Grandpa, Tell Me About the 1983 World Series Team

[connja]

22 hours ago, Greg Pappas said:

I'm embarrassed, in one respect, to share that I, a big O's fan, barely watched the World Series in '83.  Why?  Because I was 18 and in love for the first time! lol   I spent as many waking hours with her as possible and everything, including my beloved team, was secondary.  Did see the last game, so at least I have that. 

and where is she now?

[Shabadoo25]

My Dad showing up at my high school to tell me my sister won the ticket lottery for Game 1 and we were headed to the airport to fly to Baltimore.

That was of course the only game they lost.  She had tickets for Game 6 too that wouldn't be necessary.

 

[WarehouseChatter]

I attended games 1 & 2 of the ALCS with my dad. What memories. Joe Nolan threw me a baseball during pre-game. I truly became a fan that year. I vaguely remember ‘79 and remember the end of ‘82. I watched or listened to just about every game of the ‘83 season. In addition to what has already listed, I remember a late September doubleheader at Detroit that we swept. It locked up the season for us. Boddicker pitched a shutout in game 1 and then they won game 2 in the 9th (after trailing 3-1) on a John Löwenstein-Jensen grand slam! What a great year! I was 10 years old and it was one of my favorite summers.

[EddeeEddee]

I was in middle school at the time in Ellicott City, and I remember everyone being so excited about the O's being back in the World Series.  There was one cute girl in one of my classes who I remember had a big Orioles pin on her purse.  I don't remember her name and I think she moved away the next year, but to this day I remember her smile and how happy she was about the Orioles being in the World Series.

I went to one of the World Series games, I think it was Game 2.  Honestly, I don't remember as much about the '83 series as I do about the '79 series, which was such a heartbreaker.  Like others have said 1983 felt an the exorcism of the earlier late 70s and early 80s teams who were probably even better but couldn't win the big one.  And also like others have said, we took it for granted that the O's would always be a very good team.  When you're a kid and things are going great the world seems perfect.  That was one of those times.  

[DrungoHazewood]

I was in the 6th and 7th grade during that season. It's strange, but aside from the Lenn Sakata game I don't remember a lot of games or moments from that year. Part if it is that is was 40 years ago and I was 12. I remember playing in the middle school band at the St. Mary's County Oyster Festival the day of the last game of the World Series, and rushing to get home to see most of it on TV.

I first remember the 1979 Orioles, so it was kind of baked into my brain that the Orioles were the best run organization in baseball and that they'd been good since before I was born, and would be good forever. So I almost feel like I was tricked. They hooked me, they win the Series when I was 12, and by the time I was a junior in high school they'd lost 21 straight to start the season and they've not been back to the Series since.

Of course there have been 1000 great moments since '83, but that was just about the end of them being the model franchise in the sport.

[Jagwar]

10 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

I was in the 6th and 7th grade during that season. It's strange, but aside from the Lenn Sakata game I don't remember a lot of games or moments from that year. Part if it is that is was 40 years ago and I was 12. I remember playing in the middle school band at the St. Mary's County Oyster Festival the day of the last game of the World Series, and rushing to get home to see most of it on TV.

I first remember the 1979 Orioles, so it was kind of baked into my brain that the Orioles were the best run organization in baseball and that they'd been good since before I was born, and would be good forever. So I almost feel like I was tricked. They hooked me, they win the Series when I was 12, and by the time I was a junior in high school they'd lost 21 straight to start the season and they've not been back to the Series since.

Of course there have been 1000 great moments since '83, but that was just about the end of them being the model franchise in the sport.

I remember more from '79 than I do from '83

[Greg Pappas]

2 hours ago, connja said:

and where is she now?

Over two years later.

[MGH5208]

Born in 69 so don't remember anything from 66-71,  The disappointment in 79 and 82 are bad memories for a pre teen.   My friends and I still can't stand Sister Sledge (as most can't)

As far as 1983, I remember alot but for some reason Dan Ford and Boddicker stand out.  I didn't like Ford when we traded for him but loved him by the end of 83.  Really liked Boddickers rookie year (?) and how he performed in the world series.  Probably why I was so hurt when they traded him (not that it wasn't good trade) 

But my most vivid memories/thoughts are:

- I never thought of it as the Phillies, it was more Reds 2.0 -Rose, Morgan, Perez, etc 

- Cal's catch to end it...maybe because i've seen it 100 times over the years, but I remember it live

- as a 14 year old, I thought it would always be like this.....I've worn my Orioles gear for 40 years and endured the ridicule but I'm excited for the current team

 

 

[Gofannon]

13 hours ago, Frobby said:

Your memory is off in one minor respect.  After that 10-9 Sunday game, the O’s played the Brewers again on Monday, completing a 4-game sweep with an 8-7 walk-off win.   (I have no memory of that game, I just saw it when I was looking up the 10-9 box score on BB-ref).   

John Stefero came through in the Monday night game as well, a game winner in the 11th inning! I was there for that one.

I bought a car from John Stefero at Honda City Honda in Glen Burnie almost 20 years later.

Edited August 7, 2023 by Gofannon

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

2 minutes ago, Gofannon said:

John Stefero came through in the Monday night game as well, a game winner in the 11th inning! I was there for that one.

I bought a car from John Stefero at Honda City Honda in Glen Burnie almost 20 years later.

Nice and quick summary of the 1983 season and John Stefero's heroics are specifically mentioned.

 

[IllinoisOsFan]

13 minutes ago, MGH5208 said:

Born in 69 so don't remember anything from 66-71,  The disappointment in 79 and 82 are bad memories for a pre teen.   My friends and I still can't stand Sister Sledge (as most can't)

As far as 1983, I remember alot but for some reason Dan Ford and Boddicker stand out.  I didn't like Ford when we traded for him but loved him by the end of 83.  Really liked Boddickers rookie year (?) and how he performed in the world series.  Probably why I was so hurt when they traded him (not that it wasn't good trade) 

But my most vivid memories/thoughts are:

- I never thought of it as the Phillies, it was more Reds 2.0 -Rose, Morgan, Perez, etc 

- Cal's catch to end it...maybe because i've seen it 100 times over the years, but I remember it live

- as a 14 year old, I thought it would always be like this.....I've worn my Orioles gear for 40 years and endured the ridicule but I'm excited for the current team

 

 

You and I were born in the same year and my memories echo yours. Particularly Mike Boddicker. And I could’ve sworn the liner off Garry Maddox’s bat was a single, but Cal was right there and snared it lol.
 

Wild thinking back to listening to Chuck Thompson and John Miller on WBAL and WFBR with my handheld radio and plug-in stereo earbuds. Simpler times that make me smile. 

[HarlowFan]

Became a baseball fan in Oct 1975 (6th grade) and started to follow the Os the next season. I often listened to a staticky transistor radio after my parents put me to bed. I was hooked on baseball and stats then and really wore out the 1976 baseball preview book I bought with my tobacco earnings.

All of the seasons leading to 1983 were great fun though most ended in frustration.  For 1983, I was 19 and drove to Memorial Stadium with my younger brother and younger sister to catch a game in July. That was quite an experience for me. Remember the struggle to find a third baseman (after DeCinces signed with the Angels previously and Cal moved to shortstop) but Todd Cruz seemed to work. Really appreciated Joe Nolan's and Jim Dwyer's pinch hitting abilities. There seemed to be more games on TV in September and all of the post season than earlier in the season. In the end, I couldn't believe they won it and expected more opportunitiesin the future.

[Gofannon]

1 hour ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

Nice and quick summary of the 1983 season and John Stefero's heroics are specifically mentioned.

 

This segment is from the fantastic Miracles on 33rd Street DVD. You can watch the whole thing on YouTube. It does a brilliant job weaving scenes from the final afternoon at Memorial Stadium throughout the '54 to '91 seasons. Well worth a watch.

[Ohfan67]

Really fun thread! Thanks for sharing your memories. I didn't move to MD until the fall of '91 and was given a ticket to a game at Oriole park in the spring of '92 when the Orioles hosted the Tigers. I wasn't a baseball fan, much less an Orioles fan, but that game did it for me. Very fun to read your memories. Hope fans years from now remember this Orioles team and what they are going to do. 

[ChuckS]

I can say I was alive when the O’s last won a WS, but not much more than that (DOB: 12/1982). First recollection of the O’s is probably 1988 when I was five years old.