The 100 Most Significant Dates in Modern Orioles History

[Moose Milligan]

On 12/1/2017 at 1:42 PM, JohnBKistler said:

I just stumbled upon this thread...

First-off, to echo many here, this is really terrific work and worthy of any professional historian/writer...being that I am on the north side of 50, I lived through many of these dates and these vignettes help me remember a lot of what I had forgotten.

Second...some comments on the already posted days:

August 6, 1986:  Growing up an Orioles fan in the 70s was unique (in my experience).  The Orioles having a winning team and, if not making the playoffs, always being right there at the end was just the way it was.  It was expected just as it was expected that the nights would get colder and the days shorter.  It's August, so the Orioles must be making a run towards the pennant.  So when you are living through an epic era of success, you don't appreciate how good you have it and it it is hard to know when it truly all ended.  But end it did and with a little perspective, 8/6/86 is about as close as any date to mark it. (I personally think the end was started when a terminally ill Edward Bennett Williams instructed his front office to go spend money on the free agents at the expense of the farm system somewhere around 1984/85 in a bid to get him one last championship before he died.  But your date works for the reason you stated with regards to the records.)

The Davis trade.  Truly an epic failure....but to me, that was the result of an earlier, more costly mistake...

Eddie Murray.  If you don't trade Eddie after the 1988 season (and I am sure this date will make the list), presumably you don't need to trade for Davis in 1991.  It goes without saying, but Eddie was one of the truly great Orioles...both on and off the field (I believe he still to this day contributes to some Baltimore-based causes).  Maybe had social media been around back then, we would have gotten a different perspective of the man.  As it was, a petulant media (led by a talk radio host) decided that Eddie would be the scapegoat for all the ills of the Orioles organization in the late 80s and proceeded to run off a 1st ballot HOFer (pre-steroid era), and one of the greatest, if not THE greatest, Oriole leaders to ever be in the clubhouse.  The list is a short one: there is Frank and Eddie..and let me get back to you...there is a reason in my mind that all the Orioles' championships were won shortly after these men arrived in the clubhouse, and none thereafter.  Brooks is my favorite Oriole.  But if Brooks is #1, Eddie is #1A.

Can't wait to read the rest!!!

 

Just stumbled across this post...

If you don't trade Eddie, you keep Devereaux (traded for Mike Morgan, NOT part of the Eddie Murray package) and your 90s outfield is Brady, Devo and Finley which should be pretty strong defensively.  

In 1992, the Orioles finished 3rd in the East with 89 wins, Milwaukee had 92 and Toronto had 96.

If that 1992 Orioles team has Murray, Finley, Schilling and Harnisch, I think it takes the East, or at least makes it extremely close between Baltimore and Toronto.  Screw Milwaukee.  

You've got Murray at 1st base with THE VASTLY UNDERRATED AND AHEAD OF HIS TIME RANDY MILLIGAN at DH.  Eddie OPS'd .759 that year with only 16 homers but that's WAAAY better than anything Davis had.

Now that the outfield is set, you can make Orsulak your 4th outfield which is not a bad bat to have coming off the bench.  If for whatever reason you wanted a 5th outfielder, you could keep Chito "The Bambino" Martinez, too.  That's a stacked lefthanded hitting outfield with Brady, Finley, Orsulak and Chito.

But Harnisch and Schilling really would have closed that gap.  '92 Schilling lead his league in WHIP, Harnisch had a solid year.  Both would have been way better than '92 Bob Milacki or '92 Jose Mesa (Joe Table).  

All of this assumes a lot, that those players would have progressed as well as they did with Baltimore as they did elsewhere.  But it's fun to think about.  The 1990s could have looked drastically different for the Orioles if that trade never happened.

[SteveA]

Frobby, you are correct.   I misread the sources online I found.   Gillick had a deal to trade Bobby Bonilla to Cleveland FOR Eddie Murray, and Angelos nixed that one, feeling we could get him cheaper (and Angelos was right, we wound up getting Murray for Kent Mercker).

And you are right about Wren.

I'll correct the original post when I get a chance, I'm at work now.   Going out tonight, so it might not be until Wednesday night.

[Frobby]

Thanks.   I hate to pick nits on these excellent posts, but you need to have the kinks out for when this is published as a book!

[SteveA]

It's 69 days until pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota.   Here is the 69th most significant date in modern Orioles history:

#69 September 16, 2014

In 2012 the Orioles ended their 14 year stretch of losing seasons and made the playoffs.  But that Oriole team had one of the best records in one run games in baseball history, which most stat savvy folks felt was somewhat of a fluke and not likely to be repeated.  And sure enough, the Orioles did not have nearly as good a season in 2013 and missed the playoffs.  

Was 2012 a complete fluke, a mirage?  Or had Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter put together a team that might have some staying power?

2014 would be the proof in the pudding that 2012 was not just a fluke.  Despite significant injuries to Matt Wieters and Manny Machado, and a drug suspension by Chris Davis, the Orioles put together their best season of the 21st century and laid some of that doubt to rest.

Free agent acquisition Nelson Cruz, coming off a PED suspension, signed with the Orioles on a one year make-good contract and had a fantastic year (40 HRs and a .859 OPS).  Chris Tillman and Wei Yin Chen and Miguel Gonzalez led the pitching rotation, backed by Miguel Gonzalez.  New free agent acquisition Ubaldo Jimenez, the highest paid pitcher in Oriole history, had a disappointing year.

The Oriole bullpen was the best in baseball, with Zach Britton taking over as closer early in the year and putting together a great season.   And the Orioles put together a fantastic 96 win season, winning teir first division title in 17 ears and only their 2nd in 31 years.

On September 16, the disappointing Jimenez had one of his best games of the year, and with the help of a Steve Pearce 3-run homer and Alejandro De Aza 3-run triple, the Orioles clinched the American League East with an 8-2 victory over TOronto.   2012 was no longer just a random blip on the radar screen or a fluke.  The Orioles had their 3rd consecutive winning season, their 2nd playoff appearance, and they had run away and hidden in the always competitive AL East.  They celebrated on the field in front of 35,297 fans on a Tuesday night, including myself and Weams who had both independently scored some great seats right not far behind the Orioles dugout.

After years of disappointment, a division championship flag would fly over Oriole Park again.

                                                                                        

[Frobby]

What a day.   I still remember Jones pie-facing a fan, and Markakis taking in the scene with tears in his eyes.    

[OFFNY]

10 hours ago, SteveA said:

 

It's 69 days until pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota.   Here is the 69th most significant date in modern Orioles history:

#69 September 16, 2014

In 2012 the Orioles ended their 14 year stretch of losing seasons and made the playoffs.  But that Oriole team had one of the best records in one run games in baseball history, which most stat savvy folks felt was somewhat of a fluke and not likely to be repeated.  And sure enough, the Orioles did not have nearly as good a season in 2013 and missed the playoffs.  

Was 2012 a complete fluke, a mirage?  Or had Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter put together a team that might have some staying power?

2014 would be the proof in the pudding that 2012 was not just a fluke.  Despite significant injuries to Matt Wieters and Manny Machado, and a drug suspension by Chris Davis, the Orioles put together their best season of the 21st century and laid some of that doubt to rest.

Free agent acquisition Nelson Cruz, coming off a PED suspension, signed with the Orioles on a one year make-good contract and had a fantastic year (40 HRs and a .859 OPS).  Chris Tillman and Wei Yin Chen and Miguel Gonzalez led the pitching rotation, backed by Miguel Gonzalez.  New free agent acquisition Ubaldo Jimenez, the highest paid pitcher in Oriole history, had a disappointing year.

The Oriole bullpen was the best in baseball, with Zach Britton taking over as closer early in the year and putting together a great season.   And the Orioles put together a fantastic 96 win season, winning teir first division title in 17 ears and only their 2nd in 31 years.

On September 16, the disappointing Jimenez had one of his best games of the year, and with the help of a Steve Pearce 3-run homer and Alejandro De Aza 3-run triple, the Orioles clinched the American League East with an 8-2 victory over TOronto.   2012 was no longer just a random blip on the radar screen or a fluke.  The Orioles had their 3rd consecutive winning season, their 2nd playoff appearance, and they had run away and hidden in the always competitive AL East.  They celebrated on the field in front of 35,297 fans on a Tuesday night, including myself and Weams who had both independently scored some great seats right not far behind the Orioles dugout.

After years of disappointment, a division championship flag would fly over Oriole Park again.

 

                                                                                        

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[OFFNY]

36 minutes ago, OFFNY said:

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And a very poignant reaction from the man who was (at that time) the longest-tenured Oriole. 

Somewhat similar to Roy White, who toiled on many Yankees teams who were (mostly) non-contenders between 1966 and 1975 before they finally broke through with a division title and an American League Championship in 1976.

 

 

 

o

[SteveA]

It's 68 days until pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota.   Here is the 68th most significant date in modern Orioles history:

#68 September 18, 1973

On September 18, 1973, the Orioles beat the Tigers 8-2.  Merv Rettenmund had a stolen base in the game, his 10th.  That made the Orioles the first team in the history of baseball to have 8 guys get 10 or more steals.

Don Baylor led the team with 32 steals, followed by Al Bumbry (23), Paul Blair (18), Rich Coggins (17), Bobby Grich (17), Mark Belanger (13), Rettenmund (11), and Tommy Davis (11).  The Orioles led the American League with 146 steals.  Brooks Robinson said  "With us, it used to be Frank Robinson and Boog Powell with 30 or so homers, and me in the 20s. Now it's singles, hit-and-run and stolen bases, plus some fantastic defense."

The Orioles ran their way to their 4th division title in 5 years, then lost to the Oakland A's in the ALCS.  They just missed matching the total in 1974, stealing 145 bases and winning the division yet again.  They stole 150 bases in 1976, as well.

Earl Weaver is known as a manager who disdained "small ball" and played for the big inning, and is considered to have been years ahead of his time in that regard.  But he showed his genius and flexibility in 1973-1976, adapting  to the talent that he had.  When young speedsters Bumbry and Coggins joined the team in 1973, Earl took advantage of their talents, rather than be inflexible and stick with his normal strategies.  The Orioles won 366 games in those four years and won two division titles and just missed another.

The manager known for playing for big innings changed his ways for a brief era in Orioles history when his team was loaded with speedsters, and showed he could win in more ways than one.

[Frobby]

Great post and great point about Weaver’s ability to adapt.    I loved those ‘73-74 teams.

[SteveA]

It's 67 days until pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota.   Here is the 67th most significant date in modern Orioles history:

#67 April 29, 1988

The Orioles fall from greatness that began in 1985 reached its nadir in 1988.  In 1987, they had fallen to 67-95, their worst season in 32 years.  But they still had superstars Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken, and young slugger Larry Sheets had a breakout 31 HR season.  In the offseason they picked up a switch hitting catcher with power in Mickey Tettleton, and a young prospect who appeared ready to break out in Pete Stanicek.  Fred Lynn was still going strong at age 36.  

Mike Boddicker had won 72 games in the last 5 years, and they had high hopes for a hard throwing Rule 5 righthander named Jose Bautista, who would be the first of two Jose Bautista's the Orioles would select in the Rule 5 draft.  There were concerns about the rotation to be sure, as Expo castoff Jay Tibbs and unproven Oswaldo Perazza were going to make quite a few starts.

But no one thought they could be as bad as they turned out to be.  Opening Day was a bad omen, as Boddicker lost to Teddy Higuera and the Brewers 12-0.  But then the losses started to mount.

After an 0-6 start, 2nd year manager and longtime organizational stalwart Cal Ripken Sr was fired and replaced at manager by longtime Oriole hero Frank Robinson.   But the losses kept on coming.

The losing streak became a national joke, fodder for late nig ht comics.  On April 16, the Orioles record reached 0-11 in an excruciating 1-0 11 inning loss to the Indians. 98-Rock DJ Bob Rivers decided to stay on the air full time until the Orioles won, catching bits of sleep only when songs were playing.

But the streak continued.  Rivers was being interviewd by national reporters and coming close to falling apart on the air, eating junk food and watching his blood pressure rise dangerously.  On April 23, the Orioles fell to 0-13 on a walkoff RBI single by KC's Kurt Stillwell.  On April 28, the Orioles fell to 0-21, and Mike Boddicker fell to 0-5, in the last game of a series in Minnesota.

The Orioles then travelled to Chicago to face the White Sox.  On Friday night, April 29, Mark Williamson took the mound.  The Orioles already had the worst season opening losing streak in major league history, and were just two games short of tying the worst overall losing streak ever.

In the top of the first, facing White Sox ace Jack McDowell, Cal Ripken singled and Eddie Murray put one in the stands to put the Orioles up 2-0.  Williamson went 6 3-hit shutout innings, and the Orioles took a 3-0 lead into the 7th.  They put together a 4 run inning on just one hit, along with two walks, a hit by pitch, and an Chicago error, and led 7-0.  Dave Schmidt followed Williamson with 3 shutout innings, Cal added a HR, and the Orioles won 9-0.

The streak was over!  The Orioles had won a game.  Bob Rivers screamed "I'm going home" on the air, queued up "I'm Free" by The Who on the turntable, and went home and slept for 24 hours.  

The Orioles wound up 54-107, the worst record in modern Oriole history to this day.  They had truly hit rock bottom.  They were outscored 129-44 during the streak.  

[eddie83]

MASN still airs the Fantastic Fans night when they came home and were 1-23. They were bad but hard  to believe they were that bad. Of course it set up my favorite all time season until 2012,  the Why Not year in 89.  

[Frobby]

The game where Jeff Stone misplayed the game-clinching out was the worst.    To this day, he was the worst defensive outfielder I’ve ever seen.   

[SteveA]

47 minutes ago, Frobby said:

The game where Jeff Stone misplayed the game-clinching out was the worst.    To this day, he was the worst defensive outfielder I’ve ever seen.   

Do you remember Carlos Lopez, from about 1977 or 1978?  He was pretty awful.

I remember he cost us a game against California in the 15th or 16th inning.

[OFFNY]

6 hours ago, SteveA said:

 

It's 67 days until pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota.   Here is the 67th most significant date in modern Orioles history:

#67 April 29, 1988

The Orioles fall from greatness that began in 1985 reached its nadir in 1988.  In 1987, they had fallen to 67-95, their worst season in 32 years.  But they still had superstars Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken, and young slugger Larry Sheets had a breakout 31 HR season.  In the offseason they picked up a switch hitting catcher with power in Mickey Tettleton, and a young prospect who appeared ready to break out in Pete Stanicek.  Fred Lynn was still going strong at age 36.  

Mike Boddicker had won 72 games in the last 5 years, and they had high hopes for a hard throwing Rule 5 righthander named Jose Bautista, who would be the first of two Jose Bautista's the Orioles would select in the Rule 5 draft.  There were concerns about the rotation to be sure, as Expo castoff Jay Tibbs and unproven Oswaldo Perazza were going to make quite a few starts.

But no one thought they could be as bad as they turned out to be.  Opening Day was a bad omen, as Boddicker lost to Teddy Higuera and the Brewers 12-0.  But then the losses started to mount.

After an 0-6 start, 2nd year manager and longtime organizational stalwart Cal Ripken Sr was fired and replaced at manager by longtime Oriole hero Frank Robinson.   But the losses kept on coming.

The losing streak became a national joke, fodder for late nig ht comics.  On April 16, the Orioles record reached 0-11 in an excruciating 1-0 11 inning loss to the Indians. 98-Rock DJ Bob Rivers decided to stay on the air full time until the Orioles won, catching bits of sleep only when songs were playing.

But the streak continued.  Rivers was being interviewd by national reporters and coming close to falling apart on the air, eating junk food and watching his blood pressure rise dangerously.  On April 23, the Orioles fell to 0-13 on a walkoff RBI single by KC's Kurt Stillwell.  On April 28, the Orioles fell to 0-21, and Mike Boddicker fell to 0-5, in the last game of a series in Minnesota.

The Orioles then travelled to Chicago to face the White Sox.  On Friday night, April 29, Mark Williamson took the mound.  The Orioles already had the worst season opening losing streak in major league history, and were just two games short of tying the worst overall losing streak ever.

In the top of the first, facing White Sox ace Jack McDowell, Cal Ripken singled and Eddie Murray put one in the stands to put the Orioles up 2-0.  Williamson went 6 3-hit shutout innings, and the Orioles took a 3-0 lead into the 7th.  They put together a 4 run inning on just one hit, along with two walks, a hit by pitch, and an Chicago error, and led 7-0.  Dave Schmidt followed Williamson with 3 shutout innings, Cal added a HR, and the Orioles won 9-0.

The streak was over!  The Orioles had won a game.  Bob Rivers screamed "I'm going home" on the air, queued up "I'm Free" by The Who on the turntable, and went home and slept for 24 hours.  

The Orioles wound up 54-107, the worst record in modern Oriole history to this day.  They had truly hit rock bottom.  They were outscored 129-44 during the streak.  

 

o

 

 

When the Orioles finally won a game in 1988 after starting the season at 0-21, it was plastered over the entire back page of the NY Daily News ........ and BOTH the Yankees AND the Mets had won their respective games on that same day, and both of those teams were pennant contenders.

THAT was extremely dubious.

 

The huge photo on the back page of that NY Daily News edition was of Eddie Murray congratulating Cal Ripken, Jr. with a handshake after Cal had hit a home run.

 

o

[BarclaySouthway]

On 12/8/2017 at 10:51 AM, Frobby said:

The game where Jeff Stone misplayed the game-clinching out was the worst.    To this day, he was the worst defensive outfielder I’ve ever seen.   

Oh man, I was at that game.  He ducked under the ball like he was afraid of being hit by it.  Just a bizarre play during a bizarre month.  I heard the Twilight Zone theme in my head after that one