The 100 Most Significant Dates in Modern Orioles History

[SteveA]

15 minutes ago, OFFNY said:

o

 

On the final weekend of the season in 1977, I remember listening to the radio (we got WBAL up here in Brewster after 7 PM), and the final out of the game against the Red Sox which mathematically eliminated the Orioles was a groundout. Chuck Thompson said, "They've been eliminated from contention on the 3rd to last game of the season, but let's give a hand to the Orioles of '77."

 

o

That game was something like 13-11, I believe.

That was a great season.   Everyone gave us up for dead after losing Garland, Grich, and Jackson to free agency (and Baylor in trade the year before).   But we had some great young talent come in and step up, and we were in the race all the way to the end. 

One of the more underrated seasons ever by Oriole fans.   People remember the near miss seasons of 1980 and 1989 more, but 1977 was great.

[Frobby]

43 minutes ago, SteveA said:

That game was something like 13-11, I believe.

That was a great season.   Everyone gave us up for dead after losing Garland, Grich, and Jackson to free agency (and Baylor in trade the year before).   But we had some great young talent come in and step up, and we were in the race all the way to the end. 

One of the more underrated seasons ever by Oriole fans.   People remember the near miss seasons of 1980 and 1989 more, but 1977 was great.

Completely agree.    I went to a game the first week of that season and my thought was, “who are these guys?”    By the end of the season, we knew.   

[OFFNY]

3 hours ago, OFFNY said:

o

On the final weekend of the season in 1977, I remember listening to the radio (we got WBAL up here in Brewster after 7 PM), and the final out of the game against the Red Sox which mathematically eliminated the Orioles was a groundout. Chuck Thompson said, "They've been eliminated from contention on the 3rd to last game of the season, but let's give a hand to the Orioles of '77."

o

 

 

3 hours ago, SteveA said:

 

That game was something like 13-11, I believe.

That was a great season.   Everyone gave us up for dead after losing Garland, Grich, and Jackson to free agency (and Baylor in trade the year before).   But we had some great young talent come in and step up, and we were in the race all the way to the end. 

One of the more underrated seasons ever by Oriole fans.   People remember the near miss seasons of 1980 and 1989 more, but 1977 was great.

 

o

 

One of the reasons why Thompson specifically said what he said ("Let's give a hand to the Orioles of '77") after the final out of that game was because the expectations of them were very low of that team prior to the season. In the previous 4 seasons, the Orioles had gradually (but surely) dipped ........

 

In 1973, they won the division title handily.

In 1974, they had to come storming back in the final 5 weeks of the season to barely overtake the Yankees and the Red Sox for the division title.

In 1975, they were beaten by the Red Sox in a close race for the division title. 

In 1976, they were beaten handily by the Yankees for the division title (10.5 games.)

 

Heading into 1977, many were predicting the Orioles to bottom out and not come anywhere near contention for a playoff spot. I specifically remember reading in Xander Hollander's Complete Handbook of Baseball that he stated that the Orioles "were an old war horse that has seen better days."  

Hollander had the Orioles finishing in 5th place out of 7 teams in the AL East division ........ and that included the expansion Blue Jays, who were entering their inaugural Major League season. So he essentially had the Orioles finishing behind everybody in the division but the Cleveland Indians that season.

 

 

 

o

[SteveA]

It's 82 days until pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota.   Here is the 82mnd most significant date in modern Orioles history:

#82 June 5, 1989

The Orioles' horrible 1988 season came with one silver lining...they earned the #1 overall pick in the 1989 draft.  It's the only time in Oriole history that they drafted first overall.

And they had the top pick in a year where the consensus top pick was considered possibly the greatest pitcher in college baseball history.

Ben McDonald, a tall righthander from LSU, pitched for the Gold Medal winning US Olympic team, won the Golden Spikes Award for the best collegiate baseball player in the nation, and had 44 consecutive scoreless innings during his final season at LSU.  The major league scouting service gave him the highest grade ever given to a pitcher.

The Orioles took McDonald as expected, and he was in the majors later in the 1989 season, pitching 6 times out of the bullpen in September and getting his first major league win on the last day of the season. He was in teh starting rotation the next season.

Ben McDonald was a solid major league pitcher.  He started 142 games with the Orioles, and had a 3.89 ERA.  But he was never the franchise savior that the Orioles hoped for.  He battled some injuries, and by age 29 he was winding up his career for a couple years in Milwaukee.  He put up 20.8 WAR in his career.

The Orioles had the number one overall pick in a year where perhaps the most hyped amateur baseball player in history went pro, but in the end Ben was unable to be the pitcher the Orioles needed to put the team over the top in the 1990s.

 

 

[Bahama O's Fan]

His stats would look good on our team right now. Who did we pass who ended up amassing more WAR?

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, Bahama O's Fan said:

His stats would look good on our team right now. Who did we pass who ended up amassing more WAR?

While I don’t think you can ever complain about a 20 WAR player, in hindsight the 1989 draft had some amazing talent, especially among the hitters.   Among the first rounders that year:

Frank Thomas (7th pick) 73.7 WAR

Chuck Knoblach (23rd pick) 44.6 WAR

Mo Vaughn (25th pick) 27.0 WAR

Charles Johnson (10th pick) 22.6 WAR

Ben McDonald (1st pick) 20.9 WAR

In later rounds: Jeff Bagwell, Jim Thome, Jeff Kent, John Olerud, Brian Giles, Tim Salmon, Trevor Hoffman, Ryan Klesko, Scott Erickson, Denny Neagle.

 

 

 

[Number5]

Ben was the best alligator wrestler in Orioles' history. 

[SteveA]

It's 81 days until pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota.   Here is the 81st most significant date in modern Orioles history:

#81 May 17, 1996

When you trail by 3 in the bottom of the 9th innning (or an extra inning), and hit a walkoff grand slam to win the game, it has been dubbed an "Ultimate Grand Slam".

There have been 29 such events in major league history.   But only 15 of them came with 2 outs.   And only ONE in the long history fo baseball came with two outs and a full count.

It happened in Camden Yards in front of over 47,000 fans on May 17, 1996.  The Orioles opened a homestand with the Seattle Mariners, a team they would defeat in the playoffs later that season.   Jimmy Haynes started for the Orioles, Bob Wolcott for the Mariners.  The Orioles hit Wolcott hard, including a Luis Polonia HR, and held an 7-2 lead after 5.  But Arthur Rhodes came out of the pen and couldn't get an out.  Seattle touched him for four runs to make it 7-6.

Palmeiro homered to make it 9-6 in the 7th. But once again the bullpen faltered.   A combination of Roger McDowell, Jesse Orosco, and Alan Mills gave up 5 runs in the 8th, capped by an Alex Rodriguez grand slam off Mills, to put Seattle up 11-9.  Cal homered in the bottom of the 8th to make it 11-10.  Mills served up a 2-run homer to Jay Buhner in the 9th to put Seattle up 13-10.

Hard throwing lefty Norm Charlton had come on to get the last out of the 8th for Seattle, and he continued in the 9th.  Alomar drew a walk, Palmeiro struck out.  Bobby Bonilla doubled, with Alomar going to 3rd.  Bill Ripken pinch hit for Jeff Huson and fouled out.  Cal drew a walk to load the bases.

Hoiles stepped to the plate.  He worked the count full and then blasted a no-doubter line drive about 3 rows up into the left field seats.  

It's the scenario kids dream about playing in the back yard... two outs, full count, down three, bases loaded... GRAND SLAM!   And to this day, Chris Hoiles is the only player in the 149 year history of baseball to accomplish the feat.  The Orioles would go on to make the playoffs in 1996 and defeat Seattle in the opening round before losing in the ALCS to the Yankees.  Hoiles would later make grand slam history of another sort in 1998 by hitting 2 slams in a game in Cleveland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLr3AZqYq5I

 

[bobmc]

2 hours ago, SteveA said:

It's 81 days until pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota.   Here is the 81st most significant date in modern Orioles history:

#81 May 17, 1996

When you trail by 3 in the bottom of the 9th innning (or an extra inning), and hit a walkoff grand slam to win the game, it has been dubbed an "Ultimate Grand Slam".

There have been 29 such events in major league history.   But only 15 of them came with 2 outs.   And only ONE in the long history fo baseball came with two outs and a full count.

It happened in Camden Yards in front of over 47,000 fans on May 17, 1996.  The Orioles opened a homestand with the Seattle Mariners, a team they would defeat in the playoffs later that season.   Jimmy Haynes started for the Orioles, Bob Wolcott for the Mariners.  The Orioles hit Wolcott hard, including a Luis Polonia HR, and held an 7-2 lead after 5.  But Arthur Rhodes came out of the pen and couldn't get an out.  Seattle touched him for four runs to make it 7-6.

Palmeiro homered to make it 9-6 in the 7th. But once again the bullpen faltered.   A combination of Roger McDowell, Jesse Orosco, and Alan Mills gave up 5 runs in the 8th, capped by an Alex Rodriguez grand slam off Mills, to put Seattle up 11-9.  Cal homered in the bottom of the 8th to make it 11-10.  Mills served up a 2-run homer to Jay Buhner in the 9th to put Seattle up 13-10.

Hard throwing lefty Norm Charlton had come on to get the last out of the 8th for Seattle, and he continued in the 9th.  Alomar drew a walk, Palmeiro struck out.  Bobby Bonilla doubled, with Alomar going to 3rd.  Bill Ripken pinch hit for Jeff Huson and fouled out.  Cal drew a walk to load the bases.

Hoiles stepped to the plate.  He worked the count full and then blasted a no-doubter line drive about 3 rows up into the left field seats.  

It's the scenario kids dream about playing in the back yard... two outs, full count, down three, bases loaded... GRAND SLAM!   And to this day, Chris Hoiles is the only player in the 149 year history of baseball to accomplish the feat.  The Orioles would go on to make the playoffs in 1996 and defeat Seattle in the opening round before losing in the ALCS to the Yankees.  Hoiles would later make grand slam history of another sort in 1998 by hitting 2 slams in a game in Cleveland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLr3AZqYq5I

 

Great stuff once again!  Memories, like the corners of my mind....

[SteveA]

It's 80 days until pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota.   Here is the 80th most significant date in modern Orioles hitory.

#80  December 1, 1954

On December 1, 1954, the Orioles and Yankees made what is to this day the largest trade in major league history.  Seventeen players moved between the two teams. The trade actually worked out well for both teams in different ways.

The Orioles got Jim McDonald, Willy Miranda, Hal Smith, Gene Woodling, Bill Miller, Kal Segrist, Don Leppert, THeodor Del Guerco, Gus Triandos, and Harry Byrd.

The Yankees got Billy Hunter, Mike Blyzka, Darrell Johnson, Jim Fridley, Dick Kryhoski, Don Larsen, and Bob Turley.

The Yankees cannot be disappointed with the results.  Turley, who had come to Baltimore with the Browns and started the first game in modern Oriole history, would win 82 games for the Yankees, including 21 in his Cy Young winning season of 1958.  Larsen, of course, would go down in baseball history forever for pitching a perfect game in the World Series.  (However, the other players they received contributed next to nothing for the Yankees; Hunter was their starting shortstop for one season and the others had no Yankee career whatsoever).

The Orioles got Gus Triandos, who became a cornerstone player of the franchise for the next 8 years, making the All Star team 3 times and hitting 142 home runs out of the catcher position.  Woodling was 35 when we acquired him but gave us 3 solid seasons with a .280 average, .812 OPS, and an All Star appearance.  Miranda was the Orioles' starting shorstop for the next 3 years and was known for his glovework.  Smith also started for the Orioles for a couple years.

The deal was the first significant move made by new GM Paul Richards, as he attempted to resurrect the moribund Browns/Orioles franchise that would have 28 losing seasons in 31 years before he finally made them a winner in 1960.   Richards made a total of 48 deals in his first two years as GM, and this one is certainly the most memorable and most historic.

 

[SteveA]

It's 79 days until pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota.   Here is the 79th most significant date in modern Orioles history.

#79 August 24, 2011

Mike Flanagan was one of the greatest pitchers in Orioles history, and one of the most beloved players.   The lefthanded pitcher out of the University of Massachusetts, where he was a teammate of RIck Pitino and Julius "Dr. J" Erving, made it to the Orioles in 1976 and by 1977 he was a stalwart of the rotation, going 15-10.    He was one of only 3 pitchers (all named Mike) to defeat Ron Guidry in Guidry's historic year that year.   Flannie's best year as an Orioles was 1979, when he went 23-8 with a 3.08 ERA and won the Cy Young Award.

Flanagan was probably the most dependable pitcher in the Oriole rotation for nearly a decade, and became beloved for his quick wit and sarcastic sense of humor.   In 1987, as the Orioles descended into losing after over a decade and a half of uninterrupted winning, he was traded to Toronto in an August 31 deadline deal that netted the Orioles Jose Mesa and Oswald Perazza.

Flannie returned to end his career with the Orioles in 1991 and 1992, spanning the transition from Memorial Stadium to Orioles Park.   He was the last Oriole pitcher to throw a pitch at Memorial Stadium.

After his retirement, Flanagan remained in the organization in a variety of capacities.  He twice served as Oriole pitching coach, and also in the broadcast booth, where the fans once again got to enjoy his wit and wisdom.   Finally, he served as co-general manager both with Jim Beattie and Jim Duquette, but was unable to turn the Orioles into a winner.  He was demoted to an unspecified position in the warehouse.

On August 24, 2011, as the Orioles were in the midst of their 14th straight losing season, an especially disappointing one because the strong finish in 2010 under new manager Buck Showalter had fans daring to hope that the losing might finally come to an end.   Unbeknownst so most Oriole fans, Mike Flanagan had dealt with issues of depression in his life, and on that tragic day he took his own life.   Most fans found out about it via the internet as the course of the evening progressed, but it was clear that Jim Hunter and Jim Palmer, broadcasting the Oriole game that night, were unaware until being notified in the 9th inning.   Jim Palmer and RIck Dempsey's tearful postgame tribute to their beloved former teammate is seared in the memory of all Oriole fans who were watching that night.

That dark night was the lowest of the low points in the Orioles' 14 years of losing.   A month later, they would finish the 2011 season in memorable fashion and begin a 5+ year stretch where they would have the best record in the American League,  but they would have to do it without one of the most beloved Orioles of all time.

[SteveA]

.

[OFFNY]

2 hours ago, SteveA said:

 

It's 79 days until pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota.   Here is the 79th most significant date in modern Orioles history.

#79 August 24, 2011

Mike Flanagan was one of the greatest pitchers in Orioles history, and one of the most beloved players.   The lefthanded pitcher out of the University of Massachusetts, where he was a teammate of RIck Pitino and Julius "Dr. J" Erving, made it to the Orioles in 1976 and by 1977 he was a stalwart of the rotation, going 15-10.    He was one of only 3 pitchers (all named Mike) to defeat Ron Guidry in Guidry's historic year that year.   Flannie's best year as an Orioles was 1979, when he went 23-8 with a 3.08 ERA and won the Cy Young Award.

Flanagan was probably the most dependable pitcher in the Oriole rotation for nearly a decade, and became beloved for his quick wit and sarcastic sense of humor.   In 1987, as the Orioles descended into losing after over a decade and a half of uninterrupted winning, he was traded to Toronto in an August 31 deadline deal that netted the Orioles Jose Mesa and Oswald Perazza.

Flannie returned to end his career with the Orioles in 1991 and 1992, spanning the transition from Memorial Stadium to Orioles Park.   He was the last Oriole pitcher to throw a pitch at Memorial Stadium.

After his retirement, Flanagan remained in the organization in a variety of capacities.  He twice served as Oriole pitching coach, and also in the broadcast booth, where the fans once again got to enjoy his wit and wisdom.   Finally, he served as co-general manager both with Jim Beattie and Jim Duquette, but was unable to turn the Orioles into a winner.  He was demoted to an unspecified position in the warehouse.

On August 24, 2011, as the Orioles were in the midst of their 14th straight losing season, an especially disappointing one because the strong finish in 2010 under new manager Buck Showalter had fans daring to hope that the losing might finally come to an end.   Unbeknownst so most Oriole fans, Mike Flanagan had dealt with issues of depression in his life, and on that tragic day he took his own life.   Most fans found out about it via the internet as the course of the evening progressed, but it was clear that Jim Hunter and Jim Palmer, broadcasting the Oriole game that night, were unaware until being notified in the 9th inning.   Jim Palmer and RIck Dempsey's tearful postgame tribute to their beloved former teammate is seared in the memory of all Oriole fans who were watching that night.

That dark night was the lowest of the low points in the Orioles' 14 years of losing.   A month later, they would finish the 2011 season in memorable fashion and begin a 5+ year stretch where they would have the best record in the American League,  but they would have to do it without one of the most beloved Orioles of all time.

 

 

o

 

Eerily enough, the winning pitcher of that night's game against the Twins was Jeremy Guthrie, who was wearing Flanagan's #46.

Guthrie was traded at the end of the season, and no Orioles player has worn the number since.

 

o

[SteveA]

It's 78 days until pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota.   Here is the 78th most significant date in modern Orioles history:

#78 July 13, 1993

Oriole Park opened in 1992, and was almost immediately hailed as the prototype of a new style of major league ballpark.  It incorporated features of old time ballparks that had disappeared in the glut of cookie cutter stadiums built in the 1960s and 1970s, with all the modern amenities and upscale seating options.  The warehouse view became immediately iconic and as recognizable as the Green Monster in Fenway or the ivy in Wrigley.

The nation as a whole first got a look at Oriole Park when the Orioles hosted the 1993 All Star Game.  

In the leadup to the game, in the home run hitting contest, Ken Griffey Jr became the first person to hit the warehouse on the fly with a fly ball.  Surprisingly, he remains the only person to do so to this day.  Expectations had been that this would happen a lot more often, in fact the first several floors of the warehouse had special shatter proof windows installed. Juan Gonzalez actually won the derby, and had some monster shots of his own, including reaching the left field upper deck.

The AL squad was loaded with 7 members of the defending champion Toronto Blue Jays, and managed by Blue Jay manager Cito Gaston.  The Orioles were represented by Cal Ripken and Mike Mussina.

The game was dominated by the American League, 9-3.   Kirby Puckett was named the MVP, as he went 2 for 3 including a home run in the first inning off Mulholland.   Perhaps the most memorable moment of the game was John Kruk, a lefty hitter, batting against hard throwing lefthander Randy Johnson.  After the first pitch from the Big Unit sailed over Kruk's head, he wanted no part of the at bat and bailed out on all the other pitches.

The other memorable moment came in the 9th inning.  The AL had a big lead, and the Orioles' star pitcher Mike Mussina had not yet gotten in the game.  Gaston has said he was saving Mussina for the unlikely event of extra innings.  Mussina got upon his own to get some work in the bullpen, and the partisan Oriole fans assumed they'd get to see their hero pitch the 9th.  But Gaston didn't bring him in.   This made him public enemy #1 in Baltimore, thousands of "Cito Sucks" t-shirts were sold and you still see one at the ballpark even today.

Maybe we are biased, but the Griffey warehouse shot, Kruk at bat, and Mussina controversy make this one of the more memorable All Star Games, despite the lopsided score.  And it served as a great introduction to Oriole Park for millions of fans.  The only question is whether there will be another All Star Game in Baltimore.   Enough time has elapsed so that it is getting to be "our turn" again, but we keep getting bypassed, which many people believe is a result of the MASN/MLB feud.

 

[NCRaven]

Many people are right!