A question for those who remember 1989

[DrungoHazewood]

56 minutes ago, ExileAngelos said:

Worst to first meant something back then.  Making the postseason was special.  Playing 162 games served a purpose.  Those were the days.

Yes and no.  Before wildcards you could be the 1980 Orioles, win 100 games, second best record in baseball, and just go home after 162. While three teams with worse records get to go to the playoffs.

Or even better in the pre-division era you could be the 1963 Orioles, win 86 games, finish 10 over .500, and your season is essentially over in late July when you find yourself 10 games out.  Every year you'd have 50, 60, 70% of the league going through the motions not long after the All Star break. 

Pennant races were fun when you were the Yanks or Dodger or Giants or the 1966-1983 Orioles.  But no so much if you're the Phillies or the Senators or something and you knew in January that it would take divine intervention to catch the big teams.

If we were still in the pre-1968 setup the only time since 1980 the O's would have played a postseason game was 1997. Even the 1983 Orioles had a worse record than the White Sox.

Edited August 10, 2022 by DrungoHazewood

[Orioles1954]

I'm not a frequent poster but this thread is a wonderful trip to an unforgettable time in my life. I was 13 for the 1989 season. For myself, the backdrop of Opening Day 1989 helped set the tone for the season. My older brother who was/is not a baseball fan graciously took me to the game. It was 6 months after the horrors of 1988. It was the first year of the "ornithologically correct" bird (which I loved at the time). Boston was in town and was the prohibitive favorite in the A.L. East and several openly surmised that Roger Clemens would throw a no-hitter. It was also the spring after the Wade Boggs/Margo Adams affair and mocking chants of "Margo" cascaded down throughout the sold-out crowd. Joan Jett sang the national anthem and sat in the row behind my brother and I. President Bush threw out the first pitch and was booed...Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak was also in attendance. Vice President Gore's son Al Gore III was hit by a car after the game and almost died. SO MUCH HAPPENED outside of the game and the energy was intense. It was a back-and-forth game and when Ripken deposited Clemens' pitch into the left field bullpen I felt an instant connection to the gritty Birds. The game went extras and Worthington's hit just erased the horrible memory of 1988. Unforgettable.

 

- Still remember openly breaking my parents' rules and listening to the West Coast ballgames on school nights

- The June 1989 Yankees "fog" game was a travesty that seriously pissed me off then and now

- The Mike Devereaux "foul pole" come back victory against the Angels

- Native son Dave Johnson pitching a shutout during one of his first starts and then crying in the clubhouse after wards

- Stanley Jefferson crushing a three-run homer against the Blue Jays in a pivotal later summer match-up.

- John Miller introducing the incredibly cheesy and catchy "Why Not?" theme song over the radio for the first time

- Phil Bradley's lead-off homer against Toronto only to be shutout the rest of the game.

- That horrible Saturday afternoon when the Blue Jays finally crushed our dreams.

 

Boy, I really needed this thread. Thanks so much!

[Moose Milligan]

I have faint memories of it.  I remember going to a game, can't remember who it was against.  I had been to a game in '86 or so but don't remember that at all as I was about 4 years old.  In 1989, I remember getting to Memorial Stadium, we were sitting in the upper deck for a night game.  Walking out of the tunnel, seeing the green grass and just being awestruck by it.  Just standing there, and then my dad tugging on my shoulder to go to the seats.

And I remember hearing what I thought were boos, I didn't understand why these people would boo their own player.  Some fans near us explained that they were really saying MOOOOOOOOOSE for Randy Milligan.  Hence, the user name.

I just remember understanding baseball for the first time and knowing that the team was fun and exciting and people were surprised by it.  

I have also watched the VHS tape more times than I can count.  I still have it, even though I haven't had a VHS player for over 15 years.  

For those of you who haven't seen it or want to see it again, here it is in all it's glory.  Even the cheesy intro with Dave Johnson and Kevin Hickey:  

 

What a cheesy video.  The whole writing letters thing.  The Field of Dreams intro.  The Tom Petty song.  I mean it's just unbelievably bad and cheesy and it's SO GOOD all at the same time.

I also love it when the '89 Why Not? team comes up and @DrungoHazewood is forced to rely on his great memories and inevitably says "If I knew then what I knew NOW...."  which is the beauty of it.  No one knew why this team was doing so much better, no one was looking at Milacki and Ballard's k/9 rates.  

Speaking of the devil....

 

On 8/7/2022 at 8:36 AM, DrungoHazewood said:

Milligan wasn't washed up so much as completely unappreciated in the Jurassic period of analytics.  He had a 1.033 OPS for the Tidewater Tides in 1987, including 91 walks and 29 homers in 136 games.  But the Mets rewarded that with two September PAs, and traded him to the Pirates for Tim Drummond and Mackey Sasser.  His power disappeared in '88, but still had a .379 OBP for the Pirates in 40 games.  Back then nobody wanted a 27-year-old rookie 1B with moderate power, so they let him go, too.  Traded to the O's for Pete Blohm, who'd just gone 4-5 in the NY-Penn League and would never play in the majors.

 

Randy Milligan truly was a player ahead of his time. 

Just like me, I'm a man ahead of my time.

 

Edited August 10, 2022 by Moose Milligan

[NCRaven]

Just now, Moose Milligan said:

Just like me, I'm a man ahead of my time. 

Nap time?

[DrungoHazewood]

3 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I also love it when the '89 Why Not? team comes up and @DrungoHazewood is forced to rely on his great memories and inevitably says "If I knew then what I knew NOW...."  which is the beauty of it.  No one knew why this team was doing so much better, no one was looking at Milacki and Ballard's k/9 rates.  

When I was growing up the Orioles had a lot of finesse or junkball pitchers, and it was common knowledge among Orioles fans that finesse pitchers were the real pitchers.  Guys like Ryan were just old meatheads, unthinkingly trying to throw the ball through the backstop.  Ray Miller knew that 88 mph fastballs, working fast, changing speeds, that's where it's at.  Put the ball in play, let Brooks and Cal and the rest field it. That's what a real winning team does.

Of course that's all nonsense, but we were 11 years before Voros came up with DIPS.  Bill James said something about how power pitchers have longer careers than finesse pitchers, but whatever.  At the time I assumed that Milacki and Ballard would be good for years. They knew how to pitch. Oh well, we know better now.

[jabba72]

The 1989 Orioles had the worst SO9 rate in MLB at 4.2. The next lowest was CHW at 4.7. Its remarkable they still won 87 games. 

[ExileAngelos]

On 8/10/2022 at 12:35 PM, DrungoHazewood said:

Yes and no.  Before wildcards you could be the 1980 Orioles, win 100 games, second best record in baseball, and just go home after 162. While three teams with worse records get to go to the playoffs.

Or even better in the pre-division era you could be the 1963 Orioles, win 86 games, finish 10 over .500, and your season is essentially over in late July when you find yourself 10 games out.  Every year you'd have 50, 60, 70% of the league going through the motions not long after the All Star break. 

Pennant races were fun when you were the Yanks or Dodger or Giants or the 1966-1983 Orioles.  But no so much if you're the Phillies or the Senators or something and you knew in January that it would take divine intervention to catch the big teams.

If we were still in the pre-1968 setup the only time since 1980 the O's would have played a postseason game was 1997. Even the 1983 Orioles had a worse record than the White Sox.

Some fair points but I stand by my main one.  162 game season no longer means much with so many teams making the playoffs.  There will be (probably sooner than later) a  .500 or worse team knock off a 100 win team in a short series.  Baseball is too random to allow this many teams into the postseason.  Sorry I am not trying to hijack the thread lol.

[oriolelover1989]

So this topic really strikes asoft Spot in my heart because that was the here one I Feeling love with yours i personally group in the seven is in the Germany more speak sofic in the former free city state of dragonsberg in Bavarian seven Germany and I will always personated with the beautifulsport but the ground up and Germany and seventies there was absolutely nobody who got explaine the sporting oder rules so the Roses TV series that we are basicall follow the best and German it was called the bands and Louis which would translate into something like one wild au i like the series what Cape me whatching was are the always way is for that bites of the game to come up in the serious to finally in the stand this kohlenbüro Fußball in the US 1989 the weather extra curacular course Facebook Codes media Baseball again there was ich huge American Sports Hype in the late Ladies in early 90s in Germany and football Corps and Baseball Corps popping up like mushrooms keine everywhere and are the one of the clubs where the guys randies extra Kurs of course very son of the words are join the Corp and capital competitive Baseball eversense einmal umbringen years I traint themes befindus but time watching real game of baseball was very hard to come by because the only things at we got sea in Germany wear Claps but the best catches had a humans son of the real instances very got to see a whole baseball game and it's full glory was in the late summer of nineteen eighty nine of course Recorder this game on my video recorder and worsea Oreo game at Yankee Stadium on a beautiful day and on ly family love with the beautiful Oreo Road Jersey that the time and one the game another sense Amine finally had my own Favoritin know one like thank you is am speaking out that 19 i guess the rich respect the reason why still so meine people talking about System and why was so easy to follow Lover this team is that it was a good team but not a very good theme so the defining one more than the last but they made you invest in the motornally because the last some games and chance that day wood make it in the play of Switch in the end way that never the less you mother and forever like me it was pro easy to fall on love with the teen like that instad of a team that with always winning always losing

[OriolesMagic83]

36 minutes ago, oriolelover1989 said:

So this topic really strikes asoft Spot in my heart because that was the here one I Feeling love with yours i personally group in the seven is in the Germany more speak sofic in the former free city state of dragonsberg in Bavarian seven Germany and I will always personated with the beautifulsport but the ground up and Germany and seventies there was absolutely nobody who got explaine the sporting oder rules so the Roses TV series that we are basicall follow the best and German it was called the bands and Louis which would translate into something like one wild au i like the series what Cape me whatching was are the always way is for that bites of the game to come up in the serious to finally in the stand this kohlenbüro Fußball in the US 1989 the weather extra curacular course Facebook Codes media Baseball again there was ich huge American Sports Hype in the late Ladies in early 90s in Germany and football Corps and Baseball Corps popping up like mushrooms keine everywhere and are the one of the clubs where the guys randies extra Kurs of course very son of the words are join the Corp and capital competitive Baseball eversense einmal umbringen years I traint themes befindus but time watching real game of baseball was very hard to come by because the only things at we got sea in Germany wear Claps but the best catches had a humans son of the real instances very got to see a whole baseball game and it's full glory was in the late summer of nineteen eighty nine of course Recorder this game on my video recorder and worsea Oreo game at Yankee Stadium on a beautiful day and on ly family love with the beautiful Oreo Road Jersey that the time and one the game another sense Amine finally had my own Favoritin know one like thank you is am speaking out that 19 i guess the rich respect the reason why still so meine people talking about System and why was so easy to follow Lover this team is that it was a good team but not a very good theme so the defining one more than the last but they made you invest in the motornally because the last some games and chance that day wood make it in the play of Switch in the end way that never the less you mother and forever like me it was pro easy to fall on love with the teen like that instad of a team that with always winning always losing

Was this response written by a computer?

[oriolelover1989]

So, this thread really strikes a soft spot in my heart.

 

Growing up in Germany in the Seventies and Eighties, I always liked to watch the Bad News Bears ("Die Baeren sind los" in German, which translates loosely into "The Bears Run Wild"), fascinated by the sport they play there.

Just by watching the series, which wasn't bad in its own right, I couldn't understand the rules.

No teacher, no internet, not even the library had information on Baseball.

 

Baseball was virtually nonexistent in Fenabt in the Seventies and Eightes, more of an enigma.

 

Fast forward to the late Eighties. I found out that there was a an extracurricular Baseball course at my Highschool every Friday afternoon.

 

Immediately I joined. Actually, I was looking forward every Monday to that Friday afternoon that year. I loved the sport.

 

Baseball was very hard to come by in German TV however, those days.

 

What we had, were the best catches, the best Homeruns etc. I think it TWIB.

 

But whole Baseball games were pretty seldom. One where you could see the ebb and the flow of the game, the soul of the game.

 

I recorded one of those games. It was an Oriole road game at Yankee Stadium, in late summer. I immediately fell in love with the Oriole road jerseys, the Cap, the bird. It was a beautiful late summer afternoon game. The Orioles won, 6-4.

Heck, I even went out of my way the other way and went to search for that game. It was the 8/26/1989 game, I found in on YouTube in full length!

The videocassette of then and the videorecorder are long gone. I've watched that tape maybe 40 times over, onion skin thin. I've learned so much of that game just by watching and listening.

 

It's been almost 35 years since that beautiful summer of '89, I've joined that club (the same club that hosts the WBC Quailfier in 2022, I've played competitive Baseball for more than 30 years now, am an Umpire for 17 years, coached teams for 5 years, heck, I've even founded by own club in 2016!

 

Speaking if similarities to the 2022 team? I think there are many.

 

The reason why still so many people are talking about the 1989 team is in my view the fact that that the '89 was a good team, but bot a very good one.

 

You always had to follow them to be updated. No easy "Oh, they will win anyways" here.  They made you emotionally invested in them, also by the way that they played the game.

Plus the race was thrilling from start to finish.

It was called a "tractor pull" by one of the commentators of that game because of its slow pace.

I had my parents drive me twice to the local railway station for copy of the latest USA Today to get a glimpse at the standings. Again, no Internet, no Videotext here.

 

And the tragic finale will remembered forever.

 

That's also the most striking resemblance to today's team: we will be finishing the season the same way as back then.

Hopefully with a different ending.

 

Thanks for that thread, my friend. Great user name, by the way.

 

And thanks for having me. In finally home.

[Tony-OH]

While painful, here's the game when Olson threw that wild pitch to give up the lead. It's still an interesting blast from the past for those too young to know those 1989 Orioles.

Craziest thing is the Toronto announcer literally said, "Quirk has to watch out for the curveball in the dirt".

Quirk who was never know for his defense, wasn't able to get over and block the pitch even though it was significantly outside. A late season pick up, Quirk was an odd choice to start this game at catcher. He allowed 32-year old Lawless to steal 2nd with a noodle but accurate throw, then wasn't able to block the ball. After Olson struck out the nest batter to end the inning, Quirk spiked the ball in the dirt as he ran off, clearly frustrated.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TOR/TOR198909290.shtml

[Frobby]

My first child was born Sept. 25, 1989.  It was a bummer losing those two games on Sept. 29-30, but my family’s new arrival helped me keep things in perspective.   

[jabba72]

Still clearly remember watching the 11pm news to see Phil Bradley launch that first pitch HR into the upperdeck of the Skydome during the Blue Jays last series. That might be what I remember most about that season, that and Dave Johnsons start against the Blue Jays the very next day. That was on non cable TV so I watched that one. Strange how those are the memories that stay with me most. I guess because they were among the last games from 1989. 

[Tony-OH]

Interesting facts about the "Why Not" Orioles.

They spent 119 days in first place (last day was August 31st)
Biggest lead was 7.5 games up on July 20th.
They had 8-game winning streak and an 8-game losing streak.
The most runs they scored was 16 and the most runs they allowed in a game was 16.
They had 8 walk off wins and 5 walk off losses
The team was 53-38 on July 18th, 7.5 games ahead in 1st place
They went 34-37 the rest of the way

The only moves GM Roland Hemond made after July 18th was to trade for reserve outfield Stan Jefferson (.260/.284/.409/.693 in 134 PAs w/Orioles) on July 20th, end of career 35-year old DH Keith Moreland (.215/.243/.280/.524 in 111 PAs w/Orioles) and Jamie Quirk (216/.328/.255/.583), a 34-year old "catcher" who had already been released by Yankees and the A's and had caught just 8 major league games and 9 minor games all season before being signed by Hemond.

While the Orioles had to keep running out 32-year old Dave Schmidt (5.69 ERA in 38 gms, 26 starts and gave 22-year old Pete Harnish (4.62 ERA in 17 gms, 16 starts) they kept 22-year old Curt Schilling in AAA most of the year despite him putting up a 3.21 ERA in 27 starts. 

So while we look back at a team fondly because they were so awful in 1988, we really have to wonder what could have been had Hemond not be so bad at picking up players down the stretch or by not using what little talent he had in AAA. 

Hemond of course is the guy who traded Eddie Murray to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Juan Bell, Brian Holton and Ken Howell and also made the Schilling, Finley, Harnish trade for Glenn Davis in 1991. 

I guess what I end up remember out of all of this is that Roland Hemond has to go down as one of the worse Orioles GM of all-time or squashed a chance to make his surprising 1989 team better and then went about making two of the worse trades in team's history and setting back the Franchise almost a decade before the Pat Gillick/Angelos spending spree in the winter of 1995 brought winning baseball back to Baltimore.

 

[Frobby]

39 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Interesting facts about the "Why Not" Orioles.

They spent 119 days in first place (last day was August 31st)
Biggest lead was 7.5 games up on July 20th.
They had 8-game winning streak and an 8-game losing streak.
The most runs they scored was 16 and the most runs they allowed in a game was 16.
They had 8 walk off wins and 5 walk off losses
The team was 53-38 on July 18th, 7.5 games ahead in 1st place
They went 34-37 the rest of the way

The only moves GM Roland Hemond made after July 18th was to trade for reserve outfield Stan Jefferson (.260/.284/.409/.693 in 134 PAs w/Orioles) on July 20th, end of career 35-year old DH Keith Moreland (.215/.243/.280/.524 in 111 PAs w/Orioles) and Jamie Quirk (216/.328/.255/.583), a 34-year old "catcher" who had already been released by Yankees and the A's and had caught just 8 major league games and 9 minor games all season before being signed by Hemond.

While the Orioles had to keep running out 32-year old Dave Schmidt (5.69 ERA in 38 gms, 26 starts and gave 22-year old Pete Harnish (4.62 ERA in 17 gms, 16 starts) they kept 22-year old Curt Schilling in AAA most of the year despite him putting up a 3.21 ERA in 27 starts. 

So while we look back at a team fondly because they were so awful in 1988, we really have to wonder what could have been had Hemond not be so bad at picking up players down the stretch or by not using what little talent he had in AAA. 

Hemond of course is the guy who traded Eddie Murray to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Juan Bell, Brian Holton and Ken Howell and also made the Schilling, Finley, Harnish trade for Glenn Davis in 1991. 

I guess what I end up remember out of all of this is that Roland Hemond has to go down as one of the worse Orioles GM of all-time or squashed a chance to make his surprising 1989 team better and then went about making two of the worse trades in team's history and setting back the Franchise almost a decade before the Pat Gillick/Angelos spending spree in the winter of 1995 brought winning baseball back to Baltimore.

 

I think it’s unfair to think of Hemond as one of the worst GMs in O’s history.  He built winning teams in 1989, 1992, 1993 and 1994, all on a shoestring budget presumably dictated by Eli Jacobs.  

Of the moves he made in 1989, the one that disappointed me (in terms of results vs. expectations) was Keith Moreland.  The dude was a career .754 OPS hitter and was at .746 when we acquired him. He was absolutely worthless for us, .524 OPS in 111 PA.   No way Hemond could have foreseen that collapse, which hurt us a lot down the stretch.  

I’m not saying Hemond was a great GM, but I’d say he did okay.

 

Edited September 5, 2022 by Frobby