Cal Ripken singled in a run, and Jim Dwyer then singled in the tying run!  Sparky Anderson replaced Tobik with lefty Dave Rucker with LH hitter Joe Nolan due; Earl sent Gary Roenicke up to pinch hit and he singled, putting the Orioles up 6-5.  They held on to win.

Now Milwaukee came to town for four games, with a 3 game lead.  The Orioles had to sweep all four to win the division.  Friday night was a doubleheader, with a whopping 51,000 fans in attendance.  In the first game Denny Martinez outduelled Pete Vuckovich, "scattering" 11 hits in 6.1 innings, got 2.2 near perfect relief innings from Tippy Martinez, and the Orioles won 8-3.

In the second game, the Orioles tossed young Storm Davis into the fire against Brewer ace Mike Caldwell.  Storm pitched a complete game 6 hitter, and the Orioles won 7-1.  They were now just 1 game back!

47,000 fans showed up Saturday to see Scott McGregor face veteran Doc Medich.  The Orioles got 3 in the 1st, but by the top of the 4th Milwaukee had gotten 3 to tie it and chase McGregor.  Sammy Stewart came out of the pen and pitched 5.2 2-hit shutout innings!  The Oriole bats pounded out 18 hits, and the Orioles had tied the Brewers for the division lead with a 11-3 win.

Sunday, October 3, was no longer just Earl Weaver's last game.  It was the AL East Division Championship game, nationally televised by ABC.  And the pitching matchup was one for the ages, Jim Palmer, the greatest Oriole to ever take the mound, with 15 wins, against veteran 16 game winner Don Sutton.  It was another sellout, of course.

Milwaukee hit solo homers in each of the first 3 innings, two by Robin Yount and one by Roy Howell.  Glenn Gulliver got one back for the Orioles in the bottom of the 3rd with a solo shot of his own.  In the 6th, yet another solo HR, by Cecil Cooper, put Milwaukee up 4-1. In the top of the 8th, Tippy Martinez gave up a leadoff triple to Robin Yount, got the next two batters, but Ben Ogilvie got a 2 out single to make it 5-1.

In the bottom of the inning, Sutton gave up a couple walks.  Earl sent up Terry Crowley as a pinch hitter, and he singled in a run.  Two outs and two on.  Joe Nolan hit a sinking line drive to the left field corner.   It looked like it would fall in for a double which would make it 5-4 and put the tie run in scoring position.  But Brewer left fielder Ben Ogilvie made a great sliding catch in left field, and the threat was ended.

Dennis Martinez had come on in the 8th to get the last out, but he didn't have it in the 9th.   He gave up 5 runs, including a Ted Simmons home run, and the Orioles hopes were dashed.  In what was believed to be Earl's last game as manager (he would later come out of retirement for a season and a half), Earl sent up 5 consecutive pinch hitters in the bottom of the 9th.  The Orioles got 2 men on but couldn't score.  They lost 10-2, and the great pennant run had fallen 1 game short.  The Orioles had gone 33-11 to end the season and it just wasn't enough.

It was after 6PM on a Sunday and the season had ended in disappointment, but most of the 50,000+ fans stayed.  They called Earl out on the field and gave him him a prolonged ovation.  Earl was in tears.  On the national TV broadcast, Howard Cosell was amazed at the outpouring of emotion in tribute to Weaver (see video below).

Earl's last 6 seasons, 1977-82, had been fantastic but all ended in disappointment.  They surprised everyone by winning 97 games and surviving until the final weekend in 1977.  1978 was derailed by Boston's fast start and a broken leg by Oriole leadoff man Al Bumbry, but of course 1979 saw 103 wins and a 7 game World Series defeat.  In 1980 they won 100 games but missed the playoffs, a rarity in baseball history.  1981 they failed to make the playoffs due to the "split season" fiasco engendered by the work stoppage, and in 1982 they finished 33-11 to just miss the postseason again.

Those 6 years of heartbreak fed the 1983 team.  Despite losing Weaver, the veteran 1983 team would not be denied, as they won the Orioles 3rd World Championship.  The seeds for 1983 were planted on a memorable Sunday in October 1982, when a great pennant run fell just short and the team and fans bade an emotional farewell to the greatest manager in team history.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D13-QS5eQMM

[Frobby]

That summer/fall, I had just taken the bar exam and was on a prolonged 8-week trip to Australia, New Zealand and Tahiti before starting my job.   There was no internet in those days, and foreign newspapers didn’t cover American baseball, so every so often I’d try to find a copy of the International Tribune.    That paper was usually 2-3 days old or older by the time it reached those countries, and it usually was reporting scores from 2 days before the publication date due to the time difference, so when I was lucky enough to find a copy I’d be getting news that was at least 4-5 days old, maybe older.   In slow motion like this, I was vaguely aware that the O’s initially had fallen back in the first two weeks of my trip, but were making up ground slowly but surely.   

With a week to go in my trip, we reached Tahiti, and I got word that the O’s were only 4 games out and were finishing the season with 4 games against the Brewers.    I decided to cut the trip short by a couple of days to be back in the US before the season ended.    I landed in LA on the final Saturday of the season, the day the O’s swept a doubleheader to tie the Brewers and bring the season to a winner-take-all final game.    

The next day at game time, I turned on the TV, only to find out that the West Coast stations weren’t showing the Orioles/Brewers, but were opting to show the Dodgers/Giants game!   So despite my Herculean efforts to get back to the US, all I got were occasional updates during the Dodgers game of how the O’s game was going.    But they did show clips from the Weaver love-fest.

[Number5]

13 minutes ago, Frobby said:

With a week to go in my trip, we reached Tahiti, and I got word that the O’s were only 4 games out and were finishing the season with 4 games against the Brewers.    I decided to cut the trip short by a couple of days to be back in the US before the season ended.

I used to think I was a die-hard Oriole fan, but you gave up a couple of days in Tahiti to get back in time to watch the Orioles on TV.  Tip of the cap to you, my friend!

[Redskins Rick]

1 minute ago, Number5 said:

I used to think I was a die-hard Oriole fan, but you gave up a couple of days in Tahiti to get back in time to watch the Orioles on TV.  Tip of the cap to you, my friend!

Really, not sure, I could have done that, either.

[Frobby]

53 minutes ago, Number5 said:

I used to think I was a die-hard Oriole fan, but you gave up a couple of days in Tahiti to get back in time to watch the Orioles on TV.  Tip of the cap to you, my friend!

 

51 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

Really, not sure, I could have done that, either.

Well, I’d been living out of a backpack for 7+ weeks by that point, on a tight budget and staying in places like youth hostels and trailer parks along with the occasional budget hotel.   Tahiti was gorgeous, as you might expect, but 4 days there were enough and I was happy to get back to the USA by the time we arrived.   

[Redskins Rick]

Just now, Frobby said:

 

Well, I’d been living out of a backpack for 7 weeks by that point, on a tight budget and staying in places like youth hostels and trailer parks along with the occasional budget hotel.   Tahiti was gorgeous, as you might expect, but 4 days there were enough and I was happy to get back to the USA by the time we arrived.   

Now that makes more sense.

My bucket list has on it, a Tahiti beach hut on top of the water and my spouse for several day of R&R with no kids or grandkids allowed.

[OFFNY]

3 hours ago, SteveA said:

o

 

It's 26 days until pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota.  Here is the 26th most significant date in modern Orioles history.

 

#26 October 3, 1982

 

Oriole manager Earl Weaver had announced he was retiring at the end of the 1982 season.  It looked like the Future Hall of Famer would go out with a disappointing season, as the Orioles stood at just 61-57 on August 20, 7.5 games back of the Brewers in the AL East, in the days before wild cards.

But Weaver teams always finished strong, and 1982 was no exception.  The Orioles won 27 of their next 32 games to pull to within 2 games of the Brewers with 12 to play, including 7 between the two teams.  The Orioles had been involved in so many great pennant races, but few were as exciting as this one.

Then the Orioles stumbled a bit, losing the last two games vs the Tigers and the opening game in Milwaukee, a 15-6 blowout.  But well pitched games by Jim Palmer and Dennis Martinez gave them 2 of 3 in Milwaukee, and they were back to within 2 games.

The Orioles travelled to Detroit, and lost the first game 9-6.  The Brewers beat the Red Sox, and the Orioles were 3 back with just 6 left.

The next night, the Brewers won in Boston.  In Detroit, Tippy Martinez allowed a walkoff home run to John Wockenfuss in the bottom of the 9th, and the Orioles were now 4 back with 5 to go.

On Thursday, Dennis Eckersley and the Red Sox finally salvaged a win vs the Brewers, but it didn't look good for the Orioles.  They trailed 5-2 in the top of the 9th, and it looked like they would go home to Baltimore needing 4 wins in 4 games just to force a playoff.  Dave Tobik of the Tigers was on the mound; Oriole fans remember him well as the guy that gave up Doug DeCinces memorable walkoff home run in 1979.

Al Bumbry singled, and two walks loaded the bases.   Eddie hit a sac fly to make it 5-3.  Benny Ayala struck out, and the Orioles were down to their last out.  Rookie of the Year Cal Ripken singled in a run, and Jim Dwyer then singled in the tying run!  Sparky Anderson replaced Tobik with lefty Dave Rucker with LH hitter Joe Nolan due; Earl sent Gary Roenicke up to pinch hit and he singled, putting the Orioles up 6-5.  They held on to win.

Now Milwaukee came to town for four games, with a 3 game lead.  The Orioles had to sweep all four to win the division.  Friday night was a doubleheader, with a whopping 51,000 fans in attendance.  In the first game Denny Martinez outduelled Pete Vuckovich, "scattering" 11 hits in 6.1 innings, got 2.2 near perfect relief innings from Tippy Martinez, and the Orioles won 8-3.

In the second game, the Orioles tossed young Storm Davis into the fire against Brewer ace Mike Caldwell.  Storm pitched a complete game 6 hitter, and the Orioles won 7-1.  They were now just 1 game back!

47,000 fans showed up Saturday to see Scott McGregor face veteran Doc Medich.  The Orioles got 3 in the 1st, but by the top of the 4th Milwaukee had gotten 3 to tie it and chase McGregor.  Sammy Stewart came out of the pen and pitched 5.2 2-hit shutout innings!  The Oriole bats pounded out 18 hits, and the Orioles had tied the Brewers for the division lead with a 11-3 win.

Sunday, October 3, was no longer just Earl Weaver's last game.  It was the AL East Division Championship game, nationally televised by ABC.  And the pitching matchup was one for the ages, Jim Palmer, the greatest Oriole to ever take the mound, with 15 wins, against veteran 16 game winner Don Sutton.  It was another sellout, of course.

Milwaukee hit solo homers in each of the first 3 innings, two by Robin Yount and one by Roy Howell.  Glenn Gulliver got one back for the Orioles in the bottom of the 3rd with a solo shot of his own.  In the 6th, yet another solo HR, by Cecil Cooper, put Milwaukee up 4-1. In the top of the 8th, Tippy Martinez gave up a leadoff triple to Robin Yount, got the next two batters, but Ben Ogilvie got a 2 out single to make it 5-1.

In the bottom of the inning, Sutton gave up a couple walks.  Earl sent up Terry Crowley as a pinch hitter, and he singled in a run.  Two outs and two on.  Joe Nolan hit a sinking line drive to the left field corner.   It looked like it would fall in for a double which would make it 5-4 and put the tie run in scoring position.  But Brewer left fielder Ben Ogilvie made a great sliding catch in left field, and the threat was ended.

Dennis Martinez had come on in the 8th to get the last out, but he didn't have it in the 9th.   He gave up 5 runs, including a Ted Simmons home run, and the Orioles hopes were dashed.  In what was believed to be Earl's last game as manager (he would later come out of retirement for a season and a half), Earl sent up 5 consecutive pinch hitters in the bottom of the 9th.  The Orioles got 2 men on but couldn't score.  They lost 10-2, and the great pennant run had fallen 1 game short.  The Orioles had gone 33-11 to end the season and it just wasn't enough.

It was after 6PM on a Sunday and the season had ended in disappointment, but most of the 50,000+ fans stayed.  They called Earl out on the field and gave him him a prolonged ovation.  Earl was in tears.  On the national TV broadcast, Howard Cosell was amazed at the outpouring of emotion in tribute to Weaver (see video below).

Earl's last 6 seasons, 1977-82, had been fantastic but all ended in disappointment.  They surprised everyone by winning 97 games and surviving until the final weekend in 1977.  1978 was derailed by Boston's fast start and a broken leg by Oriole leadoff man Al Bumbry, but of course 1979 saw 103 wins and a 7 game World Series defeat.  In 1980 they won 100 games but missed the playoffs, a rarity in baseball history.  1981 they failed to make the playoffs due to the "split season" fiasco engendered by the work stoppage, and in 1982 they finished 33-11 to just miss the postseason again.

Those 6 years of heartbreak fed the 1983 team.  Despite losing Weaver, the veteran 1983 team would not be denied, as they won the Orioles 3rd World Championship.  The seeds for 1983 were planted on a memorable Sunday in October 1982, when a great pennant run fell just short and the team and fans bade an emotional farewell to the greatest manager in team history.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D13-QS5eQMM

 

o

o

 

My 17th birthday.

 

o

[Redskins Rick]

So did Altobelli win in 83, because he was a better manager than Earl was (at the end of his career)?

Or was Altobelli lucky enough to not screw up a veteran team that Earl had built?

I torn by this, you dont win 98 games by being lucky either. He must have done a few things right on his own?

Did he get more out of his players than Earl did, by being nicer to them?

Or was Joe one of those guys that listen to his own coaches and let them help guide the team down victory lane? I am thinking like Jimmy Johnson with Norv T. and Dave W.

 

[Frobby]

I think Altobelli was a solid guy, who knew enough not to screw up a good thing.    Would they have won that year with Weaver?   I think so, but who knows.

[SteveA]

58 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

So did Altobelli win in 83, because he was a better manager than Earl was (at the end of his career)?

Or was Altobelli lucky enough to not screw up a veteran team that Earl had built?

I torn by this, you dont win 98 games by being lucky either. He must have done a few things right on his own?

Did he get more out of his players than Earl did, by being nicer to them?

Or was Joe one of those guys that listen to his own coaches and let them help guide the team down victory lane? I am thinking like Jimmy Johnson with Norv T. and Dave W.

 

It was very much a veteran team, and the only young guy, Cal Ripken, kind of had the mind of a veteran.   Guys like Dempsey, Bumbry, Palmer, Singleton, Palmer, and Tippy were all in their mid to late 30s and knew this was probably their last chance to win it all.   They also got leadership from Dauer, Murray, Lowenstein, Roenicke.

They had a set rotation, with rookie Mike Boddicker replacing Flannie when he got hurt.   They had good relievers that could all play multiple roles.

There wasn't much you could do as a manager to screw that up.   Platoon Rhino and Low-low in left.   Veteran RH & LH pinch hitters on the bench in Ayala and Dwyer.   Work in young John Shelby for aging Bumbry when required.

They knew how to win, and they had the burning desire to finish what they couldn't finish in 1977, 1979, 1980, and 1982.  

[Redskins Rick]

2 minutes ago, SteveA said:

It was very much a veteran team, and the only young guy, Cal Ripken, kind of had the mind of a veteran.   Guys like Dempsey, Bumbry, Palmer, Singleton, Palmer, and Tippy were all in their mid to late 30s and knew this was probably their last chance to win it all.   They also got leadership from Dauer, Murray, Lowenstein, Roenicke.

They had a set rotation, with rookie Mike Boddicker replacing Flannie when he got hurt.   They had good relievers that could all play multiple roles.

There wasn't much you could do as a manager to screw that up.   Platoon Rhino and Low-low in left.   Veteran RH & LH pinch hitters on the bench in Ayala and Dwyer.   Work in young John Shelby for aging Bumbry when required.

They knew how to win, and they had the burning desire to finish what they couldn't finish in 1977, 1979, 1980, and 1982.  

It was a great time to be an Oriole fan!!!!!!

I dont think anybody including Dempsey own' family expected him to have the WS that he did.

[SteveA]

It's 25 days until pitchers and catchers report.   Here is the 25th most significant date in modern Orioles history:

#25 November 5, 1997

Former Oriole second baseman Davey Johnson began a successful managerial career with a bang taking over the Mets in 1984 and brining them a World Championsip two years later.  He then turned around the Cincinnati Reds; he had them in first place at the time of the 1994 strike.  But he couldn't get along with Reds owner Marge Schott.

The Orioles hired him and in his first year with the team, 1996, he took the Orioles to the playoffs for the first time in 13 years.  In 1997, the Orioles went wire to wire in first place every day of the season, and reached the ALCS for the second consecutive year.  (Reportedly, she disapproved of Johnson living with his fiancee before they were married and made up her mind he had to go).

Johnson was clearly the best manager the Orioles had had since Earl Weaver retired.  Yet somehow, he was gone after two years.  One reason given was an incident in the 1997 season where Johnson fined Roberto Alomar for skipping a team banquet, and asked Alomar to pay the fine to a charity that Johnson's wife ran.  Orioles owner Peter Angelos was upset with how all that went down, and publicly let Johnson know he was upset.

Orioles GM Pat Gillick tried to broker a peace between Johnson and Angelos, but it didn't work.  The two hadn't spoken in several days but had exchanged faxes.  On November 5, after being unable to get in touch with Angelos, Johnson submitted his resignation by fax and Angelos accepted it.

Later that day, in a bitter irony, Davey Johnson was named the American League Manager of the Year.  

Somehow, the Orioles' best manager in over a decade couldn't get along with the owner and he was gone.  And the Orioles embarked on 14 consecutive losing seasons.  Just as Peter Angelos lost good front office men who didn't want to work for him, and got rid of baseball's best play by play man, he was unable to make peace with a manager who led the Orioles to back to back ALCS's for the first time in over two decades.

[Frobby]

Maybe Johnson was fortunate to get out before the house of cards collapsed.    I do think the ‘98 team would have fared better if he’d stayed, but they were getting old and that would have been true no matter who the manager was.